The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-23 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

DECISION AGAINST LORD LONSDALE.—Vice-Chancellor
Malin has made a decree, ordering the Earl of Lonsdale
to remove a jetty which he had erected, in his character
of riparian proprietor, in the bed of the Solway Firth.
The earl defended the action on the old ground that the
Firth was no longer of any importance to trade and na.vi-
,,ation.

A WINDING-UP CASE.—The case of the International
Life Assurance Society came before Vice-Chancellor
Malins on Tuesday, having previously occupied the court
portions of four days. It was a petition for compulsory
winding up, presented by a Mr. White, a shareholder,
and also by a Mr. Rye. The ground upon which a winding
up was demanded was that the business of the society had
been transferred to the Hercules Insurance Company,
and the petitioners contended that such transference was
contrary to the deed under which the International was
constituted. The Vice-Chancellor remarked that the case
was one of the most embarrassing he had ever met with.
The circumstances were most peculiar, for not only was
the condition of the company studiously concealed from
the shareholders, but £B,OOO was given to Mr. John Sheri-
dan for brirging about the transfer, and £15,000 (£5,000
actually pail) to Mr. John Richardson, one (1 the officers
of this decayed society. Ultimately it was decided that
the petition must stand over to test the validity of the
transfer.

CHARGE OP LIBEL AGAINST A RAILWAY COMPANY.—
In the Common Pleas a somewhat important case has
been brought by a Mr. Biggs against the Great Eastern
Railway for libel. It turned on the right,
or, perhaps, the propriety, of railway companies
placarding along the lines the names of persons
over whom they have tr'u•nphed in the law courts. The
decision in some petty case of a disputed fare had gone
against Mr. Biggs, a City merchant, and a thoroughly
respectable man, and forthwith Mr. Biggs saw himself in
print at all the stations. He resented it, and hence the
action. The company was finally let off by the with.
drawal of a juror.

TIIE IMPORTANT WILL CASE.— On Tuesday thg trial of
John Spong, maltster, for forging a document purporting
to be the last will of Henry Trimmer, deceased, was con-
cluded in the Central Criminal Court, the second day of
the renewed proceedings. The prisoner was found guilty,
but recommended to mercy on account of his family, and
judgment was postponed till next session.

One hundred and sixty-eight rats were killed
one day last week at the farm-yard of Donnie, Inverness-
shire, on taking down a single stack of corn of last year's
crop.

SERIOUS ILLNESS OF LORD BELHAVEN.—This
noble lord is reported to be fast sinking, and no expecta-
tion of his recovery is entertained. His relatives have
been telegraphed for.

The London correspondent of the Dublin Express
states that the reports of the Irish Railway Commissioners
are to be submitted to the Marquis of Salisbury, with a view
to his advising the Government with regard to the propasal
to purchase the lines.

The promoters of the Australian Meat Agency
intend giving a luncheon at the Central Depot, Norton
Folgate, London, on Tuesday, in order to celebrate the
introduction of Australian meat into the United Kingdom.
The prospectus of the company states that the meat can
be sold for at least 50 per cent. below the present price of
butchers' meat in this country.

The Gibraltar Chronicle reports that an earthquake
shock was distinctly felt in various parts of the town at
10.50 a.m. on the Bth instant. It was severe at the upper
and lower signal stations, and also at the Windmill-hill
telegraph station, where the clerks were thrown off their
chairs. At the north front it was likewise severely felt, but
it appears not to have visited either Europe or the South
Barracks. The shock was accompanied by " a rumbling
noise, not unlike distant thunder or heavily-laden waggons
passing along a paved street," but no material obange was
reported.

THE WELLS MURDER.—Sweet is still in custody
in Taunton Gaol. Indeed, it is not certain yet that he
will derive any benefit from the confession made by
Bisgrove ; for the latter—who has been in the prison hos-
pital on account of epileptic fits—has given some tokens
of being got quite compos mentis. He will have to be
closely watched, and carefully examined by medical
authorities. Inquiries will also have to be made into his
antecedents. He wished to dictate a letter to one of his
relatives on Saturday in very strange terms. No ordei
respecting Sweet has yet been received from the Home
Office, and, at any rate, Sweet's liberation is not likely to
take place just yet. Monday, January 4, is the date at
present named for the execution.

On Monday afternoon, an influential meeting was
held at the Cotton Salesroom, Liverpool, when Sir
Charles Fox explained the project of making a railway
tunnel under the Mersey, connecting Liverpool and
Birkenhead and the Lancashire and Cheshire Railway
termini. Sir Charles said that the engineering difficulties
were comparatively slight as compared with those
encountered in making the Thames Tunnel. The pre
liminary expenses for the "heading," which could be after-
wards used for gas pipes, telegraph wires, &c., would not
exceed £20,000, and the cost of the entire tunnel with two
lines and rolling stock wuuld not exceed £4C0,000. Sir
Charles pointed out that now 20 millions of people crossed
the Mersey annually.—Resolutions in favour of the scheme
were unanimously agreed to.

A LITTERATEDR'S WlLL.—Young writers who
findit some imes difficult to make both ends meet will read
witlisome amazement a paragraph in the Illustrated London
1%-eit, which states in cold, formal language that the will of
Mr. Natthew James Higgins ("Jacob Oxnnium")•has been
prolted under £70,000. Now, we all know (say the yOung
menialluded to) that "Jacob Otnnium" wrote for the Times
andithe Coredll, but how did he manage to make such an
immense fortune unless he had a fairy godmother? Well,
be had. But that desirable relative took the shape of
plan Cations in the West Indies, from which "J. 0."
derived the greater portion of his fortune ; he (lid not
tnakcilit all by his pen, comrades, though he was an
indelhigable worker. Let us who have not sugar planta-
tions ado our best, and who knows but, some day or another,
the Itlittitrated News shall add to the paragraph announc-
ing o fir,lamented decease, " his will was sworn under
C 70.1 41:1