The Sun.
London, England, 1831-12-06 00:00:00

CONSISTORY COURT, DEG. 5.

(Concluded from The ,Sun of yesterday.)
NEELn e. NEHr.rt.
Dr. LCSHINGTON, in giving jPodgment; said the question
he had here to consider was, whether the facts. alleged in
this libel amounted to legal cruelty. The duty he was now
c.lled upon to perform was to determine whether the
charzes brought forward formed n sufficient ground for
admitting the libel to no to proof. He should not attempt
to define what legal cruelty Teas. The question for the
Court was, whether the acts set forth in the libel were
such as, admitting them to have taken place, would
preclude Lady Caroline Neeld from continuing to co-
habit with her hneband without personal r2sh, without ap-
prehension of danger to life et limb. In cases of this kind
here were tWO' modes of proof :et: blows ; se,7ondly,
words. SucTivas the principle received and admitted by all
the Judges of that CM:-It, There must be either direct per-
sonal risk, or threats which gave gtelind to apprehend per-
so±a! risk; All the acts upon which tilt rlyktge of cruelty
rested took I,,rct. between the 4th and the /Ith of
August. On the moel ri'ture consideration he could
give all the articles, he came to the Conclusion that, even
ad:titting their truth, they did not amoent to that legal
cruelty which would prevent Lady Caroline Neel!! from
returning to cohabitatiot: with her husband without risk
of personal danger. It became tik'ereforc his duty to re-
,
jcet the libel, the Court having no autnotit'y to interfere
in any case esort of personal vio'ence. Even if the 'jibe'
were proved he could ;lot, upon such grounds, grant e
separation. He regretted that the strict rules of pleading
/in that Court were not observed upon this ov.-reion. Too
greet lathude was taken in drawing the inference; He
had nothing to do Vith the conduct or the acts of Mr.
Neeld or of Lady Caroline Peeldi and he pronounced no
opinion upon it.
(A) " Grosvenor.seuare, TYesdin,,
'` MY nets Loan,—l had reached Reading last night on
roVe to* Hastings for a few days, for the benefit of my
health, and the keliinfritv rpirits, when Captain Boldero joined
me there. His arrival Changed my piens, and I determined to

conic up to town.
I very much regret that the kindly-intuntio,leif interfer-
ence of Captain Boldero (an interference not sought for by iikn,
but Very reluctantly undertaken by him upon urgent entreaty)
ha-'e been rejected. As that has been done, and as 1
have eXiiitifted all the means of approach to reconciliation
which were lett opeh th inc, and as Lady Caroline (either from
the impulse of her own inclinatiOns br frOrn the advice of her
friends) does not attempt any such apprOaclii see no course
now open to us but to leave it to cur friends to sett shelf tetras
a separation as shall, under all the circumstances of this ex-
traordinary marriage, be thought proper.
" I do not Intend to act re uncourteously as to conclude this
letter with reproaches, but I mtist, at the same time, do justice
to myself; and I should not do that it. I did riot positively and
solemnly declare—first, that I am not conscious Of One single
imputation to my prejudice which Lady Caroline can justly
male against me; and, in the next place, that I protest against
the requisition Of separation being imputed to me. The first
suggestion of it came froth Lady Caroline herself, in her conver-
sation with me at Warwick; and het sobsequent conduct has
forced me to consider that suggestion as one the adoption of
which is the only course likely to produce to us mutual quiet and
peaee.—l am, my dear Lord, very sincerely yours,
" JOS. NEELD."

Superscribed—a The Earl of Shaftesbury."
(
" You B
h)ave driven me from you. Igoto an hotel to-night.
" Tuesday night.
(C) " Brook-street, April 21.
" LADY CAROLINE,—After it had been intimated to me tha
a separation bet Ween you and me had been agreed to by you
and your fancily, I was not prepared to expect that such a
treaty for money as has ensued would have taken place. I
have now come to the determi»ation of breaking up my town
establishment for the present year, as I hale before intimated
to you the probability of my doing. I have written to Grittle-
ton that proper preparations may be made for your reception,
and the carriage will be ready to take you down Saturday or
Monday, at any hour you may name. I shall follow as soon as
my necessary attendance Di Parliament will permit.
" Yotirsi J.
" Superscribed—" The Lady Caroline Neeld.'
(D) " Chippenham, Tuesday Eithiti'g.
" It is not my intention to return to Grittleton-house for
the present.
" I have given directions to have all your comforts properly
attended to, and I hope you Will find that those directions have
been obeyed. " Yours, J. N."
(E) " Coulson's Hotel, I/14y
" You cannot justly impute to me that my conduct towards
you has been in any respect disgraceful ;' all the reports which
have arisen injurious to your character are ascribable to your.
self alone. The only blame I can lay to myself is that of
having been too kind to you, and halving submitted too much
to your improper conduct.
" Whether your remaining in my advertised bottle is
detrimental to its sale or not I am the best, and choose to
be the only judge. I think it so. Ido not stop to inquire
how far it is consistent with the ordinary delicacy of a '
lady to enter a placarded house, open to the public inspection,
of every house-hunter, in opposition to my known wishes,
and in contradiction to your father's written engagement ;
nor how it can be proper for you to volunteer to stay in the
house under such circumstances; nor do I stay to ask how it
is compatible with female delicacy for you to proffer yourself
to a joint residence with me after you first separated yourself
from me ; after your father, corresponding and acting for you,
has written to me that separation was inevitable ; and after he
referred it to our mutual solicitors 'to settle the terms of our
separation.' fhose terms went off upon the excels of the
pecuniary demand made upon my purse.
" I now apprise you, that if you do not like to go to your
father's house (upon which invitation you came to town), I will
take apartments fer you at the Coburg Hotel (which, I must
presume, is unobjectionable to you, because it is the ono you
selected when we came to town in January), until Grittleton-
' house is fit for your reception ; but I cannot allow your longer
stay at my house in the square.
" Yours,

J.

(t) " Coulson's Hotel, Nay Ir.
" Your obstinate refusal to quit the house in Grosvenor_
square, for the mere purpose of preventing Its sale, is an act of
disobedience on your part which I will not submit to. I now
elvo you notice that to-morrow, being the day I fixed for your
departure, I shall send the upholsterer in, with orders to take
down all the beds, and to put the house in a state fit only for
the purpose of being viewed for sale. I shall 8330 discharge all
the servants from it, and shall leave it in the sole chafge of the
upholsterer's man.
" These steps can put you to no inconvenience, because I
have given you already timely intimation that I required you
to leal'e the hotise ; that Grittleton.:house was ready for your
reception, as it now is ; alid at the same time I offered to take
suitable apartments for you at the Coburg, or any other respect-
able hotel, if for any particular purpose you wish to stay in
town for a few days longer. I now repeat that offer
_

" On your suggestion of an appeal to law, I have consulted
one of the most eminent civilians in Doctors' Commons as to
the course I am legally entitled to pursue, and the proceedings
which I now notify to you are those which he advises. He fur-
ther advises me that your late arrogant claim to four horses, in-
stead of a pair, for the mere purpose of a morning airing, is
what you have no right to make, and upon his advice I shall
resist it. And your extravagant hiring of four post-horses
daily, while you had a competent supply in the stable, is
equally objectionable, and the repetition of such conduct will
not be permitted.
.‘ In conclusion I have only to say, that if you think a system
of petty annoyance can drive me to submit to extortion, you
Will find yoUrself mistaken; and fUrther, that if you continue
to forget, or at least td Yiblate, the obedience and duties of a
wife, I will assert and exercise the power and authority of a
husband to their most legal extent.

" I leave town this evening, as you are aware I had arranged
to do. I cannot delay my departure longer than eight o'clock,
before which hour I shall expect to receive your answer at my
hotel as to your determination. If I should not receive it be
fore that time, I shall desire my secretary to call upon you a
ten o'clock tomorrow for your directions,
" YoUrt,
Superscribed—" The Lady Caroline Neeld."
(G) " Coulson's Hotel, May Q-1.

i, J. N."

"1-lasing taken measures on the earliest possible day to
punish the author of the atrocious libel in the Satirist, and the
objects of your journey to town being accomplished, I request
you will again return into the country. Your present stay in
Grosvenor-square, whilst the house is on sale and public view,
Is not only inconvenient and indelicate, but is prejudicial to the
sale of the property, which I am desirous to effect without delay,
as the season is fast running on.
" As, however, your return to Grittleton-house for a few
days, under the circumstances stated in the enclosed letter from
the medical gentleman at Chippenham (it is a reply to a letter I
sent to him on Sunday, when I heard of the young woman's
illness by the servant who came to town on that day), may
neither be prudent nor safe, I request to know whether you
will go to an hotel, or prefer returning to your father's house,
as he proposed when you came up to town.
" I shall give orders for the immediate removal of the young
woman to a proper place, so that the house may be ready for
your reception with the least possible delay.
" I wish to know what you decide upon, as 1 leave town to-
morrow.--" Yours, " J. N."

iCdhhipaspernehquarnes,tedJunmeeltt
(H)
,—Mr. Nee"
inform
y 01531.
UtMh:titLheAr:Easr;lolgw in his stables at Grittleton-house three
carriage and two other horses for the use of Lady Caroline
Neeld, and that he will not be responsible for the cost of any
post-horses furnished by you or Mr. Carpenter for the use of
her Ladyship.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant, _

" JAMES LOCKE."
Superscribed—" Mr. Laa•es, Chippenham."

" DzattEn Haa—Both London and I are locked up, and
men guarding the door outside ; I do not know how to get out.
Can you consult the Earl ? Mr. N. is going out himself, I be-
lieve. Will the Earl give me a bed tonight ? Do not let the
Earl or 11. C. come. I will manage somehow."
• SuperKribed—" Lady H, Corry, 24, Gromnor.equare."