The Sun.
London, England, 1827-07-28 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE,-(THIS DAY.

COURT OF CHANCERY.

IN THE MATTER OF JOHN EREINGTON, A LUNATTr

Mr. SWADWELL stated, that, in this- matter Lord
Sefton applied as one of the personal. representatives
.of the lunatic, who the petition stated was now.
dead. There were seven next of kin of the hinatic,
leaving ;n Court a sum of 163,0001. Consols, which
was to be equally divided among the next of kin.
The prayer of the petition was, that, the sums might
be ordered to be transferred and divided among the
next of kin. They all consented, and were the only
persons intere:sted. This was rather a curious
lunacy, for the lunatic was permitted to act for him-
self, and then became a lunatic again.

VICE.•CHANCELLOR'S COURT.
MR. ARCHBOLD'S BOOKS.
ARCHBOLD V. SWFET, &C.

This was an appliCation to dissolve an injunction,
which had been obtained ex-parte to restrain—the
defendants, who are booksellers, from printing or
publishing a second edition,of Mr. Archbold's work
on the-Bankrupt Laws, and his Summary of Plead-
ings in Criminal Cases.
Mr. SUDDEN in support of the application said,
that Mr. Archbold had sold the copyright of these
books to the defendants for 400/. each, and at the
same time agreed to make, a regular assignment of
them whenever he should be called on; that contract
had never been rescinded, so that the legal owner-
ship was clearly in the defendants.
Mr. HEALD opposed_ the motion; he admitted
that such an agreement had 'been entered into in
June, 1825. Nothing material had occurred until
the August of the following year, when the defendant
Sweet wrote to the plaintiff, and in his letter said
that the- value of the copyright was not so great as-
, the author seemed inclined to think, and at the
same tiMe'declared:that he was quite ready to relin-
quish the agreement for the purchase of them,
provided the plaintiff should refiffid- the money
. • • -
which he had received on account of them,
and also return the outstanding hills which
were given for the remainder. Mr. Sweet had
flied no specific period for the repayment. The
consequence of this was, that Mr. Archbold took
time to consult his father-in-law, who resided in
Yorkshire, on the subject. The defendants did not
press the matter, thereby, as the Learned Gentleman
conceived, acquiescing in the delay. On the 9th of
October, however, Mr. Archbold wrote to defend-
ants, to say, that he was advised by his father-in-
law, to accept their proposal. The letter went
'on to declare, that he mentioned this fact to
Mr. Sweet's son en the next morning, but
that for regularity's sake, he now, made the
communication in writing; he at the same time
added that his clerk had been directed to repay the
money and securities which had been received on
account of the books from Mr. Sweet. In answer

to this part of the plaintiff's statement Mr. Sweet
declared that the money had never been tendered
to him by the clerk, and that if it had, he would not
have accepted it. The defendant admitted that this
letter from the plaintiff had been delivered by the
clerk, but the money alluded to in it. never (he said)
made its appearance. On the 12th of October the
plaintiff had another letter from Mr. Sweet, making
a similar offer to give up the copyright of the books-
with the additional condition that Mr. .Arch-
bold should not publish any new editions
of them until the copies then on hand should be dis.
posed of. Mr. Archbold replied, that he would ac-
cede to this proposal, provided he was allowed suffi-
cient time for the repayment. The affidavit of the
plaintiff went on to say, that the defendant Sweet
declared himself satisfied, and thus the matter rested
until the defendant had advertised a second edition
of the work on the Bankrupt Laws. Under' these
circumstances, the Learned Gentleman submitted,
that the defendants had agreed to re-convey their
interest in the_ books to Mr. Archbold, and that,
therefore, the injunction ought to continue.

The VICE-CiLiNcm.Lon,-in giving judgment, said
. that he had examined minutely the affidavits on both,
sides, vith the view of seeing whether he had been
warranted in granting the ex-parte injunction. The
result of this examination was,_ the conviction that;
without departing from the fixed practice of the
Court, he could not have refused. The Court
ought to be particularly cautious how it was led into
granting ex-parte injunctions, as they were frequently
the cause of irreparable injury to. the parties, and in
many instances affected their reputation in suelt
manner that money could not be placed in compe-
tition with the loss. It was not, however, for him
to introduce any new principle, but to apply the
rules of the Court as he found them. In the pre-
sent case it appeared that Mr. Archbold had, in
1826, agreed to sell the copyright of the works in
question—of this bargain he afterwards repented,
and on complaining to the defendants, was told by
them; that if he gave back the money and bills, to
the amount of 8001., which they had paid him, he•
might then have his copyright. It must, of course
not be inferred from this offer, that the plaintiff
was to have an unlimited period for the re-
payment, and as it was not made within a
reasonable time, the offer to rescind the contract,
could not be much relied on. The defendants, it
clearly appeared, had every disposition to accom-
modate the plaintiff, but no one. for an instant could
imagine that they would be contented to do without
their money until such . period, however remote,
as the plaintiff should take it into • his head to pub-
lish a new edition. It was very material in this case
that the plaintiff's clerk. had not made an affidavit of
his having the money and bills for the purpose of
handing them over to the -defendants. Such
an affidavit would have shewn that the offer had
been made bona fide, and that the clerk was
not only prepared to pay it, but .to pay it
instanter. Upon "a full consideration of the whole
of the case, his Honour was decidedly. of opinion that
the injunction ought not to lie continued. In coming
to this decision he merely declared . that Mr.
Archbold had not made out a. -sufficiently
strong case to justify the Court in conti-
numg it. There could be no doubt but that
the legal title to the copyright was in the -defend-
ants. At the same time it would be open to the
plaintiff to file a bill in this Court, if be should so
think fit, to compel the defendants to the specific
performance of their contract, to resell the copyright
to him. As to the question of costs, his Honour
must be guided by the authority of Lord Eldon,
whe had laid it down, that, if on the dissolving of
an ex pane injunction, it should appear that, upon
the applicatiOn for it, any material facts calculated to
enlighten the Court had been withheld, the in-
junction was in such a case •to •be ' dissolved,
with costs: Now his Honour thought that the rule in
question ought to apply here, and that the injunction
should be accordingly discharged with costs. At the
same time, he could not refrain from recommending
the parties to call in the assistance of some friend, who
should arbitrate between them, instead. of involving
themselves in expensive litigation: They had been•
for a considerable time connected in a very friendly
way, and as it would appear in a manner profitable
to both, and this course would, whilst it was more
honourable, be also more satisfactory to them in
the end.

An elephant's tusk was lately discovered, four
feet deep, imbedded in a lime quarry, at King's Newnbam,
near Coventry.

INDIAN DEATII-BLAST.---At Banda
Bundelcund (one of the northern provinces of Hindostan),
there are numerous rocky bills, which during the hot
winds become so thoroughly heated as to retain their
warmth from sun-set to sun-rise. The natives, at that
sultry season, invariably wear large folds of cloth around
their heads and faces, just leaving themselves sufficiently
exposed to be able to see and breathe. This precaution is
taken in consequence of the terrific blasts which occasion-
ally rush in narrow streams from between the hills. Per-
sons crossed by these scorching. winds drop suddenly to the
earth as if shot by a musket b:711. When medical assistance,
or a supply of cold water is instantaneously procured, a re-
covery may generally be expected, but if no immediate re-
medy be applied, an almost certain death is the result._
4nclon Weekly Review.