The Sun.
London, England, 1813-02-04 00:00:00

t',iW iihOi'i.i.'

coi7icr Or CitiNc.zity, pr.N.

WILKIN3OiI V. Atbkm.
,1113 was a iinestion no the •validitV of a
'fain &Vise to illegitimate children, which ()Kited
a good deal of attention in the Catlin:, both lipoin
the nicety of the leg.i question; and the aniouot
of property depending upon the decision. The
fate Mr, the testator, carried on iron-
werits to an immense extent, in several 'counties ;
and requested his nephew, Mr. J Otte.; WiNillSoll,
to reside with him in hip honse, ei a -companion
and assistient in managing his extensive concerns.
ME. 3., Wilkinson, the nephew, was 22 years of
age, when lie began to reside .with his uncle, aiid
eontinned with him- for ten Or twelve years' with-
out any remuneration ; and none was insisted up-
on, as it was undeNtood by themselVes and others
that the nephew was to be the heir or'derisee and
legatee of most, it not of all, the uncle's propertY,
• the latter having-no children of his own, though his
wife was living. The uncle, however, when about
the age of 72,thappened to meet with a servant girl
of the name of Ann Lewis, at the lodgings which
he occupied in ThaVes Inn, ivhen in London on
business. This girl he took to live with him, and
by her had three children. To these three ail-
dren'he left the whole, or nearly the whol'l, of his
property, real and personal, to the amonnt cif
nearly half a adllion sterling ; his nephew Ii tV-
ing only the chance of succeeding to it ill time
event of the death of the children, which he • had,
or might have, by Ann Lewis dying without
issue. 'There were several questions in the cause,
but the view which was taken of first,
rendered it-minecesSery for the .Judge s tO go into-
the rest, This question-was, whether a dyvise to
children generally, without describing theth
tieularly, was a good devise to illegitimate chil-
dren, supposing that legitimate children might
by possibility take 'under the words-, which might
by possibility have been the case in this instance,
as the wife of the testator might have died in his.
life-titre, and .he might have married Anne
mid have hail legitimate children by h:er. ft was
contended, in behalf of the nephew, that in
law, the Word '" dhildren'' was alTys
stood :of legitimate children, illegitimate per
sons being only allowed to take by such names
as they bad got by reputation ; and here these
children were not described by any pArticti.
Jar tninies. It was also contended on the
'same side, that it was a rule of law, . that
where the Words might include legitimate chil-
dren, illegitimate children must be excluded. The
Lard Chancellor hen referred the case, to one
Judge of each of the three other principal Conrts,
and, we believe, to the Master of the Rolls, for
their opinions. Ile read the joint opinions of
of these• Judges this day in court, which was de-
cidedly 'in (avour of the illegitimate children who
it was stated, had, before the testator's death, ac-
quired by reputation the character and descrip-
tion, of his children, and were clearly intended to
ho the objects of his bounty: His Lordship
postponed the farther i,.oceeilings in the cause till
Monday.

ocluaT or KIG'S BENCH, Fru. a.

Ti:E KING V. AND Lrr(Hi HUNT

As. soon fas ttic Judm, tordiiita.p.snottotmq,
Justice Le BLANC and Juitice BAILty,
sent GaosE ..1,) had taken their seats upon the