The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-18 00:00:00

COURT OF DlVORCE—',Yesterday,)

(Before the Judge Ordinary.)
CODRINGTON V. CODRINGTON AND ANDERSON.

The following appeared is our Late Edition of last
evening :—)

The Queen's Advocate, late this afternoon, on the part
of Mrs. Codrington, moved for a new trial in this case,
which at the time of its hearing excited considerable- at-
tention, on the ground of " imperfect direction of the
Judge," and also that the verdict was against the evidence.
The hon. gentleman then read the letter written by Mrs.
Codrington to Colonel Anderson, commenting upon his ap-
proaching marriage, and which, it will ba recollected, the
learned judge, in his summing up to the jury, observed
that it wa3 not the sort of letter an affectionate wife would
write to a third parson. He could not deny there were
certain parts of the letter which were peculiar, but the
wr:ter was of a very romantic turn of mind—it con-

tamed not one direct word as to criminality. On the con-
trary, the whole of the concluding rortions clearly showed
quite the reverse.

The learned Judge said he thought ho told them that
the letter only went to a certain extant, a furt her step
being wanting,

The Queen's Advocate said the jury were likely Fe-
judiced by the comments of his lordship, but he did not
make his motion on a certain part. His comphint was
that the whole of the remarks led the jury--
His Lordship interrupted the learned gentleman, and
asked to be furnished with the shorthand writer's note of his
summingtup. This having been handed to his lordship he
said he thought his comments went to show certain condi-
tions of feeling at the time the letter was written, and nc-
thing further.
The Queen's Advocate said his lordship remarked that
the letter went three-fourths of the way to prove the
adultery.
His Lordship said he perfectly recollected using that
term.

The Queen's Advocate, with the greatest respect to the
Court, thought that the jury had been induced to place
undue importance upon the letter. The verdict of the jury
as it stood was exceedingly unsatisfactory, because it went
the length of declaring that adultery had been committed
without specifying when or where, and that of course was
a great hardship to the petitioners. The allegation
of adultery at Malta was absurd, because he felt certain
no person would attach the slightest importance to such
an unsatisfactory witness as Duck. He contended that the
charge of adultery abroad was altogether groundless, and
that he could only therefore come to the conclusion that
the adultery, if any, was committed at .the Grosvenor
Hotel. A careful perusal of the evidence would show that
there was not a single word which would bear out such a
construction. On the contrary, he contended that there
was no evidence at all to prove that Col. Anderson ever
went to the Grosvenor Hotel at all.. The evidence that
was given on the occasion, only went the letigth
that Mrs. Codrington and Colonel Anderson never
went into a bed-room, supposing he was ever in the hotel,
which was denied. Now, if there was no adultery com-
mitted at Malta or at the Grosvenor Hotel by Colonel
Anderson, he could only come to the conclusion that the
jury had in their minds at the time they delivered the
verdict that attributed to Lieutenant Mildmay. The chief
evidence on this point was that given by Mrs. Watson,
which he considered was of a most extraordinary nature,
because that person showed throughout her whole exami-
nation that she was imbued with the most violent and
virulent enmity. He felt that the confession attributed to
have been made by Mrs. Codrington was simply ridicu-
lous, because the most abandoned in the world would
not be guilty of rushing into a room did, without
the slightest intimation, make the declaration that had been
attributed to Mrs. Codrington. The evidence taken by it-
self was peculiarly imperfect, because there was not a single
admission of any of the witnesses _that they had ever men
one single act of undue familiarity, such as kissing or em-
bracing, or even shaking hands. He did hope, as the
result of the long investigation had been so unsatisfactory,
that his lordship would grant his application for a new
trial.

Mr. Price, Q.C., on the part of Col. Anderson, said he
had to make a similar application, and he did so on the
ground that the verdict of the jury was against the weight
of evidence, misdirection, and misconception of evidence.
The great point that had been made against his
client, Colonel Anderson, was that he was at the
Grosvenor Hotel when he met Mrs. Codrington ; but on a
calm reflection he hoped the Court would agree with him
that it was not at all likely that a gentleman of Colonel
Anderson's position would go to one of the most public
hotels in London, and risk the loss of rank and the dis-
grace of exposure, and there commit the atrocity he was
accused of. Ho contended that such a conclusion as that
of the jury was perfectly monstrous, and one that ought
not to remain on the records of the court without another
investigation. The learned gentleman having made some
very strong observations on the letter said to have been
sent to• Colonel Anderson by Mrs. Codrington, in which,
his marriage was referred to, said that if such a matter was
allowed to rest where it was it would be, in fact,
placing every person at the mercy of any
flighty person who might feel disposed ,to write certain
accusations against him. The learned gentleman then
referred to the case of Robinson v. Robinson and Lane, in
which similar inflated and extravagant language had bepn
written by the lady in her diary, and where the Court had
decided that no reliance could be placed on the writing of
one who was vain enough to imagine that every person
with whom she came in contact was in love with her. He
thought it had been shown beyond contradiction that Mrs.
Codrington was a lady fond of admiration ; and, with the
case he had mentioned standing as an authority, he hoped,
as a matter of justice, a new trial would be granted to his
client, Col. Anderson.
His Lordship said the case had been -.very ably argued,
but he would consider the matter before he gave his deci-
sion.