The Press.
London, England, 1854-04-08 00:00:00

Xab3 aitb

THx VALIDITY OF A WILL, signed by the late
Duchess of Manchester, has been tried before Baron
Parke and a special jury at the Kingston Assizes,
upon an issue framed in compliance with an order
from the Court of Chancery. The ultimate disposal
of extensive estates in England and Ireland depended
upon the verdict, and the trial lasted through four
entire days, the decision not being given until Wed-
nesday afternoon. The will in question was executed
in October, IM4$, a few days before the decease of
the testatrix. It gave to the Duke of Manchester the
absolute control and disposal of all the estates be
longing to the duchess in her own right, and in which
he already possessed a life interest, and annulled a
former will by which the reversion of the property
was secured to the children of the duke and his late
duchess. His grace had since married again, and a
bill in Chancery was filed, on behalf of the children
of the first marriage, with the view of re-establishing
the first testament. Many family matters were mixed
up in the proceedings, but the chief question involved
related to the state of mind in which the testatrix
had been when signing the last will. Evidence of
professional attendants and servants was given at
great length on this point, and it was shown that the

deceased had been suffering at the tune from severe
illness affecting her brain, and that her reason failed
at intervals. Counter-testimony was adduced to
prove that the attacks were intermitting, especially
that on the day and hour when the document was
signed she was calm and rational. Ultimately, the
jury found a verdict establishing the validity of the
last will.

A MErnsmic, named Arthur Thomas Powell, has
been charged atLambeth Police Courtwith obtaining
from a young woman, named Charlotte Augusta Go-
vier, 71., by falsely representing that he had caused
the bans for their marriage to be published at Lam-
beth Church :
The prisoner and proatieutrix had, it Seems, been acquainted for
eight or nine years, and for the last eight or nine mouths the pri-
soner hadcourted the latter and promised her marriage. The com•
plainant gave him lL to procure a marriage suit, and subsequently
It. to get the suit out of pawn, anti on Monday week the prisoner
took her out of her situation and declared he should marry her
on the following morning At Lambeth Chun', where he had pub-
lished the bans. On the Tuesday morning he took her to the
church in a cab, and, while passing through the churchyard, he
asked her for some money to pay the church fee with. tilts gave
him two sovereigns, and in a moment after she was seized by a
female who lives with the prisoner, and the latter instantly ran
away.
Mr. Powell, the clerk at Lambeth Church, deposed that no
bins had been published there ; and the beadle of the parish de-
posed to having followed the prisoner on his turning away from
the churchyard, and saw him spring one steamboat then passing
at the end of Llinlbeth-stairs.
The prisoner was remanded.

AN APRIL-DAY Hosx has been played off upon Mr.
J. Smith, proprietor of a Mont Blanc panorama in
Leicester-square, which obtained publicity through
the proceedings at Marlborough street Police Court,
to which it led. On Saturday last (April 1) Mr.
Smith received a letter bearing the signature of Mr.
Albert Smith, which induced the recipient to apply
to Mr. Hardwick for a summons. The letter ran
as follows :

Sir,—l understand that you are in the habit of making imperti-
nent remarks about me in your lectures. If this is not dropped,
I shall he under the necessity of giving you a sound thrashing
the next time I see you ; so, if after this any more remarks are
made about me, I shall take the law into my own howls, and
teach you that in England a gentleman is not insulted with ha-
punity. I have always refrained from making the slightest allu-
sion to you in my addresses to the London gentry, and shall
expect you to do the same in regard to myself. After this Lode*
you win take the consequenceit—l am, yours, ke.,
ALBS'S Su ITV.
The magistrate immediately granted the summons,
which was given to an officer of the court to serve,
but, luckily before anything was done with it., Mr.
Albert Smith saw • report of the case in the news-
papers, and wrote at once to Mr. Hardwick, stating
that he " had written no such letter, and was utterly
at a loss to comprehend what it all meant." The
summons was accordingly cancelled.
_

AN birosTon of gentlemanly address obtained a
watch and chain worth 61/. from the shop of Mr.
Dent, chronometer-maker, in the Strand, on the
false pretence of being the Earl of Dalkeith, eldest
son of the Duke of Buceleuch. He ordered at th e
same time the Buecleuch arms to be engraved,
seals, diamond studs, and a considerable quantity of
jewellery to be sorted out, for which he subsequently
called again at the shop. Meantime, however, Mr.
Dent had caused inquiries to be made which resulted
in his detecting the fraud, and the customer was
ultimately handed over to the police and kept in cus-
tody upon remand after examination at the Man-
sion-house. The police officer who apprehended the
prisoner said he had reason to believe that there
were several charges of a similar kind against the
prisoner from tradesmen at the West-end, who had
shown much credulity in their transactions with him.
THP: TRIAL OF RICHARD HVOH SWITH, the plaintiff
in the celebrated action of ejectment for the recovery
of extensive estates in Somersetshire, commenced at
Gloucester on Thursday. The prisoner is charged
on two indictments for forgery and perjury ; the for-
gery being that of the alleged will produced in support
of his claim, and the perjury committed in the evi-
dence he gave in his own behalf when that action
was tried last summer. The proceedings occupied
the whole day, and were unfinished when the court
rose. Much interest was excited by the trial.