The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-18 00:00:00

OWL'S WIT.

CONVENTIONAL IDEA. —To wash your dirty linen al
home.

CONVENTUAL IDEA.—Not to wash it at all.
FUTURE MOTTO FOR SIR R. PEEL.—Where there's a
Willes there's a way.
THE LATEST FROM AMERICA.—The Alabama claims are
half-caste.
TRUE TO THE CORE.—Mr. Whalley has taken strong
objection to the Address in the House of Lords having
been moved by a Monk.

THE COMIC PAPERS.

(From Punch.)

A SOUND JUDGE.—A musical critic
"A RESPECTFUL NEGATIVE."—The photograph that
flatters.

Irdsu ITEM.—There have been floods in Cork. Cork,
as usual, kept afloat notwithstanding.
WHOLESALE.—Patron (yawning, to artist shewing his
water-colour paintings) : " Augh, well, these sort of things
are all much the same to me. I'll take a lot by weight—
mounts and all. How much a pound for this lot ?"
LITTLE AND GOOD.—Gentleman : " Who do these pigs
nelong to, boy ?"--` Chaw' : " Why, this 'ere owd zow."
Gentleman : " Yes, yes; but I mean who's their master?"
----` Chaw' : " Why, that there little 'un ; he's a varmun
to foight !"

GREAT INGRATITUDE.—CumberIand and Westmoreland
people are about to petition the House of Commons against
the appointment of Mr. Henry Lowther as their Lord-
Lieutenant, Mr. Disraeli's last snug little arrangement,
done just as the door in Downing•street was closing upon
him. Unreasonable counties ! Why not be satisfied to
remain contented and happy under the sway of your great
family at the Castle, and so enable us, envious outsiders,
to realise the idea of a Lowther Arcadia?

(From Fun.)

A PAIR OP SPECTACLES.—The Siamese Twins.
POOR RELATIONS EVER WELcomE.—The Reduced Three
per Cents.

NOT MEDAL AND MUDDLE.—Who says our public
departments do not practise economy? Are they not
apparently going to delay the issue of the Abyssinian
medal until there is a chance of several of the claimants
being dead? And is not that a saving?
THE WEATHER.—The continued rain which has fallen
to our lot lately has given a great deal of dissatisfaction
in certain quarters. We may, however, record that the
cab interest regards it as particularly fare-weather.
Six HUNDRED LlNES.—Lamartine is said to be writing
a new poem of about six hundred lines to be called "For-
getfulness." It is to form his " literary testament." There
is much modesty in this desire to be remembered hereafter
by "Forgetfulness," and the sincerity of the intention is
guaranteed by the length of the poem.

(From Judy.)

A. GREAT "COMPOSER."—Chloroform.

THE 0 VEREND AND GURNEY MYSTERY.-111r. E.
THE WAG !—Mr. B. Osborne asked the Premier to
dinner a few evenings ago, and had a huge dish of Irish
stew placed before him.

THE NEW LAW COURTS—IN CONTEMPLATION,-It ap•
pears that should the New Law Courts be erected on the
site originally selected for them, the judges will have to
be craned up to their respective courts. However a
lawyer at the bar may like " a lift," we should say that
those in ermine wouldn't care much about it.

Letters from Norwich yesterday say :—I, It is
considered almost certain that a Royal Commission will be
appointed to inquire into electoral corruption at Norwich.
Meanwhile the writ will be suspended."

The final arrangements for the reception of the
volunteers at Dover were made at a meeting of volunteer
officers held on Tuesday at the Lord Warden Hotel.
Various questions relative to the removal of guns, the
lodging and victualling of the volunteers, &c., were put in
traiu for settlement. The review will be held on the
ground used in 1867, and the necessary steps will he taken
to procure the presence of the fleet.

VISIT OF LORD STANLEY TO GLASGOW.—The
North British Daily Mail understands that Lord Stanley
has intimated that he will, if possible, arrive in Glasgow
on March 30, in which case his installation as Lord
Rector of Glasgow University would take place on Thurs-
day, April 1. A party banquet is usually given to the
new Lord Rector on such occasions ; but it is believed that
it is Lord Stanley's express desire that any banquet which
might be arranged should be non-political in character.
THE QUEEN'S SPEECH AND THE PARIS PRESS.
—The Queen's Speech is generally published in Paris
shortly after its delivery in London, but this year there
was some little delay, owing to the disabled state of the
telegraphic wires. The Journal Officiel of Tuesday
announced, in fact, that of the five cables uniting France
and Belgium with England, two had been broken by We
late gales, and that the land communications which join
the three others on each side of the Channel, were also
broken, so that all telegraphic correspondence between
France and England was suspended. The royal speech
reached Paris, however, at four o'clock in the afternoon of
Tuesday, and was published in the Moniteur issued the
same evening.

A CONFERENCE ON CHURCH MATTERS.—Steps
have been taken, at the request of the Archbishop of
York, to hold a conference of the clergy and some of the
laity of Sheffield, to discuss Church topics, more especially
those affecting Sheffield at the present time. Neither the
exact subjects to he discussed nor the time of the con.
ference has yet been settled. The Archbishop himself
will preside at the conference, and the following form
the committee for making the preliminary arrange.
meats :—The Vicar of Sheffield (the Rev. Dr. Sale),
the Revs. J. E. Johnson, G. Saddford, W. Milton, T. E.
Sale, G. B. Atkinson, J. Aldous, and Mr. Arthur
Thomas ; Mr. Thomas and the Rev. T. E. Sale being secre-
taries. The congregation of each church will be invited
to appoint four lay members to represent it at the confe-
rence, the two principal objects of which are rumoured to
be the creation of a better feeling between the clergy and
laity, and to consider the ritualistic tendencies of certain
clergymen and their congregations. Other subjects will
doubtless be discussed, and the desire of the Archbishop
is to promote the usefulness of the Church in Sheffield
and neighbourhood.

CRUEL IMPOSITION.—Mr. Greenwood has just
made public some startling facts concerning loss of life at
sea. He has been informed by a well-known life-belt
and buoy maker of Sunderland that grave suspicions are
entertained of the life-buoys manufactured in London, and
supplied to the Jew slop-shops. Some of these were made
of the most indifferent materials, and bits of common rush
formed a sample of the interior. A number of seamen have
declared that they will have nothing to do with life-buoys,
for they would rather go down and have done with it,
than hang in the jaws of death a few hours with the
certai.

my of drowning after all. Not one in a dozen of the
buoys which are stamped " warranted corkwood,"
is anything of the kind. Mr. Greenwood hae
subjoined the result of his own experience in dissecting
three " good life buoys" bought at Shadwell, Ratcliff, and
Poplar. One consisted chiefly of straw, covered with
cork shavings ; another was stuffed with rushes ; and tha
third was composed of cork chips and rushes. They
were placed in water, and all sank in the space of four
houre,

THE TWO DEEDS OF OVEBEND, GURNEY.

AND CO.

A great deal has been said about the "two deeds"
executed by " Overend, Gurney, and Co." The charge
tgainst the directors in respect to them is that in their
lealings with the old firm, as to the assumption of the
husiness, they fraudulently separated their transactions
nto two indentures, the one disagreeing in many
material points from the other ; one having in
t such as might go before the world, the other
:ontaining what was most convenient to "keep
;lose." These two deeds are now published, and, as was
stated at the Guildhall, there is a great divergence the one
crom the other. This is most marked with respect to that
large item, " excepted accounts." These accounts are
iescribed, in a schedule to the second deed, as referring
to all matters outstanding between the old firm, the Millwall
company (transactions including a large sum), all accounts
misettled as to bankrupts, or companies in liquidation, all
accounts as to companies which had become dissolved,
and all open accounts "in respect of any unrealised
property or security (if any) accepted or taken by Overend,
Gurney, and Co., in satisfaction or settlement of any
account which has heretofore been open or subsisting and
msettled."
With regard to the "excepted accounts," the first deed
provides that the old firm shall still retain the title
:` 0 verend, Gurney, and C 0.," for the express purposes of
winding up, closing, liquidating, managing, settling,
and arranging any outstanding accounts, debts, liabili-
ties, transactions, business matters, affairs, or things
Incidental to or connected with the business of
Overend, Gurney, and Co., which the directors of
the Limited Company shall deem it expedient shall
be wound up, closed," &c. It is further provided that all
securities, bills, promissory notes, mortgages, or property
)f any description in connection with these accounts shall
be retained by the old firm. Indeed the spirit of the
whole arrangement would seem to be that the Limited
company should have nothing whatever to do with these
!natters.

In the second deed, however, a totally different agree-
ment is made. Here these " excepted accounts" are
required to be balanced on the 31st of July, and, in respect
to them, an " Overend and Gurney suspense and guarantee
account" is ordered to he opened between the old and
new firm. This "suspense and guarantee account" shall
(it is provided) be debited with the total amount
at debit of the " excepted accounts " when these
are balanced, on the 31st of July, with all
sums that shall become due from the old to the
new firm under the first indenture, with the rebate of dis-
count on current bills and notes, and with the unpaid
interest on deposits to the day of transfer. The account
(the deed goes on to say) shall be credited with the
£250,000, half of the goodwill which the Limited Company
agree to pay, the price of the premises and furniture, the
balances of " private ledger account," and the net
money realised from the securities connected
with the excepted accounts. Then comes a clause
enacting that any money lent to the old firm in
respect of these " excepted accounts" shall also be
debited to the " suspense and guarantee," and another
providing that if the old firm retain any realised securities
for the purpose of helping them to get in those not
realised, the same shall be debited when retained, and
credited when paid in. The "suspense account" was also
to be credited with the interest on the pre-payment of the
shares taken by the members of the old firm, with
the dividend on the same, and the produce on their
sale. On the debit ha'ance of this account
interest was to be paid. On the part of the limited com-
pany it was provided that they should have a lien on the
shares held—in payment of goodwill--by the members of
the old firm. The " suspense account" was to have re.
mained open until the 31st of July last, only, unfortu-
nately, these " excepted accounts" and other things had
long before so embarrassed the company as to cause it to
" suspend" payment.

It should be added that Mr. IL G. Gordon, one of the
directors of the Limited Company, says, in answer to the
charge of fraud, " All I can say is, that the lawyers are
alone responsible for the legal forms that were used under
their advice. I believe that two deeds were suggested and
prepared by an experienced counsel, under the instructions
of the company's solicitors ; and I know that they were
sanctioned by another experienced counsel, instructed by
independent solicitors, whom the new directors retained
for the special purpose of securing to the company a
regular and efficient transfer."

It is generally understood that Sir John Barring..
ton will be the Conservative candidate for the representa-
tion of Dublin city. It appears that Bradford will witness
a contest for the vacant seat after all, since the proposal of
a test-ballot has fallen to the ground. Mr. Thompson's sup-
porters have declined the request of Mr. Iliall's friends, and
the example of Manchester will not. be followed.
DEATH FROM THE STING OF A DEP.—Mr. Samuel
Perkin, of Beardon, in the Parish of Boyton, near Laun-
ceston, has met with his death under the following circum-
stances :—Deceased, in moving a hive of bees, broke the
comb. He subsequently went to look at the bees, when
one of them stung him in the neck, on or near the
jugular vein. He immediately felt faint, and died in 15
minutes,

FATAL ACCIDENT THROUGH THE FLOOD. -TWO
men employed by Mr. Hoperaft, brewer, of Brackley,
were attempting to go through the flood near Oxlane-
bridge, at Lenborough, in the parish of Buckingham, on
Friday, when the force of the current swept them away,
and the men and three of the horses were drowned. The
bodies of the men were taken to the New Inn, where an
inquesl was held before Mr. King, and a verdict of acci-
dentally drowned returned.

---
POOR ASYLIIMS.-111r. Torrens has given notice
that on Wednesday, the 10th of March, he will mova
" That in the opinion of this House the proposed
expenditure on district and separate asylums under the
Metropolitan Poor Act of 1867 is excessive; and
that no further outlay for such purposes ought to be
sanctioned by the Poor-law Board until full inquiry
shall have been made into the expediency of the same
for the better relief of the sick and infirm, and into the
ability of the ratepayers generally to bear such increased
burthens."

A man named Illing worth has committed suicide
at Oscett by burning himself to death. Persons who were
passing the house observed a glare of light proceeding from
the kitchen of the deceased, and went to see what was the
matter. To their surprise and horror they found Ming-
worth seated on a pile of burning coal on his own hearth in
a blaze. They rushed into the house, dragged the man off
the fire, and extinguished the flames. The deceased was
able to say, in answer to a question, •' I sat down on the
fire. It was my own evil deeds that caused me to do it."
He died shortly afterwards.

Another case of lynching is recorded in one of
the American papers. A cegro of 3lemphis eloped
with the white daughter of his employer. It
is not stated that the young woman was forced
to go with her black admirer, but her parents at least
objected, and somehow the negro fell into the sheriff's
hands. The Ku-Klux-Elan delivered the man from cus-
tody, and then proceeded to dispense justice in accord-
ance with their own ideas. They first poured
turpentine over him, " hung him up by the neck, and set
him on fire I When half roasted, he was allowed for the
moment to escape, but was shot down in the attempt." This
outragitio ono of the riamt_lorrilgo p rooord.

eIiANC.ERY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST MR,
HARVEY LEWIS, M.P.

Judgment in the long and important trial instituted by Mr.
Gray and other shareholders in a joint stock company called
Charles Lafitte and Company (Limited) against Mr. Harvey
Lewis, M.P. for Marylebone, and other defendants, was de-
livered on Tuesday by Vice-Chancellor Matins, in a court
which was crowded with commercial men. The
facts of the case were referred to at length by
his Honour in the course of an olborato judgment.
The Vice-Chancellor having disposed of the vari-
ous objections which had been taken by the de
fondants to the institution and character of the
suit as stated in emphatic language that the objects
of the meetings held by the directors as stated alone
were entirely illegal, and were for the purpose of giving
falsehood the appearance of truth. Consequently no one
who was a party to what took place would
be allowed to receive any benefit from the arrange li
-
ments then entered into. The intention of the effect of the
plan pursued by the directors was directly in opposition to
the rules of the bill, which did not admit of the purchase of
its own shares. The National Bank must have been aware
of the character of the proposed arrangement, and if not it
was ono of so unusual a kind that the directors ought.
It once to have set themselves to inquire into it.
They were bound to regard the money paid into their hands
for a specific purpose as applicable to that purpose above.
On the whole case," said the Vice-Chancellor, " I must
pronounce the proceedings as false, fictitious, and fraudu-
lent." The National Bank would be held liable for the re-
turn of the £230,000, as also must Mr. Harvey Lewis, Mr.
Kitson, and Mr. Bates, who had been guilty of a breach of
fxust. His Honour further decreed that the National Bank
tad Messrs. Lewis, Renshaw, Kitson, and Bates must pay
;he costs of the suit. He felt more sympathy for the share-
holders of the National Bank, but they must suffer for the
tots of their directors. Tho bill was dismissed against the
other defendants, without costs, except Sir John Ennis, who
was entitled to costs. The costs of the official liquidator
would come out of the estate from where the money was tr
be got.