The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-06-26 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

cot• it m the t reason)) may a . iall lon iLay mos, ap,tal i
circumstances to any Commissioner or oflioer holding nosier THE DIVISION IN THE LORDS.
good behasiour, and that in every itth,r case the compensc (From the Doan Newt.)
Um shall be two-thirds The greater part of the sitting was
taken up in the discussion co: new clauses proposed by The diyisiou in the Lords on Saturday morning was
varies members Piogrew was also made with the lim taken in the fullest house tyLl-n haa assembled within
prisonment for Debt hill up to clause 5. The Attorney- living menuiry-325 peers having personally recorded
General proposed to alter the bill by alsdishing the County their votes, while 18 paired. On June 29th last year,
Court Judges' power If unlit isming for fraud, hut reta ttttt n 4 when the Suspensory Bill was rejected, 289 noble lords
it for contempt. The amendment
ussion, but was ulti tely adoplxd. gave rise to a long Ws-
voted. On July 9, 1864, when the Earl iif Malmesbury
cma
The evening sitting was given up to another discuulan on moved a vote of censure on Lord Palmerstm's Danish
pauperism and local taxation. The ones lon was a motion policy, 242 peers were Tirest-nt. On May 21, 1860,
by when the Paper Duty Repeal Bill was rejected, the
Sir Ittthbone, who spoke rather in the interest of the
large towns, where he al geed that the present Poor Law number present was 251. On July 2, 1858. the Church
system had utterly fai led. He complained that the want of Ifates Abolition Bill was negatived in a House of 139
urembeis. Ou li'elauury 26, 1857, Lord Derby's vote
roolorinity in management and other defects, ansorg which
ilb laid much stress ilk the floating constitution of the Poor of censure I. pn Lori PaltnerrAtou'o ChitteNt pt boy waa
Law tto vil threw into large towns • large manor pauperism lost in a }louse of 124 On June 17, 1850. a motion of
' :longed s ' - --- - dabs , - ' then Lord Stanley, disapproving
.., i . ___..

sober when we think of Philip drunk; and the jute-
merit of the Lords in not defying the constitutionally
expressed will of the nation !lethal veritably pro-
found, when we think that they once reAly mein!
to throw thinneelvel athwart the p.pular course. For
the bill has now to be fought through committee ; and a
great ninny of the" Malignants," no doubt, believe that by
an Implacable patience and an Irreconcilable per,everance
they may yet take hack in amendments a large share of what
has been conceded in the se:olid reading. how much this
crumb of comfort may be a orth remains to be seen. It will
Ira time err ugh to weigh it when the amendments are on the
paper The course ,if events gives us good maim for hoping
that the birds, instead of being strengthened for amend-
ments in detail by what they have done, will find themselv-s
irreparably weakened. And this weakness will be their
punishup lit for holding oat promises which they ought to
have known they could not fulfil.

WA above stated. Alter his return to England he be-
came a genealotrist, and for seven years he attended
the Record... Nice daily, and had been engaged in inves-
tigating ancient rolls, by permission of the Master
the Rolls, and was employed by persons to investigate
ancient peclivrees. Ile was acquainted with several
languages, and bad acquired some experience. His
attention was called to the article by one of the chief
clerks in the office, and by Mr. Hard 3, to whom he had
to make at, explanation. Rightly or wrongly, he
believed himself to be descended from the Earl of
Westmoreland and the Plantagenets, and he had his
genealogy there. There was not the least truth in the
suggestions in the article
Cross-examined by the golieltogGeneral You really be-
lieve, I teratand, that you are the heir general of Henry
VI ?—Yes, I do ?
And that you are rightful Doke of Lancaster, Normandy,
and Armitainel—Yes, I am.
And you say sour title has been recognized by the Queen
ow ler the Great Seal ?—Yes, in a license to Sir Thesiger as
Queen's counsel to plead for me
liar Maje,ty has not recognizel your title in any more for'
Dial document ? ( 4 laugh —No.
It would be rather awkward for her Majesty if she had,
would It not ,Laug'.ter, —Well, I don't know. Laughter).
WM-n did you assume these names of Neville and West-
morland I—ln 104:1.
All co, them at once I—Yea
You hail not been brought up a soldiert—No.
Pray where were )1111 a General I—ln the alloy of Corrientes,
In America—an army about 10,000 strong.
Ic WSA then elicited that the bankers had not been
paid the bill for which he bad got cash, and that it wax
" noted " for nomacceptance. Some one, he said, told
them, " Oh, this 111111 is not General Plantagenet at
al; he is travelling with a false name." If it had not
been for that they never would have arrested me.
The Solicitor. General: What, they have to put up with
the toss of the £4O for the sake of the honour ?—Yes. (A
laugh.)
Volt must have been surprised when the escort came f —No,
not stall.
It was a little mysterious, WM it not 4—Well, it wall a
little
Pray, can any duttneuished foreigner who goes about In
Spent %till a intuit many names get escorted about in this
way? (Laugher)—Well, I don't know. I was glad of it, as
I had not to 'lay for them ;A I togh.i
When you care tuod at Gibraltar did you defend yourself
—I acknoslelged the debt, but was enable ti. pay.
Who do you kuppose paid for your expenses? .1 really did
at think about it
Did you ever ascertain if the landlord was paid ?—I did not
trouble myself about it.
DM sou ever hear of this Don Ricardo?—No, I never heard
of mieh a Tom ; it Is all tutu,,, altogether.
Pray, have you asserted that sou are Count of Angouleme,
F.anders, Anjon, Alsace, ailil Chanapagite?—Yes.
And 01 Kent ?—Yes ; out that WAS some years ago.
re-esem nation: Sine IsIS, awl in this country, you
have been 1in0... as Generd Plantagenet llarrison ?—Yes;
oel 'Or It. Pelerave no addressed rue.
Y.m have w, liked ont • O. petiLree ?—Yes, I have.
. Awl you believe it I—Yen; and I can prove it.
Then, we will take it that you are tight.
- •

The Daily Tel,graph has no apprehension of subversive,
inimical, at ii manifestly 1 Instructive amendments being pro-
posed in coinnilitee ; for the lairds ere in no mood to trilli
with the subject, or to otter erlyit would, in fact, b no iooult
to their ow o house. On the other bund, amicable alterations
calculated to improve the measure in its v•rbitl construiitioo.
or in the 'waling of the several parts if the whole, it in al-
most Rune, fluiii.s to say, will be welcomed by the Government,
which certainly is sot no jealous itlY•llt its workmanship la
to resent any correction or strengthening Introduced by a
friendly hand. Of the intermediate ekes of proposals, thiire
made by taints who se- k to obtain improved terms for the
Irish Church, without invalidating the main principles of the
measuie, it is impossible to speak detinitely In anticipationof
views to be advanced in committee.

The Morning II- raid AM addresses itself to the character
of the oratory which marked the late debate in the House of
Peers. The wisdom or " unwisdom " of the vote to which
the House of Lords came on Saturday morning is a eptestton
upon which opinions will of course differ widely. 011 the
other hand, there can 110 lett one Judgment as to the charac-
ter of the debate which led up to that 110610011. It has
hardly Men equalled, it certainly has not be n torparsed,
within the lit rind of time for which the materials of com-
parison are available to us. The House of lords exhibited in
this debate a portion only of the power it possesses..
and yet what a monument of oratorical genius the re-
porte of these four days' discussion. constitute ! We will
not go over tne speeches and attempt to Pet forth their
relative merits anti defect., or to determine the rank
which each is entitled to lake hut we may sehot three
speeches which intdottldethy claim the hi _hest potion, and
I which we inime is the order in whima they wi I be generally
placed—those if the Bishop of Peterborough and of Lords
Salisbury shit COlll-1.1 Lot lien it's speech woe very flue,
tool 1e1iv,..41 wit,. the solute earl's old physical vigour its
eft et uull.l have been electrical. The hotro.r of t •te debate
remising with the bishops, and singularly enough three of the
four who woo htc tiler order this credit al-heated the house
for the first time. Whilst, however, the bishops male an h
tucee,eful dents nit-it peers mustered up enrage enough to
make their maid a efforts, or, it the) eel-,' to, me test to
roiliest tie privilege of addressing the iliac with obler peorti
1%,e defed awl the disgrace if the debate rest with her
sltdesty's NlMieter, Ihe speeches they male were all of a
third late order No 010, of theta stirt,ett Rey cleat ;rte.-
that ; they were 1.01 followod with interest ttr deemed worthy
of reply. Loll Granville, the Doke of Atall, the hord CIIAI-
- 1101 L oi Kimberley are tile spent ens enough, bur they
are not orators Lt trd ()motile is halo test when he is
joking, led of the others it cannot lie sobi (hit they vie ever
fclicitous when ix on their li ga. Lo lttissell, I,taufferaltly
autobtographical as he almweti hi,,-self 011 Midan night, is
3 et a head and 01..111.101.A taller t loin hi, youttgor ft teeda tool
disciples. '('he ‘ll4isteritilists will ea, perhaps. tivee with
our estimate of 'heir chiefs Tory trill rank herds I trativille
alai rley 811.1 the CMS e of Anti it as immortal speaker.,
if not great °rex ow. Be it so ; but the. what 11.114 lie tro
oratitricol and debating powe,r of the 110111se tti L Tuts, bite
mischiev.ois the idea ..f de Li oying the iwieperolence Iti such
as assembly, how mad the expectation of acianupdsuing such
a purpose !

Mr. 11,d)% of the Record °dice, was then called, and
stated that he hot known the tamintiff as General Plan-
txgevtet I arriatu for many years, particularly since 1563, and
shdh. ly nr some years befoln. Us believed he was sincere
thu ogh i eccentric to hs Claim tO descent frou the Plan-
tagencts. Upon tiltservi,g the article, he toil the plaintiff
th d if it wire true, a swindler could not lie admitted into
the Oltice. Alter Gott he miderst mini that an action Wia to
be brought by the plaintiff to vindicate hiS character, and
the plaintiff wan only allowed to rentain awaiting the result
id tn., a,tion. The plaintlf was constantly at the Record
Office, and was intrusted with valuable records.
I roa,,elatnineil by the Soloator-General : I knew the plain-
tiff only officially. I know nothing of him privately. I never
heard before to-day of what happened in Spain, as to his
being escorted shout the country in the way he has described.
I heard it to-slay for the first time. I thought him ec-
centric.
Re-examined I always heard he had conducted himself •
honourably and inoffensively.
Yin-titer evidence of the same sort was offered, but the
teamed Judge said he hardly thought it necessary after the
vhf-nice of Mr. Hardy.
This was the ease for the plaintiff.
For the defence a correapondence was put in which
hail passed between the plaintiffs attorneys and the
defendants, in which tint latter stated that they had
communicat-d with the writer of the article, who had
ileclarsd that he had no idea there Was a real living
General Platitagetiet Harrison, and that he had not
imputed to the General that he WWI a swindler, but
that what was represented was that there was a
nototious swindler who represented himself as General
Plantagenet Harrison. To this the plaintiff's attorneys
replied in these tenni i--
" There is but one General Plantagenet Ilarrison, whose
title his been recognised as sneh hy lier Majesty under the
sign manual, anti who it the lineal heir general of Margaret
of Anjou and Henry VI , and is rightfully Duke of Nor-
Lancaster, and Aglataine."
The plaintiff's attorneys' repudiated the supposed im-
putations, and demanded the name of the writer or a
retraction. fo this the defendants replied that they
had no idea of the existence of such a person as the
plaintiff, and had no notion of nicking any imputation
upon him. They continued,—
" If It be your wish that an appropriate letter, embodying
the contents of your letter with some modification should
be inserted 111 the Cornhal, the proprietors will be happy to
oblige you."
The offer was deClined and the action brought. The
di fence Was in substance to the t ffect indicated by the
defendants in this correspondence—that there was no
idea of the existence of auch a person as the plaintiff,
and no notion of making any imputation upon him, but
onlv to pourtray a fictitious character. and in the course
of his speech the Solicii or-t lent rd sal i that on a fir.
111111-1. OCC 04011 the late Mr. Thack,ray detcribii il an ab-
!UM barrister under the name ot Cockles, and it turned
out there wan, a distinguished barrister of that tame.
Mr. Thackeray was unconscious of the existence of
such a person. and surely it could not be said that Mr.
CockleA could have brought an action agaiiwt Mr.

-
Tharkeray for libel.
In support of Hunt defence the writer of the article, a gentle-
man named Young, was called. Ile said that in 1851. he WAS
sta.)ing in Madrid, and became acquainted with "Do
Ricardo," an English gentleman living in Spain, who gave
him the story or the materials for it. The name of " Plan-
tagenet Harrison" was mentioned to him by Don Ricardo as
the name of a mail travelling by that name. At that time he
believed the name to be fictitious—that is, that the person
, who assumed it had assumed it for a purpose moi hand under
that name, and afterwards passed lii Malag as a prince. He
so believed until the plaintiff made his complaint, Asill down
to that time he had never beard of such a person as
General Plantagenet Harrison, nor ad he ammone at
the time he wrote Cae whale that it woald apply to
any real living person of that name. This was the sat-
stance of the defence, but in cross-examination it was
eipleavoured to elicit that the rest of the article was
founded on truth, auil represented real facts and tersons.
"Dolt Ricardo," the witness said, was well known in Madrid;
that was not hit real name, lint he wou,d be recogiiiseil by
the descripti n given of him in the article, lie understood
that Don Riciadi was referring to some real person, some
person in Nlailrid, and passing as General Plantagenet
Harrison, and also that be was now referring to real tran-
site:firm. which had actually occurred. Din Ricardo hail,
In substance, made the statement above inserted as to the

General.
Snob was the substance of the case on both sides, on
which the Solicitor-General and Serjeant Parry ha:ing
ably addressed the jury, the learned Judge, in summing
up, told the jury that even slthou4h the writer of the
oriole was mit aware at the time of the existenc, of
the plaintiff, net as he hail, in fact, named him, and
iiad, in fact, attached these iuiputa!iotni to his 110alle
and character, he WM legally liable. Actual malice
(in the absence of any legal privilege) WSW it necesgary
to mist sin an action for libel when there was defama-
tion calculated to inflict injury. The ainnunt of
damages, which depended on the degree of the injury,
wasfor the jury, and although actual malice, if it had
existed, might have enhanced the Munages, here it had
not existed.
Verdict for the plaintiff—Damages, £513.
AN ELYSIUM FOR CATS.—SINGULAR
WILL.

The Columbus (Ohio) Journal gives a description of
a singular will made by a shrewd business man of that
city who had accumulated a fortune. It says that the
will disinhei its all the natural heirs of the maker of it,
and devises the entire property in trust for the estab-
lishment of an Infirmary for Cats. A most elaborate
architectural plan for the necessary buildings is attached
to and made part of the will. It provides areas for
that sweet amatory converse so dear to the feline heart,
and rat-holes of the most ravishing nature, to be kept
well stocked. The most ingenious contrivances are
provided for securing to the rat a chance of escape_ so
that the cats may not lose the pleasures of the
by finding their prey come too easily. High walls ars
to be built with gently sloping roofs, for the moonlight
promenade and other nocturnal amusements of the
cats. The trustees are directed to select the grounds
for this novel infirmary in the most populous part of
some American city, and the devises are to be pro-
tected by a ounpetent force of nurses from the ravages
of men and dogs. No person of the male sex is ever to
be admitted within the with-, and no female who has
children or is under thirty 3-ears' old. There are
hundreds of minute directions which we have no time
to note. One would suppose that in the foregoing pro-
vision the testator had exhausted all the eccentricities
of one man, however unique his nature; but the last
provision of the will seems more outrageously bizarre
than any that go before. Says the devisor :
"I have all my life been taught to believe that everything
Is and about man was intended to be want, and that it was
man's duty, as lord of animals, to protect all the lesser
species even as God protects and watches over him. For
these two combined reasons—flist, that my body, even after
death, may continue to be ma -e useful; and sec.rndly, that
it may be made iustrumental, as far as possible, in furnishing
a substitute for the protection of the bodice of e y dear
friends, the cats—l do hereby devi,e and bequeath the in-
testines of my body to be nyale up brio fiddlestrings, the
proceeds to be devoted to the pachase of an aczordeon,
which shall he played in the auditorium of the Cat Infirmary
by one of the regular curses, to be selected for that purpose
exclusively—the playing to be kept up for ever aunt ever,
without cessation day or night, in order that the Cats may
have the privilege of always Marinm and enjoying that in-
strument which is the nearest approach to their natural
voices."