The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1861-12-03 00:00:00

Legal.

--.7,..-'

Wtsbiram O. Wimoiase.—The inquiry into the
alleged lunacy of William Frederick W
of toellling Hall, Nal folk. the Linehan.' of "a young
lady," whose maiden name was Agnes Ann Legate,
formerly of Weymouth, but wh.l within the lath
year or two has berm known by the name of Lady
Agnes Willoughby. was brought to a conclusion an
Saturday. Tile fanciest privacy wes observed through-
out, and consequently weary not in a poeitionto preseut
our melees with • report of the pruceedinga. but,
having been at no lath. pains to leeru the circumstances
surrounding Mix mysterious awl in every way remark-
able tase, we are eitabled to publish the following facts.
which maybe relied upon us trustworthy and authentic.
The proceedings before the Lords Justices, the Right
11011. 84 J. L. Knight Bruce and the Right Hon. Sir
G. T. Turner, originated in a petition eigned by Maur-
General Charles Ashe Windham, Captain Windham of ,
Cromer. the Marquis of Bristol, Lord Allied Hervey,
M.P., Lady Listowell, awl others, prayiug that • writ ,
Sc feeeticeingree-crolo might issue against yeung Mr. :
Wiudliam. The investigatien touts place on Friday and
Saturday at the Court of the Lords Justices in Lincoln's
Inn. That the doors should have been closed and the
public rigorously exclu led is a circumstance emelt to be I
lainenk-d. The interest of society demands that •
matter involving consequences an avriouP, and which I
may possibly lead ultimately to this young gentleman
being consigned to a doom which is dreadful to
contemplate, should be tried in a court open to all the I
world, instead of being heard its the obscurity .1 a
secret tribunal. It is nederstood that Mr. Windham
himeelf desinal that the precectlings might be public,
but on this point be was overruled. The mode of
proceeding by annuls et written •flidavits, too, is very
objecti 111 l able in a case of this nature, and it can no ,
louger be pleaded as an excitor that this course is !
rendered necessary by the rules of equity practice, as
: the Legislature has long ago provided that the Court of I
Chancery inay examine witsuatses vied ewe, though, as I
the power id discretionary only, the dispensers of our
equity jurisprudence rarely avail theiuselves of it. le
sopport of the pc titien the affidavits of General
Windham, Lord Alfred Hervey, raid other relatives,
were read. They alleged a verity of harinn•scerurn
boyish 'ranks un the tart of Mr. Windham. A great ,
many particulars respecting the extravagant life he led
in town were also entered into, and great wess was
laid upon the marriage which he had contracted. The
facts respecting this unfortunate alliance arc, we i
believe, as follow. : Mr. Windham, upon coming into I
his immense fortune, was unhappily led into society by
no means At for a gentleman of his station of life. I
Among Ilk acquaintance was • lady named Agnes Ann
Ragers, better known by the name ofp guts Willoughby, ;
whom he accidentally sew riling In Hyde Park. Of
thir lady, who is possessed of considerable personal I
&amnesia Mr. Windham became deeply enamoured,
and mede het a propasal of marriage, which, however, I
she at first refused. This may be accounted for by the
fact that she was already itt I,oSaVaaioll of LOU° • year,
winch she must necessarily give up on her marriage. I
A solicitor was coasulted, and the lady eventually coo•
malted to change her name (ruin Rogers to
Windham, on condition that Dero per annum
should be at once settled upon her for her seire-
rate use, atel that her husband, on attaining twenty-
eight years of age, should increase this sum to .C 1,1.40.
This was done. and the marriage was toleinnised at St. I
John's-wood Church, on the 30:It of August text. As I
might be expected, it tensed out a most unlieppy one, I
and at the expiration of about a month they parted ; I
not, however, before the fair bride heel beet, presented
by her busbend with jewellery to the value of I:14,000.
She returned in a short time, and has resided with hint
at Intervals until a few days ago, when she sgain left
him. These circumatauces are now alleged against Mr.
Windham an tending to show that lie is of unsound
mind, and incapable of aanducting Ilia own affairs. Other
allegations state that he cut down a large number of
trees no his estate, that lie was of dirty habits with
regard to his person, that lie was guilty of cruelty to
animals. And that he was in the habit of driving a loco- I
motive engine, attired in the costume of • railway
guard. (Inc of his former servants deposed, amongst
other niattena that lie used to seem very loudly at
eight, and that she thought he could not Ire right in his
iniod ; it lilt another deponent stated that lie told Mr. ,
Windham's father of his sot's defective intellect when !
that young gent's:man was only Ave years of age. It I
was also atated that Mr. Windlisin lied a most inon I
dinate appetite for food. The statements of the Medulla I
gectlemen concerned fur the petitioners were rather I
vague and muatisfactory, dwelling more upon the state
of Mr. Windliani's mind in general, without entering
into details. Indeed, one doctor did not even veuture
to assert Mr. Windham was inerine, but contented
hinoulf with expressing an opinion that it was
extremely improbable that he would be capable of
managing his affairs. To rebut these charge*, a maws of
medical testimony was brought forward, tending to show
that Mr. Windham had conducted lain affairs in •
manner which precluded all idea of insanity,
and that his puerile freaks and expciative
habits were only what might be expected from a
young gentleniac whose educat had been neglected,
and who lied a large sum of money at his nennesiel. It
was afiritied that, with the exception of the purchase
of jewels for his wife, he had invariably acted in a way
which clearly showed thud he knew the value of money,
and was not too ready to part with it. The allegations
that lie neglected personal cleanlineee, and that lie was
guilty of cruelty to animal+, met with • fiat contnelic.
tion. Several giadleinen who visited him at Fellbrieg
Hall in September last, asserted that lie then behaved
in • perfect rational manner, and exhibited no sign
whatever of aberration of intellect. The torch justicea
after hearing the •flidavits on either side, considered
that a prini,l facie case had been made out, and allowed
the prayer of the petition. A commission of lunacy
will thcreforc be issued and • jou empanelled to try
the queation whether William Frederick Windham is
or is not capable of managing his own affairs. This in-
vestigatien will of course be • public: one, and no doubt
the facts of the case will be thormighly sifted. One in-
cident relating to this extraordinary affair is worthy of
especial notate, as it tends in 1101110 ilegiee to elucidate
the manner in which the evidence ageinst Mr. Windham
was procured. When be found that doubts were enter-
tained as to his sanity, lie at once called in five eh.inent
phys.cians, who had an interview with thint of more then
two hours' duration, and the result was that they de-
clare.] lii.o to be of sound mind. Mrs. Windham, how-
ever, who was present out the .rocesion, had en idea that
Dr. Neale, one of the medical gentlemen, had been in
cominuitication with MajenGeneral Charlem Ante
Windham ; and in order the better to ascertain the fact,
she iiivited Dr. Neale awl Mr. Gwynne to dine with her
huaband end his solicitor. Mr. Bury Hutchinsen, at the
Ruston Hotel. Thu invitation was accepted. What
conversation took piece it is of course impossible for us
to say, but certain it is that it resulted in a quarrel.
1/r. Neale, in a frenzy, hurled a allies at Mr. Ilutchin-
eon's head, which hail the effect of stunnieg him. He
then seised a chair, and dealt • trememloue blow at the
luckless solicitor, felling him to the ground. Mrs.
Windham fainted away. whilst her husband, who upon
this occasion certainly evinced a large aunuuuitt of coin-
mon seine, hastened to call in the aid of the police.
These funetionaries soon made their appearance, and
Dr. Neale was conveyed to the polies station in Little
Albany-street, on • charge of •seault. On searching
hire, however, it was discovered that he had in his
possession a number of papers relating to Mr. Wind-
liern's defence, which, Mn. Hutchinson averred, had
been extracted from his pocket. The matter now as
sumed a much more serious phase, and • charge of
feloniously stealing from the person was superaddcol to
that of aritualt. In the course of the teeming Major-
General Windlum attended at the police station, and
bailed out Dr. Neale, who duly attended at the Mary-
lebone Police Court the following niorning toanswer the
charges preferred agaiust him. The CASIO, however, was
privately settled, and the doctor -as diselierged from
custody. By what means this sodden change in the
prosecutor's intention was effected, we do not pretend
to say : but that the charge was made •nd dinnissed, as
we have elated, an inspection of the police-sheet at the
Little Albany-street station, under date of the 7th
inst., will fully prove. We may remark in conclusion
that Mr. Windham was in Weymouth on Sunday, and
we niay safely vouch that he is not half so insane as
President Lincoln is in waging war with the Southern
States. He is evidently an uneducated young man.
lie is,'as we have already stated in • former article,
jest such • person as one might imagine a young man to
be who had been left at a very tender age withuut con-
trol, and with plenty of money in his pocket. It seems
that since his marriage things have not passed off so
smoothly as could be wished, but he states that he was
not aware of her previous history, and hence he has
found out the truth of the &deg* of—" Marry in haste
and repent at leisure." We do not anticipate that •
jury of hie country will pronounce him insane, aud we
sincerely trust that he arid the young lady whom he has
taken "for better fur worse" may live in amity to-
gether for many years to come.
The first claim for damages resultingfrom the Clayton
Tunnel accident was tried on Wednesday in the Court
of Exchequer. The plaintiff was the widow of James
Gardner; the defendants were the London, Brighten,
and South Coast Conipany, who pleaded not guilty:
The verdict was in favour of the plaintiff, who re-
oovered E5OO damage?,
The Smethurst case turned up once more in the Court
of Probate on Wednesday. It relates, as our readers are
aware, to the will of the late Isabella Banks, and was
directed to be tried before the Court itself and • special
jury.
RFAIONATION OF MIL JORTIOI HILL—The rumour
of the resignation of Mr. Justice Hill, on account .1 ill.
health, is now verified, the fact of the resignation being
communicated on Wednesday morning to the members
of the bar in the different courts at Westminster Hall. I
Speculation is active as to his successor, the general im-
pression being that the vacant judgeship will be offered I
to Sir W . Athertou, the Attornee-General. His elev..
lion. should it take place, will, of course, necessitate
other legal changes, the most important of which would
be the probable appointment of Sir Roundell Palmer to
All the post of Attorney-General, leaving that of the
Solicitor General open to various aspirants to forensic
distinction, among whom are mentioned the Tunics of
Sergeant Pigott, Yr. Collier, Mr. Mellor, and Mr. Lush.

A CAPITAL HUNTING Gnougn.—The Belgian jour-
nals state that in the forest of Ardennes for the slime of
twenty years very few wild boars were seen, but that ,n
the present year the forest is infested with them. On
one day lately as many as twenty-five were seen together
and on others forty, sixty, and even 100. The latter
were in • potato field chum, to the forest, and a gentle-
man who was out shooting fired at them, and though
his gun was only loaded with shot killed one. Last
week • singular incident occurred. A drove of pigs
were sent to feed in a potatoe field near the village of
Ham, on the borders of the forest—a number of the
wild boars rushed in among them—the pigs took fright,
and lan as huit as they could into the village, the wild
animals aothinpanying then,. All the men of the place
were at work in the fields at the time, and the women
and children, seeing the animalti,rushed from the hsusew
in disuiay. Many of the pigs and their visitors entered
the cottages, and did considerable damage. At last
the wild bi.wars returned of their own accord to the
forest.

A Smear Rrroar.—"W• will we stop until we
have swept every rebel into the Mexican Gulf," ex-
claimed an excited North , while addressing a
casual group on 'Change one day this lest week. "And
bow lung will you take about it?" inquired • Southimer
who had just walked up. "You took four months to
get 31 miles from Washington, and you went back
again in three hears awl a-hall."—Olaagow MorstAg
formai.

Tug WAR IN AMERICA.
---
1 Ylot.aerna or -Mc Exnainn Fban.—ln vulgar but
cress odes parlor*: the Federal Government has put
, 1 its foot in it. The arrival of the 1., ii sta at Soutlisuip. I
tois on w.,3,,,,,,,,n,r, prsxlitced a /11:41, greater sensation, I
I and Juni:shed the nieteriolefor it ,nuch grace, 4,,...d.,
than the arrival oft!,, Confederate war steamer a few 1
1 days previously. Ity the intelligence brought by that 1
1 asersel, ne learn that the ',Ater bad feeling which has
I existed in the Northern States of Alm ric.4 'nth reference
i to this country ever since we meow] ad the South as a
s belligerent poser, Inc broken out into an overt ant.
' From attempting to wound awl insult sue nether.' auses
Iceptibilities by the Ilse of Ltliguag. emu, we 1,,,,ind fir,
i eeeeeee than the idle air, the servants of the Federal 1 Government have at last ventured Ito insult our national
gag, hy boanling a sternum over which it floated, end
larretting four gentlemen who sailed under its protec- '
ti . 'I lie facts of the case are al follows, awl when we i
! have detailed theta it will be sett' that a Inure gross out- I
1 rage upon the honour of a nation, ley one oil tense of !
I friendship with it, has rarely b eu perpetrated. On the I
I this of Ifs:lobar last the steamer Theodora, with Certain I
1 Southern commissioners CIII beard, namely, Messrs. I
Slishlell and Mason, with their secretaries, Messrs. 1
Enatace and Farlanel, ran the blockade off Charleston.
' On the Ali instant they left Havartilah on board the
English mail steamer Trent, and on the folloaing day
las the vowel was approachine a narrow passage between I
, res fs, opposite the Pa-radon Grand Lighthouse, Old 1
! I.34llll3lllChannel, a large war vessel was seen waiting •
I the steamer some distance *head. The Trent, on nearing
I the stranger, boiated her ensign, which met with no .
Tswana°, but when the English vessel was about an '
eighth of a wile distant from her suysterions neighbour,
the latter fired a round shot aernsa her bows, at the same
time running up the Federal fig. 'name-liab:ly after-
; wards the American fired a shell from • leng pivot gun 1 '
! on her forecastle, the tuisaile hoisting about one bun- '
1 dred yards to the lee of the Trent. On receiving this I
demonstrative salutation, the captain of the Trent 1
I hailed thecommander of tbe American, asking what it I
I meant, to which the other replied that he wanted to '
I send • boat on board. Suiting the action
• to the word a boat was lowered, and in a few
I minutes more the deck of an English cleanser was '
' profaned by the hostile feet of twelve Americanr
'' 1 ,
' two of them being officers. The latter demanded
' the production of the Trent's, passenger list, which was,
' as a matter of course, refused. Liesit Fairfax, the
1 officer in command of the Americans, then sail lie was '
! instructed by his commander, Captain Wilke to 1
; demand thst the Southern Coniniiiwioners un board f
' should be given up, • demand which met with what it ;
I deserved, viz., a dietiuct and peremptory refusal on the 1
! broad and intelligible ground that a Federal vessel sal 1
1
I no right to take any person from under the British flag. , I
; The Commissioners were standing near, and at once ; !
! proclaimed themselves, at the eau/0 time claiming the I '
1 protection of the Ilag. Fairfax declared his intention I
I of taking charge of the steamer, and at a signal Mon ' 1
Ihis hand, three more boats were sent alongaide, with I '
, thirty marines and about sixty sailors. To resist such I 1
' a force would have been madness, and Captain I I
Williams, the naval officer in charge of the mails, and I 1
consequently the Royal representative on board of the 1 I
Trent, confined himself to the following emphatic pro- , I
test :—"ln this ship I am the representative of Her S i
Majesty's Government, and I call upon the officers of I 1
I the ship and passenger,' generally to mark my words, I '
i when in the name of the Britisili Government, and in
! distinct language, I denounce this as an illegal act, in I !
I violation of international law, and an act of wanton 1
I Jersey, which, had we means of defence, you would not I
dare to attempt." The men in boat* then boarded, and I
went on the deck of the Trent with unsheathed cut- ;
Idea•s. The commissioners were forthwith arrested and I
placed in the bode, and hiving stated that they were ! ',
short of provisions the American coolly asked for a ! 1
supply sufficient le maintain their prisoners. This was '
was Also concedol under protest that they were given '
only for the use of Mr. sliaddi and his fellow-sufferers. ' I
Fairfax declared that his enters were to take Captain I
iMoir and his papers on lewd Isis sliiii, and that the •
Trent was to be moored nearer—• piece of insolence 1
which elicited a reply worthy of an English sailor.
Captain Mar said, "You will find inc on the quarter-
deck. If you waist sue you will have to conic there for
vie." Subsequently the American thought better oft,
I and did not wont him. As might have been expected,
' the indignation of the passeisgers on board the Trent,
! on witnessing the proceedings we have detailed, reached
I a height which, in the case of Englishmen, prompted
I only to one course of action, namely, to
I fight the invadere. This in the circumstances,
would have been the very madness,' of
chivalry; but unless the apology on the part of the
Federal Government be prompt, and the reparation
ample, there lutist be fighting, and severe fighting, too,
in order to wipe out the insult which has been offered
to us. The intelligence has mine upon the nation like
a thornier clop in the etillunu of a summer's day, and
the response made to it by the national spirit is unniim-
takealsle in its meaning. At Liverpool, as soon as the
facts became known, a public meeting was called, and '
a resolution denouncing the act, arid calling upon the
Goa eminent to aesert the " dignity of the Britiels deg,"
was curried. There were hundreds who could not gain
admisaion to the 'netting. In London the greatest
excitement prevailed. The funds and public markets—
those harometen which indicate the state of the political
weedier with unerring certainty—fell on receipt of the
intelligence, as the mercury falls before a deluge of rain.
Dietraction and panic seized the markets of the Stock
Exchange, end any business transacted was tran.cteil
with tie greatest difficulty. Console fell as they have
not fallen for years from political causes ; railways fell ;
markets generally went down, down to their lowest
prices • and—significant fact--the only comniodity for
which 'there were numerous inquiries was—Saltpetre!
We (Sta.dar I) underatand that the Government, as
soon as they reeeived information of the procemingt on
board the Tient, placed the law officers of the Crown in
possession of full inforniation on the enbject, and that
on the decision the latter may arrive at the ulterior
action of this country will depend. Some differences of
orinion seem to catch as to whether the officers of the
l ailed States ship acted a Rhin the strict hinits of is..
ternational law or not. Ti most Englishmen it will he
a startling. and by no means pleasing, novelty, to be
told that the British flag cannot save peacefull peseta-
germ, travelling under its protection, from outrage and
capture. And it is difficult to understand on what in-
telligible principle the Confederate cominimioners on
board the Trent can be looked upon as contraband of
war. By the large majority of tee public the sffair is
regarded as a deliberate insult to the British flag, and an
intentional provo,ation on the part if Mr. Seward.
°misses sir inc FRENCH PISERS o;r4 THE CAPTFIIR OF
THII SW (HERS COIIIIIS.SIoNERS.—The Patric of Thurs-
day evening, in an article signs,' by M. Ciiclieval-
Clarigny, maintains that the agent of the Washington
Cabinet had DO right to arrest the Southern commie.
siollers while on lasrill an English mail steomer, and
asserts that the Etsglials Goveinnieut has ordered pre-
paration, to be insole for the immediate dispatch of re-
inforcements to Canada. The Pays and Conatrinrienne/
censure the conduct of the cournander of the Federal
Tensed, San Jacinto.
THF. C % MUIR OF THR FLDERAL CONLIISSIONFIIB.
The Leeds Mercury contends that any attempt to make
out the conimiesioners of a rebel government as contra-
band of war is absurd. 'No possible definition of con-
traband of war ORD include them. They are just in the
same position as ordinary rebels, and so how aa they are
under the protection of • foreign flag thelr seizure is as
much an outrage upon that hag as the seizure of the
Duke d'Erighien by Napoleon in neutral territory was
an outrage upon the rights of the Grand Duke of Baden.
It is exactly as if a forcible seizure of an American rebel
were insule by American troops in an English town. If
President Linooln were to demand the surrender of
Comurisoioner Yancey by the British government, and
were to Nand over troops to seize him in him house and
carry hint off to an American 'unreel, the outrage on in-
ternational law would be no greater than it is now. It
is right that England should know and feel how she has
been insulted. It is right that national feeling ehould ,
be plainly manifested, as it is sure to be, upon the out-
rage just offered. It is right that all awes should join ,
in demanding of the British government firmness and ,
promptitude in such • criaia, and should join to support ,
the Brinell government in the measures it may take to
ensure reparation.
The American telegrams which reached London on
Thursday niglit, seem to cast doubt upon the alleged
capture of Beaufort by the Federate. They had,
however, established themselves in the neigbboarboorl;
and, according to the Charleston papers, the Confede•
rates were preparing to defend the town. Colonel
Cochrane, whose significant speech at New York in
favour of sniiing the slaves against the rebels created
much discussion has delivers-4 a singular speech at
Washington. General Cameron, the Secretary of War,
was present on the no:Aaiun, and isi said to have folly
endorsed Colonel Cochrane.* :pinions. A further tin of
of the desperate nature of the conflict is cuntained in
the statement made by the Southern papers, that black
fags had been hoisted at Charleston and Savannah, as
an indication that they would neither give nor eak
quarter. The Federal army in Miesuuri has evacuated
Springfield and retired to St, Louis, from which it would
seem that the Unionists are not yet strong enough to
risk • battle. Eighteen Federal Officers, prisoners of
war at Richmond, have been selected to be hung,
should the Federal Government hang the crew of the
privateer Savannah. It Is reported that • United
States war vessel has captured a large British steamer,
supposed to be the Fingal, laden with aru.s, at Key
West.

PROGRESS OF ENGLISH ART MANDIACTERIS.—" To
the intending purchaaer of so important an article of
personal adornment and utility, it is of some import•
acre to be informed where lie may meet with these more
tastefully-embellished watches, and be thus saved the
annoyance and lose of time of a fruitless search. To
such we shall be doing a service by informing them that
the show-rooms of Ms. J. W. Denson, of 33 and 34,
Ludgate-hill, and 48 and 47, Cornhill, contain a rare
and must extenaive atock of watches, ornamented with
exceedingly beautiful designs ; indeed, their exquiaite
taste leaves nothing to be deeired by the educ ted. The
high repute which Mr. Benson has attained for the
qualities of his manufacture stands secoild to none.
Here, then, will be found perfection of workman•liip,
combined with the highest order of art in embellials-
inent. Mr. Benson's show-rooms are the moat din in-
geisha! in the City forspaciousuose and the unex•inpled
variety of his stock."--11orninp Adrertiaer.—Beisson's
Illustrated Pamphlet, post free for two stamps, is
descriptive of every construction of watch now made.
Watches safe by post to all parts of the globe,
SUPSNABCSDANCZ OF EDUCATED WoMEN.-1 must
confer that my sympathies and my judgment lean every
day more and inure towards the eatablislonent of souse
scheme by which educated women may with safety be
introduced into the colonies, and incline lees and less
to their commencing new trades at home. It will readily
be believed how this islea has grown and inteniiiified,
when I say that my odice la bsaitged every day by appli-
cants for work, and there is scarcely a county or city in
the United Kingdom has not sent some anxious inquirer
to use. Unfortunately, my experience on this point is
not singuler :—Miss Faithfull, at the printing pre.s,
. llks Crowe at the register offices, Mrs. Craig at the
telegraph station, have all a si AAA ilar surplus list of appli-
casita. A short time since. 810 women •pplied for one
situation of £l5 per annum; still later (only ten days
ago), 250 women applied fur another vacancy worth
ouly £l2 a year (the daughters of many professional
men being among the nuusbens); and on the •utlionty
of Mrs. Denison, lady superior of the Welbeck•street
Home, London, I may state that at an office similar to
those already alluded to, 110 women applied in one day,
only to Ind that there was literally not one situation
for any one of sbem.—dliat Ryes Bativrariva.