The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-13 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

THE ALHAMBRA. LEICESTER-SQUARE.—The Lord Chan-
cellor has heard an appeal from a decree of the Master of
the Rolls respecting the Alhambra, Leicester-square. Sir
William Foster, mortgagee, with power of sale, was de-
fendant. The plaintiffs were the Birmingham Banking
Company, who had entered into an agreement with
Pasley, another defendant, for an assignment to them of
his contract with Sir W. Foster for the purchase of the
Alhambra, for £22,000. The company wished for the con-
tract as securityfor a debt owed to them bySir W. Foster.
The solicitor of the bank sent Sir W. Foster notice of

the transfer, but nevertheless Sir William completed the
sale with Pasley and received the balance due of the pur-
chase money without communicating with the bank. The
banking company was wound up in the year 1866, and
the year after the suit was instituted against Sir William
to obtain compensation for the loss. The Master of the
Rolls held that he was liable, and from this decree the
appeal was made. The Lord Chancellor was of a diffe-
rent opinion, and said all future vendors of property would
be greatly embarrassed if their contracts of sale and pur-
chase were to be arrested by notice of rights between the
purchaser and third parties. He thought the suit a
wholly new attempt, and there being nothing to justify it,
dismissed the appeal with costs.
LORD H. SEYMOUR'S WlLL—Proceedings have been
expedited in the Court of Chancery to make an additional
payment of £B2 to each of the 85 London charities, under the
will of the late Lord Henry Seymour. Already £4OO has
been paid to each, and, in addition to the £B2 to be paid
in a few days, a further sum of £lOO will be paid to
the " Hospices de Londres " under the will of his lord-
ship.
ATTEMPT TO MURDER A HUSBAND AND SON. —A
woman, named Sarah Clark, has been brought up at the
Thames Police-court, an the charge of attempting to
murder her husband and son. She was in the habit of
drinking and being very violent when intoxicated. She
began quarrelling with her husband, who is au old man,
and who tried to avoid her. As he was going out of the
room she ran at him with a knife and stabbed him so
severely that he is not expected to live. Her son, who
was in bed, jumped up to assist his father, and was
severely, if not dangerously wounded by his infuriated
mother. She was remanded for a week.

MAIL BAG ROBBERIES.—SeveraI daring mail-bag rob-
beries have of late taken place in the Midland f and
Northern districts, the latest being at Derby, on the 2,1
instant. Three men are now in custody for being con-
cerned in this robbery, as well as that of the Leicester
mail-bags, a few days previously. Two were arrested in
London, and on being brought up at Bow-street, sufficient
evidence was given to warrant a remand.
THE ROBBERY IN PICCADILLY.—FrankIin and Wilson,
the men charged with being concerned in the great jewel
at Mr. Beaumont's, M.P. have been discharged, as the
police were unable to strengthen the case against them.
ALLEGED SERIOUS FORGERIES.—At Glasgow, on Thurs-
day, a commission merchant, named Samuel Watson
Dempster, was apprehended by Superintendent Brown
and Detective Wilson on a charge of having forged the
signature of the firm of Messrs. H. Murray and Co.,
shipbuilders. Port Glas,gow, to a bill for £9B 10s. on
the National Bank of Scotland, dated June 1, 1870,
and of having caused it to be presented at the bank for
payment. The bank deferred payment until inquiry
should be made as to whether the signature was genuine,
but a small sum is said to have been advanced. When
brought to the Central Police Office another forged bill is
stated to have been found in his possession. It is
believed that, following a practice which appears to have
been in operation in other quarters, Dempster had been
using, in the way mentioned, the names of several firms,
although probably intending to meet the hills when they
fell due, and before the persons whose names were
employed should be made aware of the transaction. The
alleged forgeries, it is calculated, will extend over several
hundreds of pounds.
THE ROMANTIC DIVORCE CASE In the Court of Pro-
bate and Divorce on Saturday it was intimated that Mrs.
Plowden, the petitioner in the case of Plowden v. Plow-
den, has appealed to the House of Lords against the de-
cision of the Judge Ordinary dismissing her petition, and
further that Captain Plowden has entered a fresh suit for
restitution of conjugal rights. Application was made for
an order of court inhibiting the removal of Captain Plow-
den's child to the Continent, which was stated to be in
contemplation. Lord Penzance directed the respondent
to take out a writ of habeas corpus, the court having no
power to make an order respecting the children in any
suit for restitution. The lady, it will be remembered, is
the daughter of Mr. Taylor, the extensive cocoa mer-
chant, and the defendant an officer in the army. The
marriage was the result of an elopement.
PAYMENT OY SUCCESSION DUTY.—A case bearine, on
this question was brought before Vice-Chancellor Mbaiins
under the following circumstances :—A Belgian gentle-
man came to reside temporarily in England. Whilst here
he died, and in his will bequeathed to a Madame Water-
low a sum of £12,000, with remainder to her children.
The question was whether the legatee was liable to the
payment of succession as well as legacy duty, this being
dependent upon the fact whether the bequest was in such
a form as to create succession. His Honour held that the
manner in which the property was bequeathed created
succession, and that succession duty must therefore be
paid.
THE TELEGRAPH CONSTRUCTION COMPANY.— Vice-
Chancellor James has had before him a petition of
the Telegraph Construction, &c., Company, praying
for liberty to reduce its capital from £750,000 to
£450.000. Mr. Wickens, who appeared in support of the
petition, said the company was a thriving one, and did
not require so large a capital as £750,000. The creditors,
of the company had assented to the proposed reduction
of capital. The learned counsel said the court would
probably think that the company should be allowed at
• the expiration of a very short period to remove the words
" and reduced" from its title. The Vice-Chancellor
granted an order permitting the proposed reduction of
capital, and allowing the dropping of the words " and
reduced" at the end of a fortnight.
A PRISONER CONVICTED BY A NEWSPAPER REPORTER.—
In the Court of Criminal Appeal, judgment was delivered

in a case under the following peculiar circumstances :
Mr. Giffard, Q.C., was acting as Commissioner of Assize
at Glamorgan, when a John Davis was indicted for
receiving goods knowing them to have been stolen. At the
trial a notice under the 4th section of the 32nd and 33rd Vic.,
chap. 99, was proved to have been duly - served
upon the prisoner ; that he had been preYieusly
convicted of larceny ; and that the goods in
question were stolen. The learned Commissioner then
told the jury that the prisoner must be deemed to have
known such goods were stolen until he proved to the con-
trary. Mr. Giffard had read a newspaper report where
Mr. Justice Keating was made to say that under such
circumstances "it was evidence and quite conclusive" of
a prisoner's guilty knowledge, whereas the words really
used by that learned judge. were " that it was evidence,
though not conclusive." The Court now quashed the con-
viction, remarking on Mr. Giffard having been led to
charge the jury through this mistake, and against his own
view of the law.
A CHURCH-RATE CASE.—The Court of Queen's Bench
gave their decision in a very important case affecting the
liability of parishes in which church-rates had been re-
fused for the repayment of Government loans. The
Public Works Loan Commissioners had advanced .e 4,540
for the partial rebuilding of Wigan parish church
in 1849 on the security of the church-rates ; but
after three instalments had been repaid, the rate-
payers refused to pay church-rates, and had ever
since refused to pay them. Besides, the parish had
since been formed into ten or twelve separate ecclesias-
tical districts, and the question was raised of liability
after the lapse of the time originally contemplated for
the repayment of the loan. The Compulsory Abolition of
Church Rates Act provided for the repayment of such
loans by special rates, and the Court made a returnable
rule for a mandamus, calling upon the present church-
wardens of the old parish and the overseers of the, various
new townships to make annual rates for repayment,
dating from 1866, the date of demand, and simple interest
on the awn unpaid since that time.