The Sun.
London, England, 1822-08-06 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE..

COURT OF CHANCERY, AUG. 5:
EXPARTE JACKSON IN THE MATTER OF THE DUCHESS or

IC ouroLx, A LUNATIC.

Mr. HEALD stated this to be the petition of the assignees of
Mr. Robert Jackson, who claimed to be one of the next of kin
of the late Duchess. The prayer of the petition was, that his
Lordship would make an order, allowing Sir Edwin Francis
Stanhope, John Parsons, Daniel Burr, and Mary, his wife, to
examine the vaults in the Church of Holme Lacy, and to in-
spect the coffins and plates deposited therein. The petition
went on to say, that in consequence of an examination of the
title deeds in the Master's office, it had been discovered that it
would be highly important to ascertain who was the mother of
Sir John Scudamore (created Baron of Dromore and Viscount
Scudamore in 1628), as all the petitioners equally claimed to
be next of kin of the late Duchess through the said Sir John.
Now, the petitioner, Jackson, the Learned Gentleman said,
claimed to be descended from Anne, one of the wives—for
his Lordship would bear in mind that he was blessed or cursed,
it was not stated which, with three wives—of Sir J. Scudamore,
the other parties alleging that Anne was not the mother of John
Viscount Scudamore, but that he was son of another wife of
Sir James, from whom they, also descended. For the purpose, j
therefore, of satisfactorily terminating these conflicting opinions,
it had been thought advisable to resort to the parish registers, but
it had been discovered that they were in many respects imperfect
(some of them, in the time of Oliver Cromwell, having been
destroyed), and from length of time obliterated, and so the
only resource remaining to them was an inspection of the
family vaults at Ilohne Lacy, where the remains of John
,Viscount Scudamore, together with his family and ancestors,
were for the most part deposited. The Petitioners stated that
they had with this view applied to the vicar of the parish, and
from him to the Chancellor of the Bishop of the Diocese, to be
permitted access to the vaults, but that he had refused to inter-
fere without the consent of the representatives of the family, or
a sanction from authority. The next application the Petitioner
had made, therefore, was to Sir Edward Stanhope; he had re-
fused, and thus the matter came before his Lordship. The
only difficulty that would occur to his Lordship in granting
the prayer of this Petition, the Learned Counsel couceite4,
would be as to the jurisdiction of the Court to frame an order
for the inspection; as he knew that it was not the practice of
his Lordship to grant an order which he had not the power to
enforce to the utmost. If his Lordship should be of this opi-
nion, perhaps an order, stating merely that Sir Edwin Francis
Stanhope should not oppose the investigation (which would
answer every purpose), would come' within the jurisdiction of
the Court.

Mr. HART said, that he had not heard a syllable that could
be urged in support of the present application neither was there
a shadow of proof of Jackson or those claiming under him
having any title ; for the fact was, that Sir. James Scudamore
had not, as stated, a wife of the name of Anne, having never
married more than two wives; both of whose names were Mary,
and further, all the children were mentioned in his will of the
23d February, 1618, and then described to be under age, con.:
sequently they could not have been the descendants of the first
Mary, she being buried in the August of 1598. The second
wife was the widow of Thomas Baskerville and Sir James, in
his will, mentioned a son-in-law, Hannibal Baskerville, and
gave him a legacy. The marriage register could not be found,
but it appeared upon a tablet in the parish of Summingwell, in
the county of Berks, to he completely made out that this Mary
was the wife of Sir 2'. Baskerville, and afterwards of Sir J.
ScuditmOre. This fact was further established by one of the
deeds in the Master's office' of 241-September, 1626, whereby it
appeared that Sir John Scudamore, afterwards first Lord Scu-
damore, covenanted to pay 4001. to Samuel Pell, in order that-
he should apply it towards liquidating the debts of the Lady
Mary SCudamore, mother of Sir John Scudamore, therein men-
tioned. The Learned Counsel contended that the plea set up
on the other side, namely that the petitioners did not know
who the mother was, must be unfounded, as that fact most
di'stinctly appeared by the deed which Jackson had himself
found out, and which he conceived was the most incontio-
vertible evidence. There could not then be any question
as to the' propriety of his client in resisting the claim to in-
spect the vaults, and on this ground it was that the Learned
G-cntkinan trusted his Lordship would dismiss the Petition. "
Mr. WINGFIELD took a like view of the case.
Mr. HEALD, in his reply, said that he was not at all sur-
prised that his Learned Friend had not heard any arguments
in support of the Petition, considering that he had been ab-
sent during the whole period he (31r. Heald) was address-
ing the Court ; he confessed, however, that he was a little
surprised that Mr. Hart should Make . that a matter of com-
plaint against him, which it was only in his own power to
obviate.

The LORD CHANCELLOR doubted whether he had the ju-
risdiction to grant the prayer of the petition, namely, to order
that an inspection should take place ; if, on the other hand, he
were, according to Mr. Heald's suggestion, to issue in order
that the representatives of the late Duchess were not to oppose
the investigation, he feared exceedingly that such a nice distinc-
tion would not be understood either by the Vicar or the Bishop
of the diocese. As to the coffins, he presumed he might leave
them entirely out of the question at the present time of, day,
but the plates had certainly been found to be extremely import-
ant evidence in many cases. His Lordship instanced_ the case
of Barber, whose next of kin was ascertained by the plates found
in St. Clement's Chula-yard. Although dearly of opinion that
the inspection ought to be ~Tanted2 yet, as he before said, he did
not think that that Court had the jurisdiction to enforce it. rile
title deeds of the estate, however, were in the Ma-ster's Office,
and his Lordship declared; that were he to be Chancellor for
two hundred years, he would there detain them so long as
this reasonable request was uncomplied with. He said the
Petition had better stand over until the next day of Fed-
dons, when it might be stated to the Court what had been d ne. Mr.HART said that the present opposition was merely ma-
nifested with a view to ascertain his Lordship's opinion, and not
to take any advantage of the case being out of the jurisdiction of
the Court.

Mr. SHADWELL, on behalf of another branch of the family,
said, that his client could have- no objection, his pedigree
having been proved in the Chandos Peerage in the House of
Lords.

The LQIID CIIANCET.LOn—Very likely ; but you know, Mr,
Shadwell, as well as myself, that those who are in the habit of
making out pedigrees, wquld make any man King in a week
if he wished it; but fortunately for the succession such authori.:
ties are not conclusive. His Lordship then order( d that the in.
spection might take place, and that it might be conducted with
all possible respect and decency, taking care that no dilapida.
tions took plaCe.

The STAGE COACII DUTIES BILL, which has
passed the House of Commons, levies a duty of
one penny a mile, on any carriage or vehicle,
with two or more wheels, not being upon springs,
and which shall be used for conveying passel'.
gers for hire to or from different places, and
drawn by one horse only ; of two pence a -mile,
if drawn by two horses only ; and of three pence
a mile, if drawn by one horse only, and having
springs.

PRICE SEVEN.PENCt.

ENGLISH PLAYS IN PARIS.

PARISI AUG 2.—The second representation.

given this day by the English actors in the
Theatre of tl►e Porte Saint Martin, was not ter.
minated, or rather was not commenced. As soon
as the actors made their appearance to play The
School for Scandal, the pit rose in a mass, and • .
part of the audience turned their backs to the
stage. The English were not at first much intl.
midated; and for some time they made head
against the storm. But they were soon assailed
with apples and eggs, and they then withdrew.
The ordinary company of the Porte Saint Mar-
lin succeeded them, and in place of SIIERIDAN'S 'L.
chef d'teuvre of English comedy, the Ensorceles
and Cabri le Sabotier were acted.—(Journal des
Debuts.)
The excesses which disturbed the first repre-
sentation of the English actors were carried this
day to the highest point of indignity. Nothing
was respected. Females of the English troop
were assailed by eggs, by coins, and by apples.
One of their; struck by the projectiles of these
noble assailants, fell in the arms of some persons
who came to her assistance. The curtain was at
length lowered, and these conquerors of a few
poor actors Were promised a French play ; they
could not have understood it, for those are not
French whoforget that generosity and courtesy are
the character of the French nation.—(Quotidienne.)
SIIAKSPEARE was one of the first who, without
relying upon antiquity, founded a national theatre,
and availed himself of the light of civilization.
Our own CORNEILLE only followed him, and
Othello preceded the Cut. This circumstance is
sufficient to inspire respect and veneration.
SHARSPEMIS must not be compared with COR-
NEILLE ; but it is just to admit that there are in
the English Tragedian some rays of genius which
pierce through the darkness of his age, and which
place him in the first rank of the great men who
have adorned the literature of modern times.
For the f►rst time we have teen presented hi
France with one of the chefs d'reuvres of the
British 1-Estill-Lys ir► the original language. A
company of English comedians represented
Othello at the Porte St. Martin, but the public
would not hear a single verse. Nothing but
hisses and groans were heard from the commence-
ment to the end. The actors, however, accus-
tomed no doubt to scenes of this description,
continued to perform the piece. About the
middle of the third act one of the spectators, to
whom some words were ascribed which the pub,
lic considered insulting, became a marked object
for the parterre. The audience insisted upon
his quitting the theatre, and a scene of violence
ensued, of which it would be difficult to convey
an adequate idea to our readers.

A mare tumultuous scene was never witnessed
by Frenchmen. Pieces played in a language
which they de not understand, cannot-but appear
absurd. But as we know that genius is of all
ages and countries, it was no SHAKSPEARE, nor
the actors, nor his interpreters, who were the
objects of animadversion. The opposition had
probably other motives, and it belongs to those
whose duty it is to observe the public opinion,
and to insure the tranquillity of the capital, to
appreciate the true causes of this tumult, and to
calculate its effects.

_Eleven o'Clock at Night.--The English Actors
have attempted this evening to give a second re-
presentation at the Porte St. Martin, but they
had scarcely made their appearance, before the
audience raised such cries of disapprobation, that
it was found impossible to commence the first
piece, The School for Scandal. The same indi-
vidual who was the object of animadversion on
the former evening was perceiyed in a box, and
his presence excited fresh tumult. Potatoes, half-
pence and eggs were discharged, in all directions,
and the British Comedians were at length com-
pelled to retreat. The obnoxious individual dis-
appeared and a French piece was substituted for
the English comedy which was to have been per-
formed.—(ne Constitutionnel.)
The English' roop this evening announced a
second representation at the Theatre of Porte
Saint Martin ; the piece they endeavoured to
perform was SHERIDAN'S School for Scandal.
The price of places had been raised, but from
the very commencement the tumult, groans
aid hisses were so violent that the curtain
was dropt. The managers then ordered the per-
formance of an afterpiece in French. After this,
which was finished about nine, the public seemed
to expect .another play or a ballet : the tumult
recommenced : the benches were torn up and
thrown on the stage, on which part of the pit,
were preparing to climb. A strong detachment
of Genderrnarie at length appeared, and cleared
the Theatre.—(Moniteur.)

A lady is in the habit of making short aerial
excursions at Tivoli, near Paris. She takes coffee
during her ascent in a balloon, and descends an
hour after with perfect sang froid, to supper.—
She is seldom detained ►ore than a few minutes
beyond the time fixed tyr her return.'

A few days since fourteen antique lances, or
swords, were dug up on Wetherbury Castle
Rings, near Milborne, Dorset, by some labourers
who were removing a thorn bush ; they are in a
good state of preservation.
The Leeds Mercury, in reference to the case
of John Furnal, the soldier) who died in conae.-
quence of severe. flogging, says, that the Com-
mander•in-Chief has ordered this occurrence to'
be rigorously investigated.
Yesterday a plaisterer, of the name of Hill,
fell from the top of a four-story scaffolding, at
Kentish Town, and was killed on the , ,He
has left a wife and three children.