The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-16 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE-(Thig ray')

1-10USli; OF LORDS.
YELVERTON V. LONGWORTH OR YELVERTON).
(Present the Lord Chancellor, Lord Brougham, Lord
Chelmsford, Lord Fiingsdown, and Lord Wensledydale.)
At the sitting of their lordships this morning,
The Attorney-General said that the time at which certain
letters were written was a critical period in the history of
the case. inasmuch as they tended to throw some light on
the position in which the parties were placed before going
to Scotland. The letters he had read unquestionably
showed that marriage, honourable marriage, was the only
matter in question then, and that in the corres-
pondence, Miss Longworth was expressing to Major
Yelverton her views of the impediments to their marriage,
arising out of his circumstances, and his pecuniary arrange-
ments with his uncle, which he had disclosed to her at
Balaclava, No impression had entered her mind except
marriage—marriage under ordinary circumstances, and in
the ordinary way. It had been a great shock to her to
hear of the impediments which made it impossible that the
marriage could take place, notwithstanding the mutual en-
gagements which existed between them. In her letters
ehe proposed to discuss these impediments, and she sug-
gested many sacrifices that she would be willing
to make to enable him to relieve himself of his
pecuniary difficulties. Then came the alternative thrown
out to her of a secret marriage. She was most unwilling to
listen to the proposal, but by degrees she came to entertain
it, and what he ((he Attorney-General) believed to be the
true interpretation of many of the letters bearing on the
eubject. These were the only terms proposed—these were
the only terms she thought the man she loved capable of
proposing.
The Lord Chancellor inquired upon what branch of the
inquiry all this correspondence bore ? Did it bear at all
upon the Irish marriage ?
The Attorney-General said not upon the Irish marriage
but upon the other branches of the subject. It was necese
sary that the antecedents of the parties be inquired into.
The Lord Chancellor was afraid they would never come
to a conclusion of the case if they indulged in those vague
generalities. There was no pretence, as he understood, for
saying that there was any connection between them before
they arrived in Scotland.

Lord Brougham inquired whether what took place out of
Scotland by cerrespondenco might not throw light upon
what took place in Scotland, giving a meaning to certain
declarations and actions, and making those declarations
and actions clear. which otherwise would be ambiguous.
The Attorney-General said he could not carry the matter
beyond that, and proceeded to quote from the letter to show
what was the real position of the parties at Balaclava and
other places befcre their arrival at Scotland. He adverted
to the use of the word "friend," which it had been urged
bore a certain meaning, but he (the Attorney-General) had
never heard that the meaning attempted to be put upon it
was the accepted meaning in English society,
and held that
it might have been used in the most virtuous way by a
woman who was looking up to a man for marriage. It was
a grow libel upon the respondent to put any other interpre-
tation on it. Quoting from other letters written by Major
Yelverton, he contended they were not the letters of a man who
had made improper proposals to a lady, which she was not in-
tdhisepscasme de ttoimaceceeepnt.fi writtenrmLeeattetrhseeam eviews, by Miss Lougworth at
and were indeed
susceptible of no :Way meaning. llyj or Yelverton, on
account of his debts avd his pecuniary arrangements with
his uncle, had intimated to her that he would be obliged to
live abroad, and she, in return, said she was ready to make
a sacrifice to their mutual position, by assenting to a secret
marriage. These were the cases on the one side and the
other ; and then came the discussion between them
what the nature of that sacrifice should be. There was
not a word in the correspondence that was not applicable
to the sacrifices she would have to make by consenting to
asec
mondade any marriageiSl'jor Yelverton up to this time had
never dishonourable proposals to her, and had
never done anything to show that he was capable of any
dishonourable proceeding, When, therefore, she said she
would submit to what he wished, she merely meant that
she would submit to a private and secret marriage, how-
ever distasteful and distressing that mode might be of
realising her dreams of happiness. That was clearly
Major Yelverton's view of the case, as appeared from his
subsequent letters, and it was upon that understanding
that their meeting is Scotland was arranged. Up to this
time the correspondence had almost especial reference to
arrangements for marriage.
Mrs Yelverton and her two friends arrived at five minutes
to 12 o'clock, and took their accustomed places in the
Reporters' Gallery.

The Attorney :General urged from these letters relating
t 3 marriage that the respondent could not be supposed to
mean that she submitted to that which had never been pro-
posed. In her letters bearing upon this point there was u
great deal of poetry and sentiment, much that was romantic,
but nothing of harm; noshing that was unusual in the
slightest degree. He thought their lordships would have
difficultyno

The Lord Chancellor was understood to express his
assent.

The Attorney.Gencral reforal to a phral,,T. in one of the
respondent's letters in which she said that the moral
dilemma in which tin.), had been placed might prove the
salvation of them both, and contended that no immoral
interpretation could be put upon it, as urged by the counsel
for the appellant. In the same letters she spoke of the
secret marriage which had been proposed, and repeatedly
urged that she did not wish him to do anything that was
dishonourable with regard to his relations.
Lord Kingsdown-- A secret marriage would have been
just as inconsistent with his engagements to his uncle as a
public marriage.

The Attorney-General apprehended that what she meant
was, that the did not wish him to put himself in a position
by their marriage to prevent him from paying his debts,
The respondent distinctly pleaded that he had told her of
these engagements in the Crimea, and also that he could
not at present many on account of them. What she meant
was, that she did not wish him to make any sacrifice on her
account, and that an avowed public marriage might, per-
haps, stand in the way lof his getting from his rela-
tives money for the discharge of his liabilities..
The learned gentleman said ha would read extracts from
a few mere letters bearing on this point, and then he would
land the parties in Scotland. These extracts bore a simple,
natural, and obvious construction, and it was, lie thought,
only
an impure mind that could put an immoral Construe-
ti,n upon them. Having brought the parties to Edinburgh
the learned gentleman said he should now depart somewbat
from the facts to inquire what was the law in Scotland with
which they would have to deal. lie referred to the dicta of
Sir William Grant, in thg case of Dalrymple, and other
high legal authorities to show the character of the marriage
law in Scotland, and how it bore upon this particular case.
Lord Brougham—lf a man said to a woman in Scotland
de cerba in presents "I marry you,,,
would that be a legal
marriage ?
n I undoubtedly, if there was
Lord Brougham—Without any
gAttrsecyr-Glietnietr.al—yes
specification of time and
The Attorney General—Yes.
The learned gentlemen then proceeded with his exami-
nation of authorities.
place h i e
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COURT OP BANKRUpTcY.
(Before Mr Commissioner Goulburn.)
re the commissioner this morning were
devoidTh e 07,
interest.
s b
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was appoinlNteldt.oraLL'aZolii:rne'd dividend meeting.
ThTeoredaapypeared to ba an impression that some examination
would be gone into, but as at the hour appointed none of the
legal gentlemen in the case were present, it may ba inferred
that acme arrangement had been come to.

inevcid:of7:9llently but a very
Ye
general taste
pgrcooddusocfdeidtshubelyapytahesde
of the traders
Beautifully arrange!, val.!
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exposure
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art and taste which abound and cannot be rnade a public
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B,ubiteeidngtototohecog..setnl
osifntghemvualrtiietutydew;iththinertehfaotrecebmu.eta aatfathinet
ready assistant. Take our jewellers' ow__
4°lflYwmwois'nt dboewaus,tiffuorl
with instance,the
exterior,aod com
epra
traekteheenten
housestdeweesapl
especially
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as an ex'aronle,
a--that of Messrs
ttahe largo stock that
geB, unable to place
publicwliich displaysis ackno acknowledged dggoeedd
s: oabnadvmo
iotnheaomt
oTf.sAid.esainmdvf2reortnt
and Co.,
to show olws4t,henmegt
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street. This
tstilwindowl,no
even
infi theis
may be selected from of French cocks, dressing cases, ar-
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ticks of ornament for the apartment, and costly jewellery.
There is profusion in every department, and there is an ex-
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the doubting and those desirous of making advantageous
purchases should pay 154, Regent-street, a visit.—Court
Journal.

DR. STANLEY CHEERED OR HISSED ?_The cor-
respondent of a weekly contemporary
writes :
" You will hardly require me to point out to you a mistake
in your summary of news for last week. Not only did the
,iion-placet of Dr. Stanley's degree get triumphantly out-
voted by a majority of six to one, but the dean himself did
us the compliment of ignoring the narrow minority of ouch
oontrary elements. and became one of us.
Your mistake
arose from the fact that the Prince of Wales's degree was
conferred on him at a special congregation, in company
only with his suite. Few of those present will forget the
eloquent Latinity of our public orator's peroration when he
presented the dean for his degree, and when at the close of
an enumeration of his various merits, his striking power of
biography, his love of truth, he addressed him thus—' Te
igitur Oxoniensibus tuia invidemus. Tabs cum sis, nester
este,' the thunder of applt.use effectual!y drowned the
spiteful hisses of the opposition, and made the dean feel, as
he afterwards said, that a little opposition added a zest to
the honour. I should not have troubled you with this
note, had I not felt anxious to claim the honour of Dr.
Stanley's connect ion for our University.