The Special Commission was opened at Clonmel on Tuesday. A
report was circulated in Dublin, that Judge Burton had been murdered on his journey into Tipperary ; but he appeared on the bench at Clonmel. The trial of Cornelius Hickey and William Walsh, for the murder of Mr. Austin Cooper, commenced. The principal witness was John Patrick Ryan, an accomplice. The prosecution was con- ducted by the Solicitor-General ; who stated the case against the prisoners with much moderation of tone.
The judgment in the cause of Pike and Vigors, relative to the West Cork Mining Company, and which must be looked forward too with much interest by the vast body of London shareholders, was pronounced on Monday by the Lord Chancellor. As I stated in a former letter upon this subject, the object of the bill was to have the contract set aside for fraud upon which the company was formed. Mr. Pike, of London, agreed in February 1834, to form a company in London to work the mines upon the estate of thelate Lord Audley, in the county of Cork, for 165,000/. The company was accordingly formed ; and the transaction subsequently impeached by Mr. Vigors, one of the Direc- tors. If the prayer of Mr. Vigors' cross bill had been acceded to, the consequence must have been the dissolution of the company, and Lord Audley's executors would have been obliged to refund that portion of the purchase-money already paid. The Lord Chancellor said, there was no evidence upon which he could take upon himself to fix the brand of fraud upon the memory of Lord Audley. There had been no misrepresentation of the value of the property, which had been re- presented by eminent engineers to abound in mines of rich copper ore, and fine slates, &c. In fact, no one could tell at the present moment what those mines might produce if properly worked. He, therefore, decided in favour of the plaintiff Pike, and dismissed the cross bill, but without costs. This cause occupied twelve days of the last term in the hearing. It bears the most striking resemblance to the great English cause of Small v. Attwood ; and like that, will come before the House of Lords in the shape of an appeal. The defendant Vigors' cross bill was prepared -by an eminent London pleader ; and Lord Plunkett treated it with ridicule' as containing no less than twenty different prayers in- consistent with each other.—Dublin Correspondent of the Times.
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