The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-31 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

EXCITING SCENE IN COURT.—In connection with the
case of Roe, a lunatic, a very unusual scene occurred on
Friday in the Irish Court of Chancery. A conditional
order had been made some time since that an attachment
should issue against Miss Ellen Roe, sister of James Roe,
a lunatic, if she did not give him up to the guardian ap-
pointed by the court. Mr. Morgan Cavanagh
argued that his client was always. ready to
give up the lunatic and bad him then in court for
that purpose. The Lord Chancellor directed him to be
given up to Mr. Nicholas Roe, the guardian appointed by
his lordship. The poor fellow, on hearing this, clung to
his sister, and wept bitterly. Ie declared he would rather
die than leave her. The guardian proceeded to remove
him, and a desperate scene of dragging, pulling, and
screaming ensued. The Lord Chancellor was obliged to
leave the bench, and ordered the court to be cleared, which
was done with great difficulty.

THE RIGHTS OF YEARLY SERVANTS.—A case connected
with the affairs of the late Marquis. of Hastings came
before Mr. Church, the chief clerk, at Rolls' Chambers.
A claim was made by Mr. Ward, who had been the
Marquis' agent in the management of his estates, at a
salary of £350 a. year ; and the contention was whether he
was a yearly servant, and entitled to six months' notice at
the end of the year. Mr. Church held that the hiring
was yearly, and that Mr. Ward was entitled to proper
notice at the end of the year, when he was entitled to the
full salary. He allowed. £5 ss. for costs.

A CONVICTION THIRTY YEARS OLD.—A singular appli-
cation has been made in the Court of Queen's Bench, the
object being to get rid of the result of a conviction for
perjury nearly thirty years ago. So long ago as 1841. the
applicant, who was clerk to an attorney, made a statement
on oath in the course of some law proceeding which was
untrue. He was indicted for perjury, and convicted, but
strongly recommended to mercy by the jury, on the
ground that he had been under pressure from his employer
who was defendant in the cause tried. He was called upon
to enter into recognisances to come up for judgment
when called upon—the usual form for avoiding a sentence.
The applicant had never been called upon, and the pro-
secutor now being dead, it was not likely he would be,
as his representatives concurred in the application. The
court granted a rule nisi. A curious feature in the case
was that the case was uriginally tried in the same court
as now Mr. Justice Coleridge being the judge, while Sir
John Coleridge, Solicitor-General, now makes the appli-
cation.

ACTION AGAINT THE COUNTESS D'ALTEYRAC. The
case of Geoghegan
,v. D'Alteyrac „was tried before Mr.
Justice Brett, and a common jury, in the Court of Com-
mon Pleas, at Westminster. The plaintiff, Mr. Michael
John Geoghegan, was the solicitor to the Countess
D'Alteyrac, who went through the Bankruptcy Court
last year, after her unsuccessful suit against the hereditary
Grand Chamberlain, with whom she had lived for some
years under a marriage, which was subsequently found tobe
invalid. Mr. Geoghegan's bill of costs up to August last,
when her ladyship changed her solicitor, amounted to
£l2O 3s. 10d., and of this he had received £25, leaving a
balance of £95 3s. 10d. He now threw off three guineas
for possible error in calculating cab-hire, and asked for
£92. The bill was presented in October, and in April last
the defendant had promised to pay the balance, but
had failed to do so. Some disappointment was expe-
rienced by the non-appearance of the Countess to defend.
His lordship told the jury that they would not be much
wiser if they saw the bill of costs, for no man living could
understand such a thing unless he should be an attorney
himself. He directed a verdict for the amount sought.
Verdict for the plaintiff accordingly.
THE SOUTHAMPTON ELECTION PETITION.—The ques-
tion of the taxation of election petitions has
been raised in the Court of Common Pleas.
A rule was moved for on the ground that the
master had allowed too much in his taxation of the
costs in the Southampton election case. The Recorder of
London had obtained a rule on the ground that too little
had been obtained for his coats on petition. On the peti-
tion being heard, the Recorder and Mr. Hoare
defended separately, and the petition was dis-
missed with costs. The petitioners now complained
that the master had allowed too much on the taxation of
Mr. Hoare's bill of costs. The whole claim was £5,643,
the master had taxed off £3,539, and had allowed £2,104.
He had allowed £367 10s. for instructions for brief. Mr.
Hoare had subpoenaed 303 witnesses, 104 of
whom had been disallowed as immaterial. One
of the objections raised was that 45 of the
Witnesses had been subpoenaed by the Recorder and Mr.
Hoare, and the Master had allowed their full costs-in both
bills, so that they had been paid twice over. As it did not
appear on the affidavits what sum had been paid these
witnesses, the matter was adjourned until they had been
awarded.

The IDENTITY OF A MARE.—An action was brought in
the Court of Common Pleas respecting the identity of a
mare which was stolen from the defendant more than a
year ago. He prosecuted a "gentleman named Dredge"
for stealing the animal, and obtained a convic-
tion. He afterwards got the mare back, and
the plaintiff now claimed her as his property.
The question was, was the mare in the defendant's
possession was the one stolen from the defendant or one
stolen from himself. The plaintiff called several witnesses,
and said the mare recognised him when he spoke to her.
A verdict for £25 was given for the plaintiff—the sum to
be reduced to a shilling if the animal were given up.
A TAILOR BUILT IN.—A tailor named Thomson recently
obtained £4O damages against Mr. Hill, a builder, for
depriving him of the light necessary for his trade. The
case has now been carried to the Court of Common Pleas.
It appeared that defendant had built a new house in the
court in which plaintiff resided and had run it
up some sixty feet higher than plaintiff's cottage.
As the court was only seven or eight feet in width, the
light was obstructed, and plaintiff's business fell off, so
that from earning 455. per week he was reduced to penury.
The Lord Chief Justice observed that builders frequently
ran uy their houses in this way, regardless of the interests
of neighbouring parties, and running the chance of mak-
ing some subsequent arrangement. The court sustained
the verdict.

IMPRISONMENT OF SUNDAY GAMBLERS. —Henry Hutchin-
son and Thomas Carr were charged at the Clerkenwell
Police Court with playing at pitch and toss at Clerkenwell
and St. Luke's. The police proved that the defendants
were playing at pitch and toss and making use of bad
language. The inhabitants complained greatly of the
nuisance occasioned by Sundaygamblingin the streets. The
defendants admitted looking on at the gambling, but denied
that they were themselves tossing. Mr. Cooke said the
cases were proved to his satisfaction. He then sentenced
each of the defendants to three days' imprisonment in the
House of Correction. The defendants asked that a fine
might be inflicted, but the application was refused.

ILLEGAL FISHING. —A man named Zachariah Talbot
has been charged at Windsor with using a "trimmer" to
take fish in the Thames, contrary to the bye-laws of the
Thames Conservators. He pleaded guilty, and was fined
10s. and costs. Two men were charged with a similar
offence, and a small fine inflicted. The Conservators are
anxious to put a stop to the illegal fishing that goes on in
summer-time.

WELSH " BUNDLING. "—A case heard at the Aberyst-
with County Court revealed a custom among Welsh ser-
vants that would be more honoured in the breach than
the observance. Two young men, farm servants, sued
Mr. Charles Jeffreys, a gentleman of independent means,
for an assault. Each of the plaintiffs laid the damages at
£5O. It appears to be the frequent custom for Welsh
servant girls to invite their lovers to the houses of their
employers after the family have gone to rest.
In the present instance, Williams and Jenkins visited the
housemaid and cook of Mr. Jeffrey's, and were smuggled
up stairs into the girls' bedroom, at nine o'clock, the latter
joining them at ten. The men lay on the bed with their
coats off chatting to the girls, which interesting occupa-
tion in Wales, goes under the name of " bundling,"
About three o'clock in the morning, Mrs. Jeffrey
was awoke by hearing strange voices, and alarmed her
husband, who on making a search, found the plaintiffs
hiding under the bedclothes. On being discovered they
rushed downstairs, followed by Mr. Jeffreys, who bela-
boured them most unmercifully, so much so, in fact, that
the nose of one of them was broken, and both received
such a castigation that they were obliged to seek medical
advice and assistance. With some severe strictures on
the immoral tendency of the custom, the judge left the
case to the jury, who considered the plaintiffs had been
the subjects of unnecessary violence, and gave them 215
each, with full costs.

The Huntingdon Race Committee have decided,
in consequence of the action of the authorities with regard
to the forthcoming Epsom meeting, not to let any of the
land on the racecourse for list betting. This will entail a
considerable loss on the committee, the land so let having
produced over £4OO per annum.

The subject of "Union with other Presbyterian
Churches " was discussed in the Established Assembly
yesterday, a resolution being carried expressive of the
Assembly's desire to promote the union of all Churches
having a common origin and adhering t 3 the same confes-
sion of Faith.

The Assize Court of Naples has delivered its sen-
tence upon the band of brigands which captured Mr.
Moens and Mr. Murray. The chief, Manzi, and two
others are condemned to death, nine of the prisoners are
sentenced to penal servitude for life, three to twenty-one
years' imprisonment, and one to twenty years.

The Derby Memorial Statue - Fund is being sub-
scribed to not merely by his own political followers but by
those who entertained different political views to those of
the late earl. Many of the great city companies have
already subscribed to the fund, and the Marquess of West-
minster has offered to subscribe the sum of £5O.

At Leeds Police-court yesterday, Mr. Bruce, stipen-
diary magistrate, handed tothe chief constable a threaten.
ing letter he had received, The letter accuses Mr. Bruce
of not doing justice to the working classes; and states
that he must " look out, or he may be shot some fine
day." Mr. Bruce expressed his belief that the letter bad
been written by some one of a higher position than
working men.

A great sensation has been produced in Belgium
by the acquittal of .a writer charged with defamation
against the managers of the Financial Societies, directed
by M. Langrand-Dumonceau. At the close of the trial
new prosecutions were entered into against the managers,
and the books and papers of the incriminated societies
were seized. This strange affair has excited the greatest
curiosity in the Belgian capital.
The action for libel, brought by Mr. Edmunds
against the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, the Right Hon.
Robert Lowe the Right Hon. James Stansfeld, and the
Right Hon. George Alexander Hamilton, alleged to have
been published by them in a Treasury Minute, arising out
of the late arbitration in this cause celebre, will come on
for trial at the sittings after the present Term, before a
special jury, at Guildhall, in the Court of Common Pleas.
The damages are laid at 825,000,