The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-04 00:00:00

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, June 3.

Yesterday the Solicitor-General resumed his statement
on behalf of the petitioner in the Egremont case. He stated
that if the relatives of the late Earl had not properly in-
vestigated the circumstances connected with the will, or
had refrained from acting till now, it was because all• im-
portant information had been sedulously kept back from
them. Having adduced a number of authorities on the
point, he contended that the petitioner was entitled to have
an issue sent to a court of law to try whether the will of the
late earl was valid or invalid, which only a jury could satis-
factorily determine, and this the petitioner claimed as a
matter of right.
The Lord Chancellor said that the right existed only
when the heir-at-law was the defendant ; but where, as in
this ease, the heir-at-law was the plaintiff, it was entirely
in the discretion of the court to say whether or not an issue
should be granted. -
rhe Solicitor-General proceeded.—" It should," he said,
" be remembered that the heir-at-law was prevented from
prosecuting his suit in consequence of the acts and conduct
of Sir E. Tierney, representing the estate as of little or no
value. It was also a case, above all others, in which every
iquiry should be afforded, for it was a dealing by a solicitor
with a client for purposes of his own, which courts of equity
always regarded with suspicion, always required that
the transaction should be fair, and that the party
obtaining the benefit should always preserve the evi-
dence to show the original fairness of the dealings. The
learned gentleman concluded a very able address by asking
the court, in the terms of the prayer of the petition, either
to set aside the temporary bars, so as to let an ejectment
be brought by Lord Egmont, or to grant an issue.
Mr. Sergeant Sullivan then opened the case for the re-
spondent. He denied that the petitioner was entitled to an
issue as a matter of right. There was no authority for such
a proposition Sir Lionel Darell had put up the files of the
Court in England every deed and document connected
with the case either in his power or procurement, and
whether for or against his interest; he had not kept back
anything, so that the most of the documents furnished
were those furnished by Sir L. Darell. He might have kept
back any that he wished, or that he might have thought
would injure him; but he bad done nothing of the kind,
i and when light was thrown on the very few letters relied
on by the petitioner out of a mass of evidence which would
be afforded by the other facts and circumstances of the
case, the Court woald be of a very different opinion from
what might be supposed to be entertained at present. He
(Sergeant Sullivan) arraigned the suit as concocted by two
men of ruined repute and broken fortunes, who brought
this suit to enrich their pockets at the expense of their cha-
racters. It had been alleged as a very hard case that the
Egmont family had been, by the contrivance of Tierney,
kept from the bedside of the late earl ; but from 1817 down
to hie death the petitioner never saw him, nor was there a
member of the family to whom he would have left his pro-
perty. The petitioner's estates in Ireland lie adjacent to
those now in dispute; he had visited them often during
the last 25 years, knowing that they had been alienated
from his family, and now, after the death of the person
who, if alive, could have shattered the case attempted to
be made out, this claim was brought forward. He would
show from documents that no misrepresentation had been
made by Tierney, that the earl knew well the value and
circumstances of the estates, for accounts had been regu-
larly rendered by the agent, and initialled by the earl.
When, in 1822 Earl John succeeded to the title, he ap-
pointed Sir Edward Tierney agent and receiver of the Irish
estates, he being at the same time agent to the Earl of
Devon, the Earl of Kenmare, and other proprietors. He
was also Crown Solicitor for the North-West Circuit in
Ireland, and Registrar of the Court of Appeal, hie various
employments producing an income of £lO,OOO a-year. The
estates were then in an exceedingly wretched condition,
owing to gripes mismanagement. They were so over•
whelmed with encumbrances that the rents were insuffi-
cient to pay the annuities and the interest on charges, the
deficiency being advanced by Sir Edward Tierney, whose
claims against the estate increased every year, his money
being secured by mortgages and the earl's bonds, on
which judgment was entered up. He also laid out
large sums in improvements, with the landlord's know-
ledge. The Irish estates were put up for sale at Morrison's
Hotel in October, 1832, when the highest bidder for the
Churchtown estate was a Mr. Purcell for X 135,000. There
were n' bidders for the Kanturk estate, and the attempt at
sale failed. Sir E. Tierney was subsequently applied to to
purchase the Churchtown estate for £140,000, but he did
not accede to the proposal. In 1840 there was a balance of
£23,000 due to Sir Edward Tierney. The earl received from
his Irish estates £2,000 a year, and his housekeeper, Mrs.
Clesse, £lOO. Long and intricate details were given by
the learned sergeant of the transactions connected with the
encumbrances of the property and the attempts to sell it.
T:4etearytei;roolvf.iitihaechpeestidteiopnrivdeefended Sir Edward Tierney
bey point. The answer also insisted that the petitioner
• d himself of the right now to
711 will, having acquiesced in it for 19 years. The
t:exilideibit its_ning
v,lied on the earl's death, and the inquiries
tllat it v.
allatieffed the parties interested 'ln disputing it
tile PotiufterPerly prepared
executed, and therefore
Pute, and esicalleul,_ d net uo , and •
dcitoUrl:fl:47llo '4Jr th e %mai, Wbe permitted to revive the die-
• withont -,_ Utuee of the Court to try the vali-
dit7:lneA the existence of facts tending
E. Tierney an h pft
...,
dizokurtdheteohe-hfoerimreesrs
acquires wiFanyttouewithreir he
attempt was made; ee
o a• , who
COil.; after the death of Sir
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