support that patience and perseverance could afford; and demanding a constant excrcise of that fortitude which they were calculated to destroy; for a long adieu to the attainments of ambition, the gratifications of sense, and the purer pleasures of social intercourse; and, perhaps for that most mortifying of all attendants upon generous exertion, the thanklessness of those for whom all his anxiety and trouble were about to be endured. But his ardent spirit rose above these clouds of difficulties with which he was surrounded, and reaching the clearer air and purer atmosphere of the regions above these fogs of earth, his extended gaze took in a succession of future blessings which were to be the reward of his exertions; and whilst dwelling with rapture on the benefits which his exertions might confer on mankind, though he could never hope to be the witness of them, he disregarded all the perils of the road which led to their attainment. Here we have a striking example of that combination of intellectual vigor which characterises the great mind, with the conciliatory disposition that attends true benevolence; here we find the most undaunted-resolution and heroic magnanimity. A superiority to all the intimidations that cowardice would fly to for a refuge, and as an excuse for failure. A fixed determination grow ing stronger and stronger with its apparent obstacles: undaunted energies that were only confirmed by the attacks that were endeavouring to weak en them and triumphant courage that gloried in its own strength amidst the most dismaying terrors. And what was the great master spring that actuated the whole, that afforded the powerful motive to exertion, and inspired him with this noble intrepidity? A glowing zeal for the benefit of his fellow creatures; a lively concern for their welfare, a commisseration for their sufferings, and a desire for their alleviation. : Would our limits have permitted us, we might have touched upon the characters of several other distinguished persons who have displayed more or less of the mental vigour and decisive ardor which we have been describing, but we flatter ourselves that enough has been said to recommend what most admire, though but few have sufficient courage and resolution to make their own. ALFRED. THE HIVE. No. XXXII. CONTENT. Source of internal happiness : ONTENT is most certainly the sur it not only reconciles a person to himself, but also to those with whom he converses. To use Shakspeare's phrase, "it is the chief nourisher in life's feast;" when giddy mirth and noise have subsided, this keeps an equal tenor and if it never rises very high, it has at least this advantage, that it does not ebb so low as to leave shoals and rocks discovered. How often do we hear, when a circle of friends are talking over the sufferings of some poor sufferer, those who affect compassion answered by others, of a less gentle disposition, with, "how can one pity a person who has brought misfortunes on bimself?"-Ah! surely, where selfreproach is added to misery, it embitters every pang. I would not wish to live to know that hour, 1 SELECT SENTENCES. not Intellectual acquirements are only valuable as they promote and recommend religion, virtue, and amiable manners: and in competition with pure and benevolent affection, knowledge is but conspicuous dishonour. The man possessed of fortitude and constancy of mind is prepared for every event, armed in all fortunes, foresceing without fear, enjoying without satiety, and suffering without impatience. Truth is of more value than popularity; integrity, than preferment; and everlasting recompense, than the comforts of this life, usually transient and unsubstantial. T. H. WOMAN. M. Ledyard, the celebrated pedestrian traveller, gives the following admirable portrait of benevolence in the fair-sex: "I have always remarked, that women, in all countries, are civil, obliging, tender, and humane; that they are inclined to be gay and cheerful, timorous and modest; and that they do not hesitate, like men, to perform a generous action. Not haughty, nor arrogant, nor supercilious, they are full of courtesy, and fond of society: more liable, in general, to err than men ; but in general also more virtuous, and performing more good actions than them. To a woman, whether civilized or savage, I never addressed myself in the language of decency and friendship, without receiving a decent and friendly answer with man, it has often been otherwise. In wandering over the barren hills of inhospitable Denmark, through honest Sweden, and frozen Lapland, rude and churlish Finland, unprincipled Russia, and the widespreading regions of the wandering Tartar; if hungry, cold, dry, wet, or sick, the women have ever been friendly to me, uniformly so: and to add to this virtue, so worthy the appellation of benevolence, these actions have been performed in so free and so kind a manner, that if I was dry, I drank the sweetest draught: aud if hungry, I ate the coarse morsel with a double relish." S. Europ, Mag. Vol LXXII. Aug. 1817. LETTER received from one of the principal clerks of the court of session in Scotland, on the subject of the process in Scotland, was delivered in, and read. Mr. Serjeant Runnington again called in, and made the following statement. Since I last had the honour of attending this committee, namely, in the course of yesterday, I received the paper I now hold in my hand; it is a letter addressed to me by a gentleman of the name of Gillon, who, I believe, has practised at the Scotch bar, and he has in the envelope inclosed an abstract of the different Scotch laws, applicable to creditors and debtors in cases of insolvency in that country; I will, if the committee please, put the paper into their possession, to do with it as they may think proper. [The same was delivered in.] Have the goodness to proceed with any observations you have to make on the Acts for relief of insolvent debtors, in addition to those with which you favoured the committee at their last meeting?-The committee will do me the honour to recollect, that at the close of my last examination, a learned and honourable member wished me to look into the Act, to see whether there were any powers in the commissioner to commit an assignee, who had wasted the effects of the insolvent; I remember, that at the time I gave a decided auswer, that I thought the court com. petent to do it. Upon that recommendation I have since looked into the Act, and find myself confirmed in that opinion by the express terms of the Act T itself. By the 44th section of the Act, the court, upon the petition of any prisoner or creditor complaining of any insufficiency, fraud, or misconduct of any assignee, is competent to summon all the parties, and to give such orders and directions thereon as the court shall think fit. Such are the general terms of the 44th section of the Act. By a subsequent section, namely, the 46th, in case any assignee shall not deliver over any part of the estate or effects, or pay the balance, which in case of such an order as the preceding section alludes to, he would be bound to do according to the order of the court, then it shall be lawful for the court, by warrant under the hand and seal of the commissioner, directed to the proper officer to be appointed for that purpose, to order the person disobeying the order, to be committed to the next county gaol, there to remain without bail, until he shall have obeyed such order; therefore, by the express terms of the Act, it has the power when it has made the order, to commit for wasting any part of the effects of an insolvent. You are of opinion then, that the Act as it now stands, as far as regards the assignees in that respect, is sufficiently strong? - With all due deference, I think it is; all I would suggest in addition, is, to assimilate, as much as possible, the power over the assignee having property not wasted, but continuing too long in his possession, according to the bankrupt laws, to make him, after a certain time, if he does not distribute, pay interest for the money in his hands; a regulation which now makes a constituent part of the bankrupt laws. Do not you think it would be an improvement, that the court should be able to direct the money to be paid into the hands of some banker, putting it upon the same footing as it is with regard to the bankrupt laws?-Certainly; I think both laws ought to be, as nearly as possible, similar. I will now trouble the committee with my opinion on the oath, which is prescribed by the Act to be taken by the insolvent previous to his discharge. The cases I allude to have principally been those of breaking prison, or violating the rules of the Fleet and the King's Bench. There is no express positive provision in either of the two Acts of Parliament, making it an exception to any discharge, breaking the rules, or being seen out of the limits of the prison; but the objection has uniformly arisen out of the construction of the terms of the oath prescribed by the Act. The oath says, that the party shall swear that he has not only been in actual custody for three months previous to his application to be discharged, but that he has ever since his first commitment been in actual custody within the prison or the limits thereof; it has therefore beeu argued, that if he has at any time been out of those limits, no matter owing to what circumstances, if he has violated wilfully or by neglect the rules or limits of the prison, he could not be discharged, because in the terms of the oath, as prescribed, he had not ever since been in actual custody. By the terms, however, of the first section of the Act, though the oath be prescribed in form, it may be varied so as to meet the existing circumstances of the case; and by another section in the 54th of the King, which passed to amend the present Act, the same provision respecting the oath, in different terms, is positively provided for. The first case of this sort, which came before me, was the case of Dr. Lloyd. Dr. Lloyd, who was living within the rules, happened to be seen out of their limits, and that on the Sunday preceding the Monday, when he was brought up to be discharged. The objection was taken, on his being brought up to be dsicharged; but on enquiry, upon his oath, and hearing all the parties, it turned out that Dr. Lloyd was altogether ignorant of the limits of the rules; that not knowing he was doing wrong, he had gone out to take his usual walk, went a little too far, and returned to the place from whence he set out, and there he was in the place of his usual residence and confinement. Upon this point being discussed, and that upon the terms of the oath as against the prisoner, I was decidedly of opinion that it was no voluntary act on the part of Dr. Lloyd; and therefore, as the oath could be varied consistently with the circumstances of the case, I thought the objection could not with propriety apply; and accordingly discharged Dr. Lloyd. The next case, depeuding also upon its own particular facts, was that of Mr. Tilt. He had been within the rules of the King's Bench prison, and was opposed on the ground of having exceeded the limits of those rules; and that upon the saine construction of the oath. From the evidence, it appeared that Mr. Tilt had been subject to temporary fits of insanity; that under the paroxysms of one of them, he had exceeded the rules, and was found in a deplorable state upon the Brighton road, where he had been picked up by one of the stage coachmen driving to Brighton; and in that state of insanity taken down to his friends, there brought up again by them with all possible expedition, and recommitted to his original custody. This case thus appearing, and the facts being indisputable. I was of opinion in that case, as I was in the preceding one, that he was not within any sound construction of the Act, and I therefore discharged him. Another case, however, has since been brought before the court; as strong a case as certainly can exist. The case I allude to is that of a Major Bingham. He had been a considerable time in confinement; I believe some years: he was found exceeding the limits of the prison, at large in Bond-street. Upon inquiry, he admitted the fact to be true; that he knew what he was about; that he had gone to Bond-street for the purpose of speaking to some of his creditors; that he knew he was exceeding the limits of the prison, and that he knew he was doing wrong at the moment. Upon this, the opinion of my mind was adverse to the insolvent; conceiving that that case was a voluntary act of his own, done with a view to assist his own particular object, and in positive breach of the rules of the prison. I thought it right, therefore, upon the first hearing of that case, to remand Major Bingham. But on re-considering that case, I was satisfied that my ad'judication was wrong; I therefore directed that Major Bingham should be brought up again to have his case re heard, and that the counsel on both sides should again discuss the question. It was re-argued at considerable length. I felt it my duty then, as I feel it now to this honourable committee, publicly to give my reasons, why my opinion was altered on the case. In the first place, all that the Act requires, as a leading qualification for the discharge, is, that the party shall only be in actual custody three calendar months. With respect to the case of Major Bingham, he had not only completed that, but had been in actual custody under the same charge for more than eighteen months, after he had broken the rules of the prison, in the way I have stated to the committee. In the next place, there being no express provision in the Act to attach upon a wilful misconduct of this description, but all depending upon the terms of the oath, which was construed in the way I have had the honour to submit to the committee, it occurred to me to enquire, what view it could answer to extend the exceptions of the Act, when he had been more than three months in actual custody since his return within the rules. In the first place, it was no injury to the creditor; instead of his being injured, the probability was, that he might be benefited; because had it been a voluntary escape on the part of the gaoler, he would have been liable to the creditor for that escape, and by that means, instead of the creditor being in a situation to be at all injured, it might follow that he would have a solvent instead of an insolvent debtor to resort to; and the only person injured would be the gaoler, who was himself indemnified by the security which he had taken for the rules. And inasmuch as the leading feature of the Act had been complied with, by an actual confinement much beyond the three months, the result must inevitably have been, that he must have been remanded, not competent to be brought up again; and have been more affected by that remand than any other person expressly within any one of the provisions of the Act, for any misconduct, however serious: therefore my opinion was completely changed upon the subject, and so it has remained to this moment. I ultimately discharged Major Bingham, and feel conscious that I was right in so doing. If, however, it should become an object in future, that any violation of the rules of a prison should deprive the party of the right to his discharge, it should, with every deference, make a part of the positive provisions of the Act, rather than be left open, as it now is, to the construction which I have mentioned The oath, therefore, I think, might be altered in this respect; omitting the words," and that I have ever since been and now am a prisoner, &c." and leaving it generally, that the prisoner has, for aud during the space of three calendar months and more next before the day of the presenting of his petition, been and now is a prisoner in actual custody. Will that obtain the object you have in view?-I think it would. Some little time back, I received the letter now in my hand, upon the subject of the oath, signed A late insolvent debtor," which, for the good sense and feeling which pervades it, I beg leave to submit to the consideration of the committee. [It was delivered in and read.] There is another part of this subject, which may require the attention of the committee. By one of the provisions of the Act, section 50, no person is competent to be discharged, who has taken the benefit of any other insolvent Act, thentofore passed. It has so happened in several instances, that insolvents who had been discharged under what is called Lord Ellenborough's Act (an Act which passed between the passing of the present Act of the 53d and 54th of the King) have applied also to be discharged under this Act. It was objected, that having been so discharged, and five years not having elapsed, they could not take the benefit of the present Act. But looking at the terms of the Act, it has appeared to me that the objection could not be sustained. For, by the 50th section it is provided, that no person who shall have taken the benefit of any Act heretofore passed, shall have the benefit of this Act within five years; Lord Ellenborough's Act passed in the very next sessions. The question therefore was, whether a man under those circumstances could be discharged. It was contended, that he could not; because, though he was not within the terms (it being an Act not previously, but subsequently, passed) yet by the oath, he was to swear that he had not taken the benefit of any insolvent Act within five years. But, as the oath might be altered, and must be to suit existing circumstances, the objection could not avail. I should submit, that some notice should be taken of the Act alluded to (Lord Ellenborough's) to prevent this happening in future; for numbers of persons have been discharged under that Act, who ought not to be relieved under the one now under the consideration of this committee. There have been lately in two of the superior judicatures, two singular cases; one in the court of Exchequer, the other in the court of Common Pleas. In each case the prisoner had been brought up under what is called the Lords Act (the 32d of George II. chap. 28) to be discharged. In both cases, each of the prisoners had been brought up (before myself I believe) and each had been remanded: one of them applied to the court of Exchequer in Michaelmas Term 1815, the other to the court of Common Pleas in Hilary Term last, under the Lords Act, to be discharged; each was opposed upon the ground of having been remanded by the insolvent court. The superior courts at first thought the objection unanswerable; but upon looking into the Act which governs the insolvent debtor's court, and not finding the least allusion to the Lords Act, and having a concurrent jurisdiction, within a given sum, if applied for, the discharge within a given time, over the subject; in the one case (that in the Exchequer) the prisoner was discharged, and the other (the prisoner in the Common Pleas) was remanded; but not upon the ground to which I have adverted. In this particular, therefore, I submit that the Act should be amended; namely, that an insolvent shall not be conpetent to be discharged under the Lords Act (if remanded by the insolvent debtor's court) for any debt included in his schedule. Many persons are discharged whose affairs are not of much moment; owing trifling debts themselves, with a number of trifling debts owing to them: persons keeping public houses for instance, with scores of thirty shillings and twenty shillings due to them, but of some amount in the whole. If these are to be sued for by assignees, it must perhaps be attended with more expense than the debts are worth; I should therefore take the liberty of suggesting to the committee, the giving to the court a jurisdiction, something in the nature of a common Court of Requests, enabling the assignee by a summary jurisdiction in the court, to collect in those small debts, within such sum as to the wisdom of the committee shall seem right, not exceeding ten pounds: it would be of great benefit to all parties, as well to the debtor as the creditor. Having thus stated all that has occurred to my experience in the court, I trust the committee will pardon me, when I refer them to an Act which passed in Philadelphia in 1812, on this subject. In that Act, no previous confinement is necessary; but from the instant an insolvent applies to be discharged under it, curators are appointed, and from that moment |