The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-31 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTEL LIdBIV CE.

MIDLAND CIRCUIT.—WARWICK, March 29.
NISI PREYS COURT.
(Before Lord Chief Justice Cockburn).
KENNEDY V. BROWN AND UN. THE SWINFEN
CASE.—VERDICT FOR THE PLAINTIFF IN £20,000.
This case came on for adjourned hearing to-day,
and the greatest possible interest was taken in the
trial, the court being crowded during the whole
of the day.
The examination of Mrs. Brown was resumed this
morning at the point where she was stating that in
accordance with the plaintiff's salicitations she went
to London and took lodgings in Ballstone-street in
1859, in order to be near him, and confer with him,
with reference to her then approaching trial. She
continued :—Mr. Kennedy said that in consequence
of undertaking my cause he had made many
enemies. He implored me not to forsake himself
and his family. Next morning Mr. Kennedy called,
and we walked to the Zoological Gardens. We
sat down on a seat, and he asked me if I would
give him a reversion of the Swinfen estate as a
security for him to borrow £2,000. He said I
should be quite safe in doing so. I might have full
confidence in him, and he would return it to me at
any time I wished him. I was a little staggered
at such a proposal, and said I did not know whether
I could consent to it. I had my relations to pro-
vide for, and I had debts. He said the best way
would be to leave £lO,OOO for my relations, and
£lO,OOO for my debts. After some hesitation I con-
sented. As far as I remember that was all that
took place then. 1 never saw the draft of the deed
until I saw it at Mr. Collis's office. In that con-
versation Mr. Kennedy never said, " You have got
£20,000. Do you consider yourself as owing me
that money." I did not say, " Oh, certainly, but
you can't have it at present. Mr. Kennedy did
not say, "That will do, I can have security." I did
not say, " I have given you the bulk of my estate."
As far as I can remember he did not leave the deed
with me. I went down to Birmingham some few
days after that. Mr. Kennedy did not produce a
will before we went to Birmingham. He wrote to
meet me at the station on the 10th of May. I went
with him to Mr. Collis's, and found the deed prepared
there. I believe I read it myself. Mr. Collis asked
me if I knew the meaning of the deed ? I said I
did. He asked me if I would give him a letter, in
case of anything unforeseen occurring about the
deed. I believe I did not promise anything of the
kind. Mr. Kennedy visited me at Swinf©n on
the 10th of May, and asked me to execute it. He
proposed a will drawn up. Nothing passed be-
tween up in reference to the will until it was pro-
duced. He asked me to attest it. He asked me if
anything happened to my relations, some provision
should be made for them P I never asked Mr.
Kennedy to draw up the form of the will. I never
dictated to him what its terms should be. In the
month of June, or at all events shortly after this
interview at Collis's, I was again in London. I had
no conversation there with Mr. Kenndy about this
will. He had frequently spoken to me about taking
a house, a small house in London, where he could
practise. He wished me to take his children, and
give him a power of attorney to manage my pro-
perty. I said I would not do anything of the kind.
I said I should like to manage my own property.
I recollect Mr. Kennedy beivg at Swinfen in 1851.
I then gave him £2OO. lie said the affairs of the
Crystal Palace printing establishment were in a
very bad state, and he wanted me very much to be-
come a partner or to take a share. I said I did not
understand anything about such a business. He
asked me for a loan of £2OO, and I gave it him.
This was in August. I travelled to Scotland in
September, and there mot my present husband, Mr.
Brown. I became engaged to him there. I wrote
to Mr. Kennedy after that. I have destroyed the
answer I received. It was exceedingly threatening
and violent. He said if I married he would appear
against me in a court of justice in concert with my
deadliest enemies. That is all I recollect of the
contents of that letter. I have not kept the second
letter. He said I will make a last speech, cover you
with infamy and shame, and leave the country.
His letter was awful. He threatened to tear to
pieces the man I had dared to marry. I believe I
afterdi d answerotthat.
Betweenthat. I
the wrotetw kindly ind
lettersl y t
I oAhl
to I wrote a letter, of which the one I have hero is
a copy .v
alluded Kennedy
,
"I now write to reply to your eowardloyuaonffderiend
o pic:lu ty-
pun letter. I must refer to facts. l
You felt 3,jirself able to undertake D YonTh Therefore
an
refore
to distinguish yourself.
when I faltered yo:
(t)Enet my cause, knowing it was ajust one.
nromised me to pause. If my
nne and good, you, with
cause had net been a..just never coald have
all your exertions and ability, _ 'f I had not
Yvon ; neither could you have succeedea •--nok
myself possessed a :spirit which could not ;J.-
iyranny and oppression. When you won the cause
for me, and the estate was mine, I felt the deepest
olonveee alnsd gratitude
h ou ld
like tfoorp
iyaolue,
you
ud
atold n
iyoutlo l
omoren than
a
iiedestal, and your wife by your side; you ought to
have thatletter by
you as well as others. Well,
when the estate was legally secured to me, I had

Airs. Brown—l can't remember.
Mr. Kennedy—Did you think when I tendered
the draft of the will to you I acted improperly ?
Mrs. Brown—l thought it was indelicate. I
thought it an improper attempt on your part to get
possession of the estate. I passed a fortnight with
you about that time. We were alone together. Let-
ters were read from my mother in Wales--not from
any other relations; but I had mentioned the
address of other relations in conversations I had
with you. I mean to say you put the will into my
hands without any words of preparation. I did
not ask you to draw the will, and I did not say
you were to follow me to the grave. On the Bth
of June you say, " Mr. Collis will meet us at the
station. A dear friend met us there last time."
That friend was you. I think that was before the
execution of the deed. _

Mr. Kennedy—You were asked by Mr. Field
about an expression you used to the effect that you
would reimburse me for all the outlays. What
outlays did you mean ?
Mrs. Brown—Outlays for :the reports. I wished
to reimburse you for those reports, but was not
bound to do so.

Mrs. Kennedy—You say, " The fear of not being
able to do this mars my present enjoyment." You
say also, " And the risk you run makes me feel the
more." Does not that risk apply ito the general
issue of the cause, and all the rest of it ?
Mrs. Brown—Yes. I also used the expression,
" We will stand or fall together." I meant by that
that you wen risking your profession. " Stand or
fall together" did not refer to money matters. You
were always asking for assistance. I did not give
you general promises to support me in my struggles?
Mr. Kennedy—Do you remember me writing
some verses in your album ?
Mrs. Brown—l remember your writing some
verses in my album,

[Some loiters were hero handed to witness. She
said she recollected writing them to plaintiff, and
had no objection to their being read in court.]

Letter iead :

" Dec. 21, 1859.

" Shall I excite your jealousy very much when I
say IL said I was a very ladylike person ? Look
at the enclosed coronet. It might lie at this moment
at my feet if I wished it. You are at liberty to
choose. I suppose you will choose some Lady Eliza-
beth or Lady Mary. You will forget the humble
client, but I shall not forget him who preserved his
client from wrong and oppression."
Mr. Kennedy—Did you send the coronet ?
Mrs. Brown—l believe I enclosed it in the letter.

Mr. Kennedy—Then you say, " I have no heart
to give," in one of your letters. Who had that
heart P

Witness refused at first to answer this question,
but in reply to the learned judge she said it did not
refer to Mr. Kennedy.
Mr. Kennedy then asked Mrs. Brown if she was
desirous that the inquiry should proceed.
Mrs. Brown returned no answer, and Mr. Macaulay
said it must go on.
Mr. Kennedy then read several letters he had re-
ceived from defendant when Mrs. Swinfen. In one
of these she said the rings she had given to him had
no ordinary charm. In another she said, " What
was required I have done cheerfully, and I would
have done a thousand times more if required. I
am not of that flimsy character you think 1 am.

. There is one I value more than all the universe."
Mrs. Brown acknowledged this to refer to the
plaintiff. A third letter was subscribed, " Your
affectionate Patience Swinfen." In another, " You
know what I should be to you if circumstances per-
mitted it." In reference to this letter, Mr. Ken-
nedy asked if she did not mean she would have been
his wife if circumstances had been favourable.
The reply was " No, only friend." In June, 1860,
after he had refused to give up the deed, she
called .him "a dear friend," and concluded by in-
voking upon him the blessing of Almighty God.
She also, in other letters, called him her best friend.
Then she wrote about a house being taken for them,
mentioning the number of bedrooms that would be
required. Letters written subsequently spoke in
terms of great approval, and were interspersed with
poetical quotations.
Mr. Kennedy—l ask you before God did you re•
fuse every offer to give up the deed ?
Mrs. Brown—Yes.

Mr. Kennedy—Do you still adhere to the para-
graph in the affidavit which says, " Mr. Kennedy
became my counsel. He obtained great influence
over me. I was induced at his suggestion to enter
an action against Lord Chelmsford, who had on my
behalf, without authority,compromised the cause P"
Witness—l do. You were the original adviser
of that action.

Mr. Kennedy—Did you not consult me at Lea-
mington about going abroad, avoiding service, &c.,
in the action ?
Mrs. Brown—Yes; and I did not consent lest Mr.
Simpson should not agree to it. I remember discus-
sing the value of the Swinfen estates with you. You
said if I got the estate my life would not be safe.
You said so repeat( dly at Swinfen. I said my ene-
mies were so bitter I believed it. I did say if I got
the estate I might be poisoned.
Re-examined—Mr. Kennedy wrote to me for a
power of attorney to manage his property, and to
take care of his children. It was after the last trial
at Stafford when I had seen the reports inthe papers
that I went up to Mr. Kennedy and embraced him.
He was in the habit of putting his hands in hers.
He said it warmed him.

Mr. Kennedy then addressed the jury in reply at
considerable length.
The Lord Chief Justice, in summing up,remarked
that at first sigitt the case appeared to be very aim-
' ple, being neither more nor less than a question as
to whether defendant, Mrs. Brown, had or had not
acknowledged an existing debt of a specific amount;
but this question, apparently so simple, had unfortu-
nately led them into one of the most painful and dis-
tressing disclosures which had ever been heard in a
court of justice. The plaintiff said he undertook
the cause at the instance of the defendant;; that from
the commencement they were both aware of the ex-
treme hazard of the die upon which their common
fortune was at stake ; that .he knew she had not the
means of remuneration unless he succeeded in esta-
blishing her right ; that she, however, was willing,
if prosperous, to make him a liberal and handsome
remuneration when the victory was achieved ; that
-I,nn victory was gained the amount at which she
services would be properly remunerated
thought ..sed ; and that she then admitted
came to be disco..- -Tit Was owing, voluntarily
that the specified num.- "You have won your
embracing him, and saying, -ent was denied
£20,000.", Every part of his stateli.__
Kennedy
by Mrs. Brown. She represented that ;NU. -.-.._