The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-17 00:00:00

A Scotch Romance,

A morning paper gives a summary of the main facts of
a remarkable case Which is being heard in the Scotch Court
of Session. The plaintiff is Mr Gordon M'Leod, and the de-
fendant Mr Hans G. Leslie, of Denlugas, and the object of
the action is to ettablish the terms of a document which has
been lost. The plaintiff was married in 1854 to a sister of
the defendant, greatly against the wishes of old Mr Leslie.
In May, 1856, Mr Leslie was seised with the illness of which
he died, and then for the first time since the marriage sant
for his daughter, Mrs M'Leod, to attend him on his death-
bed. In April of the same year Mr Leslie made a settlement
by which he provided for Mrs M'Leod the life interest of
£5,000, the principal sum to go to the children of the mar-
riage. This fact was communicated by the factor of Mr
Leslie to Mr M'Leod when he arrived at Denlugas, after his
father-in-law's death. Before the lid of the coffin was
finally screwed down, s mysterious incident occurred
which was the beginning of a train of circumstances which
led to the present action- The factor states that he was
ordered by Mr Leslie to place a certain packet near his
heart when ho died. The factor told Mr M
M'Leod that it
merely contained a pair of slippers which a lady had I
worked for the old gentleman, while another story I
was that it enclosed a lady's portrait. After the death
of Mr Leslie his estates were taken up by the defendant
in the action, Mr Hans George Leslie, the only son, who
at the period of his father's death was captain in the 37th
Bengal Native Infantry. Mrs M'Leod died about the
year 1860, leaving three children, for whose interests Mr
M'Leod, as their administrator, prosecuted the action.
Shortly after his marriage, and before his father-in-law's
death, Mr M'Leod states that he had been told by the late
Mr Shepherd, a writer to the signet, in Edinburgh, that
there was a contract of marriage between the late Mr Leslie
and his wife, under which Mrs M'Leod had certain rights
as one of the children of the marriage. Mr M'Leod could
find no trace of such a document, but about three years after
his wife's death he received from a gentleman who had been
a clerk with the late Mr Jas. Souter, W.S. (brother to the
Denlugas factor), information of a much more definite
kind. It appears, from the mass of evidence already
taken on commission, that two contracts had been made,
about 1828, between the late Mr Leslie and his Rife'
Miss Ramsay, of Barra; the one antenuptial, in view
of the marriage, and the other postnuptial, in imple-
ment of the agreement made before marriage. By these
contracts the late Mr Leslie provided an annuity to his
wife of £5OO in the event of her survival, and also a sum of
£4,000 payable to herself and her heirs, The lands of Den-
lugas were conveyed in security of these provisions, He
also bound himself to provide £16,000 for the younger
children of the marriage in the eventof there being an heir
male, or £20,000 if no heir male was born of the marriage.
Mrs Leslie died many years ago, Mrs M'Leod being the
only younger child of the marriage who survived her and
Mrs Leslie, while the defendant is the heir male born of
themarriage. These contracts have in some mysterious
manner disappeared, and it is to prove their contents that
the present action has been brought. They were in exist-
ence in 1854, when Mr M'Leod was married to Miss Leslie, old
Mr Leslie having sent them to James Souter, W.S„ of Edin-
burgh, by the hands of his factor, to obtain the
opinion of counsel upon their effect. The greatest :secrecy
was observed in this transaction. Lord Kinloch, one of
the judges of the Court of Session, formerly Mr. Penney,
of the Seotch bar, and Mr. George Moir, ad vocate, have
given evidence that they gave an opinion at the time stated
on such a case. Five persons alone were acquainted with
the existence of the contracts, Mr Sheppard, W.S. who had
been agent for the Barra family, and who first gave Mr
M'Leod a hint of their existence, being dead. The five were,
old Mr Leslie himself; Mr Souter, the factor; Mr Souter's
clerk (who copied the papers, but who has, as yet, not been
discovered—the factor declaring he cannot now tell which
of his clerks it was) ; Mr James Souter, W.S. ; and his
clerk, who laid the papers before counsel. Mr. James
Souter and Mr. Leslie having died, and the clerk who made
the copies in the factor's office not being known, the parties
who knew of the contracts were reduced to Mr. Souter, the
factor, and the clerk of the late Mr. Souter. Mr. Reid,
who was the sole clerk of Mr. 3", Souter, states in his evi-
dence that he made copies from the principal documents,
blank so; far as regarded the names of the parties and of
the estate, and that the copies were so made out by order
of Mr. James Sorter, that it should not be known nor
traced that those had reference to the marriage contract
of Mr, and Mrs. Leslie, whose daughter was interested in
them, and was married, or about to be married, to Mr.
M'Leod. The plaintiff found that infeoffment or seisin had
been taken upon the marriage contracts by search in the
Register House in Edinburgh, where such documents are
preserved. In this instrument the twu contracts are nar-
rated and the attesting clauses given at length. The name
of the solicitor who prepared the contracts of 1828 was thus
discovered, and although he had long been dead, his busi-
ness books were traced, it is said, to the waste room of a
paper mill, and the whole charges for preparing the con-
tracts found carefully stated, including the price of the
stamps and the charge for "extending" or copying out
upon the stamped paper. Moreover, in an old tin box, the
draft of the postnuptial contract was found, in the hand-
writing of the solicitor who had been the agent both for
the Barra fancily, of which Mre. Leslie was a member, and
for Mr. Leslie himself, But the contracts themselves
have not been discovered. The question accordingly
recurs :—What did the packet contain which was buried
with Mr. Leslie ? The factor declares he does not sus-
pect that the parcel contained the contracts, because
he had received instructions in relation to it in
1851. The case is still going on, and the Court may find
that the existence and terms of the contracts are suffi-
ciently proved, in which case it will be unnecessary
to invade the tomb with the view of discovering what
the sealed packet really held, If the Court should
decide in favour of the plaintiff, his children will be
entitled to the sum of £16,000 provided for the
younger children of the marriage in the contracts of
1828, as coming in place of their mother, Mrs. M'Leod,
and to the half of £4,000 as joint heirs with the defendant
to old Mrs Leslie ; the two sums amounting, with interest
since 1856, to considerably more than £20,000 ; and in ad-
dition they will be entitled to the sum of £5,000 which old
Mr Leslie provided for them in his trust settlement, evi-
dently intending that to be in place of, and not in addition
to, the provisions in their grandmother's carriage contract.

IYesterday Cardinal Wiseman celebrated the
translation and procession of the relic of St. Simon
sto,:k in the garden and chapel of the Carmelite Friars,
Duke's. :q.ne, Church-street, Kensington. The ceremony
which is one of ancient date, is held in high regard by the
Catholic Charon. The high mass was sung by the Very
Rev. Dr. Hearn, the Vicar-General; and after the Gospel,
a sermon wa.:4 preached !.-7 the Rev. Father O'Sullivan.
At the close of the service 3 collection was made from
the shrine of St. Simon Stock—an English Saint whose
period dates beck twcoe the distance of "The Reformation"
—otherwise to as far bok as six hundred years ago. The
Carmelite Fathers, who Are established at Kensington,
take their name from Mount Carmel, in Palestine, on the
top of which they have a mol: eatery. Mount Carmel is
celebrated as being the place where Elijah destroyed the
priests of Baal.
THE CASE OF THE SAXON.-I:lere is a naval
court martial in session at the Philadelphia Navy
yard for the trial of Acting-master Charles Dananhower,
of the United States navy, upon a charge of mill der on the
high seas, in shooting James Gray, mate of the British
bark Saxon, in October last, off the coast of Africa. The
charges are preferred by Mr. Seward, Secretary of State,
upon the information of Lord Lyons, British Minister. The
case was submitted to a court of inquiry, after the return
of the Vanderbilt, on which the accused was serving, and
he was fully exonerated from blame, and justified for the
act, and the finding of the court, it was understood, was
approved by the Secretary of the Navy. His Lordship, the
British Minister, not being satisfied with the result of the
proceedings, has induced the Government to convene a
court-martial for the trial of Mr. Dananhower, and the
case is, as we have said, in process of trial,—.Were York,
.Herald.

M, Taine's " Irstoire de la Litteratnre Anglaise"
having been presented to the French Academy to compete
for the Bordin Prize, the committee unanimously recog-
nised its claim to that distinction. The Academy, how-
ever, in its last sitting, rejected the conclusions of the com-
mittee, and decided that the prize should not be awarded
this year. It is said that the philosophical opinions of the
author were the cause of this decision.

The Correctional Tribunal of Montpellier tried
on Saturday eighteen persons charged with
attacking the houses and assaulting the persons of the wit-
nesses who gave evidence in favour of M. Armand in the
recent trial at Aix. Two of them were acquitted, and the
others were condemned to terms of imprisonment ranging
from six months to a fortnight.

Messrs. Baring Brothers and Co,'s agents in
Venezuela advise, under date Bth of April, that they
had received for 55 per cent. of the import duties
for about two weeks, from the Custom-house of La
Guayra, 8,981 dols. 41c. ; do. Puerto Cabello,
33,193 dols. 96c.; making 42,175 dols. 37c.; and
under date 22d of April further collections are ad-
vised for two weeks more, from the Custom-house
of La Guayra, 9,061 dols. 81c.; do. Puerto Cabello,
9,593 dols. 26c. ; making 18,655 dols. 7c."
The accounts from tile various manufacturing
havegenerally been of
Manchester there has
adissatruiscftasetfoorr hyt
character. past weekbeen a good demand for both cloths and yarns for
A t
home use and for the Indian markets, and prices
have shown increased &unless. In the woollen dis-
tricts of Leeds, Bradford, and Huddersfield there
has been a more active inquiry for seasonable
goods, while a fair amount of business has been
transacted in the hosiery and lace departments of
Leicester and Nottingham. In the hardware dis-
tricts of Birmingham, Sheffield, and Wolverhamp-
ton the general prosperity of trade is considered
very satisfactory in most departments.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE,

RADCLIFFE RACES.--MONDAY.

The Stand Plate (Handicap) of 50 sovs, for all ;gas ; win•
ners extra. About three-quarters of a mile.

Mr T. Cliff's Ross, 5 yrs, Bst 31b (H. Taylor) /
Mr T. T. Drake's Worthless, 3 yrs, 6st 101 b

_
(Tomlinson) 2
Mr Martinson's Lisette, 4 yrs, 7st 61b (Carroll) 3
Mr Dent's Mantalini, 3 yrs, st
Mr Wood's Captain Knight, aged, Bst 10Ib (Lomas) 5
Mr A. Scott's Fidelity, 4 yrs, 7st 61b ..(J. H. Harrison) Q
Betting-5 to 2 each agat Lisette and Worthless, 4to
each agst Ross and Captain Knight.
Won by half a length; a length between second and
third ; a bad fourth.

A Handicap Plate of 5 sous each, with 30 added. About

one mile and a quarter.
Mr Lincoln's Rifle, 3 yrs, Get 715 (Kenyon) w.O
The Wilton Cup (Handicap) of £lOO, added to a Sweep-
stakes of 5 soya each, 3 ft ; second to save his stake ;
winners extra. About ono mile and a half.
Mr Rich's East Lancashire, 4 yrs, 7st 101 b (inc. 101 b ex.)
(car. 7st 111 b) (Boyle)
Mr Ambery's Lady de Trafford, 3 yrs, Sat Bib
(J. Griwahaw) 2
Lord Wilton's Lady Evelyn, 3 yrs, sst 81b .. (Jamieson) 3
Mr G. W. Morris's Siva, 3 yrs, Gat 31b (Carroll) 4
Betting-13 to Bon East Lancashire, 3to 1 agst Lady de
Trafford, 5 to 1 agst Siva, 8 to 1 agst Lady Evelyn filly.
Won by three-quarters of a length ; a bad third.
with 30 added;
The Heaton ParwkinHnaenrsdiecxatprao.f 50anovesmeailceh.,
Mr Ambery's Lady de Trafford, 3 yrs, 7st llb
(J. Grinashaw) 1
Mr Barber's Jack's Alive, 4 yrs, 7st 131 b.. (J. Snowden) 2
Mr T. Cliff's Rifle, 5 yrs, Sat 101 b (Kenyon) 3
Betting—Even on Lady de Trafford; 7 to 4 agst Jack's
Alive, 3 to 1 agst Rifle.

Won by a length; five lengths between the second and

third.

LATEST BETTING.
UNION CUP.

4to 1 eget Utopia
6 to 1 agst East Lancashire

TATTERSALLS'.—LAST EVENING.
SOMERSETSHIRE STAKES,
5 to 1 eget Deerstalker (taken and offered)
sto 1 Baldwin (taken and offered)