The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-29 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

THE CASE OF OVEREND AND GIIIINET.—On Wednesday
the case of Overend, Gurney, and Co. was before Vice.
Chancellor Malins on a demurrer. A bill has been filed
to make the directors responsible for the loss the
company sustained by purchasing the goodwill and
undertaking the liabilities of the old company on
the representation of the directors that the business
of the old firm was solvent, whereas they knew that it
was insolvent to the extent of £2,700,000. The directors
demurred that a question of damages was not one for an
equity, but a common-law court. The Vice-Chancellor
overruled the demurrer, holding that it was a proper case
to submit to a court of equity, and that the bill was pro.
pert: !*ramed and ought to be answered.

A LITERAL:: DISPUTE.—A literary inquiry of some
interest has ;:ten going on in Vice-Chancellor James's
court during the last clay or two. Mr. Pike, the author
of a work entitled " The English and their Origin," pub.
lished in May 186 G, filed a bill to restrain the publication
of the defendr.:lt's book "The Pedigree of the- English
People," on ti a ground th .t it was a piracy of his work.
Both works arose out of a competition for a prize
of 100 guineas offered by the National Eisteddfod at
Aberystwith, in 1865 and 1866, for the best essay on the
Origin of the :2 . Nation. The plaintiff competed in
EGS, when no prize was given ; but the arbitrators
ex pressed a hope that his essay would be published. lie

Nblislied it in May IKG. In that year the defendant
competed for the prize, which as Lin wai not
awarded. The late Lord Strangford, who was the
adjudicator,praise,l his essay,- highly, and after submitting
the MS. to several ethnologists, the de'en !ant arranged
for its publication by Messrs. Longmans. A c•ipy of the
work was sent to the plaintiff for notice in the A nehropo.
logical Perim, when he arrived at the conclu3ion that
an unfair use had been made of his book, and filed this
bill. The defendant admits liaving read the plaintiff's
book, but asserts that the scheme and argmnent of his
work were in existence before its publication. The case
was not concluded.

Dr. Irons, of Queen's College, Vicar of Bromp-
ton, has been elected Baropton Lecturer for 1870.
Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne, K.C.8., has
been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Mediter-
ranean Station, vice Lord Clarence Paget, whose period
of service has expired.

At the M,,nsion Howe, on IVednesday, Sydney T.
Webb, a clerk in the employmeLt of the Provinc'al Bank-
ing Cotroraticn, was committed for trial on a charge of being
conc,rned with another man, now uudur scntet:co of seven
years' penal servitude, in forging and uttering a ch" quo fur
097 10s%, with intent to defraud.

ELECTION PETITIONS.—The two special cases out
of the 70 election petitions arising out of the late general
Lllection have been appointed to be argued in the Court of
Common Pleas on Wednesday next. The cases are New
Sarum and Manchester.

TUE CASE OF MADAME RACHEL. —The writ of
error obtained by Madame Rachel, who remains in New.
gate, is to be heard on Saturday, in the Court of Queen's
Bench, when Mr. MelEsh, Q.C., and Mr. Gibbons will
appear for the defendant; the Attorney• General, the
Sclicitor-General, and Mr. Poland for the Crown. Ti:o
error is in law--whether the court was properly conAi-
tuted.

The Bishop of Salisbury appends L.) a circular which
ne has issued to bis clergy asking th, m to make collections
for the Diocesan Church Bui:ding Society the following
observations :—" I cannot allow this request, which I
have much reason to think may be the last public ono
f may be allowed to make to my clergy, to go foal),
a'ithout reminding th-rn that I am seeking their
assistance in behalf of au object which must be amocgst
those dearest to a Christian's heart, the worship of Gcd in
His Church on earth. I would also at the same time thank
them for the prayers, which I }Lave the great comfort of be-
lieving are bt•ing offered up foi: me by them and their con-
gregations, to the end that I may bear my sickness patiently,
and that the sufferings of my body may by the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be made to minister to my sou:,'s rest and
peace."

The statistical table showing the number cf
candidates who have sent in their names for the Oxfoid
local examinations, which commence at the various
centres on the 24th of May, has been issued. The total
number of candidates is 1,636. namely, 1,200 jamors
and 436 seniors; last year the number was 1,553-1,142
juniors and 411 seniors, being an increase over the year
1868 of 83. There are twenty-four centres to which can-
didates are sent. The most considerable of these is,
of course, London, where 338 candidates were examined.
92 seniors, 246 juniors. Manchester comes next with 184,
35 seniors, 149 juniors. Liverpool had 158, of whom 53
were seniors; Bath 113, 20 seniors. Next comes Binning..
ham, 91 candidates. The lowest in the scale is Swansea,
with only 12 candidates. Windsor had 19 ; Lincoln, 22 ;
Exeter, Norwich, and Truro, 23 each.

SUSPENDED ANIMATION.—I have read of trees
remaining dormant for a season, but I shall tell you of a
case that is probably unique of its kind. There used to
grow against a wall of my house a Virginian creeper. It
was an old plant with a stem thicker than any man's
arm, and it spread across to the next honse, and my
neighbour has as good a share of it as myself. By some
accident the stem was broken or cut through—I think it
occurred when some workmen were about the place
IWell, it was cut down to the ground, and the place
I was paved over for some distance round about, to
. the roots of the plant were in a yard. Last summer.
Ito my surprise, a strong shoot of Virginian creeper
started by the edge of a paving-stone and grew four•or fir.
feet. That shoot is now pushing a new growth, .and I
have no doubt at all that my creeper will be restored or
the very spot where it stood before. The story so far may
appear nothing extraordinary. I must add that betweer
the disappearance and the reappearance of the plant Low
years have elapsed. That there may he no mistake ab9ut
my meaning, let it be understood that we saw notlanz c?
it tilic.u,gh four successive summers. I suppcse Soine'parf
of the root, still alive, was quierl by 91ejuteagekke I
irsitherilli6imbrimiariagais:77—