The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-12-03 00:00:00

THE BRITISH PRESS.

Mr. TOden Will ?mined, and said he bad understood ftom C4pt.
Hareem at different times that he did not conceive the illness of
' Mrs. Thomdike to be occasioned by her regard for Mr. Welsh.
lily. Sergeant Vacausw made a most able and eloquent reply,
commenting with great power upon the .butte attempt cf the de-
fendant in stigmatise the the character of the lady he had ruined,
After having by his own letter confessed himself to be the sole au-
' them of her misery. Happily the poisoned chalice did return to
the lips of those who adminiateredit to others; and he trusted the
Jury would visit the defendant with damages that would mark
their scn•e of indignation towards one who had overthrown this
lady'r mind. debnuelteel her person, and made shipwreck of the
happiness of his client for ever.
Neither time nor space will permit its to give the eloquent appeal
of the Learned Sergeant. which excited very considerable interest
throughout a crowded Court.
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE summed op the evidence, dwell-
ing with great tome on the contradiction that was shown by the
letter of the defendant. and the decree he had this day set up;
which his Lord►hip deemed a great aggravation of his orlgical of-
: fence.

'P.P Jl•ry rettreti to corigolt together, takire the letter of the
tlefencilot flitb them, and n'ttr being about an hour absent._ they
rrrurn,t,. finding a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages Four Thou-
sand Pounds.

CONSISTORY COURT, FRIDAY, Dec. 2.

(Before Sir CHRISPOPHER nOIHNSONI
PORTSMOUTH S. HAWSON.

Dr. Lustitwor ow stated that thin was a curie instituted by
order of the commiuee appointed to manage the Earl of Poets.
moiith's person and property, his Lordship having been declined
• lunatic. The committee had given in a report, of T7' II the
Loral Chnneellitv approved. In this report the commit • directed
tha-t n suit should be instituted. rin it WAR neeessar• w expedient
that the marriage betweenithe Earl of PRVAP" 0141 - rt; any Ann
Hanson should be declared null and void. t. a Each.: Portsmouth
having been of unnound mind, and • ineapabl 4 Mavis), aueh a
contract at the peeled of the marriage. The illywastra solem.
ni:ed on the 7th March 1814. In Jar,. I/123. an 4wiluitiltion was
Apr ointed to inquire into the lunacy of the Earl of Pfhtpronuth, and
the itssue of that investigation wan a verdict of that Jury, declaring
the Earl to have been of umonnd mind since the let January 11109.
Appearance was not given in this ease until the Jibe: Ares given in ;
he would decline mentioning the facts contained in that libel, an It
had been perused by the Court, but would content himsdlf with mor-
inf!thatthe libel be admitted.

Dr. JsNNF.tt apPta;;ion behalf of Lady Portsmouth. He
commenced by observing, that the competency of the committee to
direct the institution of suits like the present had never been re-
ferred to the High Court of Delegates. The Coneistory Court and
the Court of Arcluil, however, had admitted the competency of a
lenatic's committet Ile should t °recline make no observation on
that point. The case before the Count was one of no ordinary im-
porteuce, looking to the interests of the parties concerned. The
Court sae called upon to declare a marriage null anti void which
had sueotsted for II years, because of the imbecility of mind and
Morey of the husband. The present suit was instituted by one of
the Earl's relations, who must hare been in porteession of the Esters
stare of mind when the marriage was contracted, which would hate
been the proper time to have inquired into the Earl of Portsmouth's
sanity. The peculiar circumetances of the case made it necessary
that nothing trifling or equivocal should be admitted into the libel.
The expenses of a proceeding, embracing a series of years from the
birth of the Earl of Portsmouth to the verdict of the Inquisition in
1823, would prove onerous and burdensome in the extreme on that
party on which it .should finally fan., This was an additional
reason why the Comet should be cautious not to admit irrelevant
and unnecessary matter to be pleaded in the libel. The Learned
Dr. next adverted te the several articles of the libel. In these articles
it was pleaded that Lord Portsmouth was born in 1769, end mar.
tied in 1799 to the Hon. Grace Norton ; that front his birth he was
a man of weak mind and understanding; wed that Previous to his
marriage with the Hon. Grace Norton a deed was exeented by
which the management of his property was given to trustees. Sub.
etquent articles pleaded that the Earl's) disorder increased in strength
and violence as he advanced in age, so that he actually became of
uneoencl mind and a lunatic at the period stated by the verdict of
the Jury. Ie proof of the Earl's imbecility and unsound state of
mind various acts were related. it was Stated that from the year
1800 the Earl had an irrational desire to use lancet. on his own per.
eon and to he let bland ; that he had an ineene desire to attend fune-
rals and assist in telling church bells ; that he was also addicted to
striking cattle violently, to attending slaughter-houses, to driving
'wagon-horses, and, by otherwise interfering in his firm-yard and
stables, acted in a manner incmteistent with his rink. On two oc.
casions accidents occurred to him, and he refused to allow the sur-
geon to afford him necessary relief until he van actually compelled.
Various other instances were pleaded in which the Earl acted un.
like a person of sound mind. He was one of the Governors of
G ilex's Poor Schools, Bloomsbury. He often attended the school,
interrupted the business, desired the children to sing psalms upon
improper occasions; and in one case, when a meetincrof theGoeer.
nom took place, he voted bath for and against the question. His im-
becility was so great, that he was frequently compelled by violence
to act as those around him desired. The circumstances attendant
upon the Earl's marriage with Miss Hanson were also pleaded as
evidences of his incapacity and feebleness of intellect. Mr. Han.
son, Lady Portsmouth's Witte, was stated to have been the Earl's
confidential solicitor, and one of the trustees to the deed before al. '
laded to. He told Lord Portsmouth that he would get him a wife, ,1
but strictly charged him not to communicate this to any of his
friends. In some days after, Lord Portsmouth was married to Mies
Hanson, in a clandestine manner, and without the knowledge of
any of his friends. A settlement was at the mime time executed,
in which the Earl made over a ronsiderable part of his property to
Miss Hanson. In answer to three arilcies, the Leaned Doctor
contended, that the averments contained in them were too general,
and did not specify the particular acts upon which they miter have
been founded. He also argued, that as the merrier- of 1799 was
allowed to have been valid and entered into by a capable
.person, It
should have been proved that subsequent to that marriaee Lord
Portsmouth had becoale imbecile and of unsound mind. The variotle
matters pleaded to have occurred subsequent to the Earl's marriage
with Miss Hanson, the Learned Doctor thought irrelevant; and
that the evidence of his Lordship's weakness and insanity should
have been confined to the period immediately antecedent to his
marriage. It should have been stated at what period his Lord-
ship's imbecility assumed the character of lunacy and unsound-
neer of mind. As to the conduct of Mr. Hanson, and his interfer-
ence in effecting a marriage between the parties, he insisted that
it should not have been introduce', as the libel did not plead that
Lady Portemouth was privy to her father's conduct, and therefore
she could not be re-punsible for it. Besides, the secrecy as well as
the haste with which Mr. Hanson concluded the marriage could
not by poesibility invalidate it.
Dr. DODSON, who was with Dr. Jetreern, objected to the ad-
mission of the libel, upon the grounds stated by Dr. Jenner.
Dr. LUSHINGTOX replied. lie agreed with his Learned Friend
(Dr. James.) that the case was one of great importance ; it was
necessary, therefore, that every particular connected with it should
be brought under the coosideration of the Court. In such a case it
was far better to IMO too much than too little evidence. Ills
Learned Friend doubted the competency off lunatic's committee
to institute a snit in these Courts; but the we of • lunatic would be
hard indeed, incapable himself of protecting his dearest Interests,
it those to whom care he was intrusted were not competent to act in
his name. As to Lady Portsmouth, he felt for her only pity and
commiseration ; but for Mr. Ransom's conduct he felt nothing but
abhorrence and detestation. The snares laid to entrap the unfor.
tunate idiot into a marriage with Mies Ilanson displayed a tissue
of fraud and deep-laid villany. Under all the circumstances, he
submitted that the libel offered to the Court contained nothing that
was not pertinent • nothing, the omission of which would not be
productive of proceedings calculated to render the case more in-
id in-
ideate and to increase the expenses. It was of the last import.
ance, not only to the patties concerned but to the ends of justice,
that no alteration sheuld be made, curtailing the facts which bore
upon the we.
Del's weeenn followed at the same side, contending that the li-
bel should be admitted in its present form.
.

die C. Roniesow did not think It necessary to advert to the
elaborate and judicious observations of the Learned Counsel at this
siege of the proceedings. If he Man satisfied on the general tenor
of the libel, and its general admissibility, he did not conceive it
necesstry to express hie opinion span particular reels. The case
was one of great intportance, originating in the highest Court in
the kingdom. Great remorsibility devolved upon the Counsel, and
it threw aq ttnerous burden upon the Court. Under all the cireum.
stances, he6ld not think It necessary, nor would it be advantageous
to the partite.. for bite to enter Into the minutiae of the ease. The prin-
cipal objettioneto the admissibility of the libel In ha' present form
seemed to be, that it contained declarations of what had happened
subsequent to the marriage of the parties, which, is was submitted,
was irrelevant ; and that it also contained matter concerning the con-
duct of Mr. Manse% which was irrelevant because it was not
pleaded that Lady Portantouth was privy to her father's acts.
Upon the first objection he would observe. that it was not argued
that matters happening ante etient to the marriage ought not to be
admitted. What had happened subsequent to the marriage was
offered on the same principle. If it was proved that a person was
insane before a certain and subsequent to that day, it was almost
prima facie evidence that he was not in a sound state of mind on
that particular day. As to the second objection, he had noticed
that Lady Portsmouth was not pleaded to have been privy to her
father's acts, and therefore that those sets were inarimi.aiWe. He
apptehended it was not necessary that privity should be pleaded.
The conduct of Mr. Hanson may be materinl, as it disclnsed facts
affecting the question of bard Portsmouth's sanity generally. Be-
sides, though it was not so pleaded, the manner in which Mr. Han-
son treated the Earl must have been known to Lady Portsmouth,
and was presumptive as to her privity. Without entering more
at length Into the case, he thought the libel generally admissible in
the form in which is had been btoaght in.
THE MARCHIONESS or WESTMEATH N. THE MARQUIS
OT WEaTMEATIf.

Dr. Jr 71fri itaid that, en the part of Lord Westmeath, he had
to move for the indulgence of the Court. Some matters had gone
forth to the public wh•rt made his Lordship particularly destroue
that the case should he gone through, end that the Court should
appoint two or three days after the ternt for sitting to hear the ar-
guments and give judgment. At present he should not think of
Kopp:ming any partteular day or days to the Court, hut he hoped
the Court would grant such Indulgence, of course with a full consi-
deration to its own convenience and that of others conceoned, as well
as to the particular circumstances.
I.dawswoTow said, that ex far as he was concerned, he lied
no opposition to make to tie proposition of his Learned Fiend.
lie should be ready to de bis duty if the Court appointed sittings
alter the term; but tic bzlirved his Learned Fraend as well a

•