The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-24 00:00:00

IRE MORDAUNT DIVORCE CASE.
THIRD DAY.

The trial of this case was continued on Friday, before
;Lord Penzance and a special jury.
Mr. Serjeant Ballantine, Dr. Spinks, Q.C., and Mr.
laderwicke were for the petitioner; Dr. Deane, Q.C.,
Mr. Archibald, and Mr. Searle for Sir T. Moncreiffe, the
fat her and guardian of the respondent (Lady Mordaunt);
d J. Kerslake, Q.C., Mr. Lord, and Mr. Jeune
;latched the proceedings for the co-respondents.
'',the court was again crowded in every part. Amongst
the visitors who found seats in the gallery were General
Knollys, Mr, Knatchbull-lingessen, M.P.,
The hearing of evidence on behalf of the petitioner was
'aa
eeurned.
Mrs. Cadogan was first examined by. Mr. Inderwick.
She said--MY husband is the incumbent of Walton, in
Warwickshire. He was a college friend of Sir C.
er-
daunt, and he and I had been on visiting terms with Sir
C. Mordaunt. I remember Lady Mordaunt's confine-
ment on the 28th of February. I saw her the day before,
-when she was quite well, and driving out ; but on Satur-
day night I was sent for suddenly. She had nothing pro-
vided, and I lent her what was necessary. I was
in the room when the child was born. I did not go in
for five hours previously, as she asked me not to go in while.
sae was under the influence of chloroform. The confine-
ment was satisfactory, as far as I saw. Between the 28th
February and the 14th April I saw Teedy Mordaunt many
t
• es. I thought she got through her confinement very
well at first. During the first week she seemed to be dis-
tressed about the child's eyes. On the Wednesday I
noticed something the matter with the child's eyes. On
Friday I mentioned it to Lady Mordaunt. I said, the
child had a cold in its eyes. She said they looked very
bad. On the Saturday Lady Mordaunt seemed not so
well and depressed ; but she was perfectly sensible, and
up to that tune I had seen no reason to think otherwise.
When I saw her on that day, she said the doctor
was coming from Birmingham to see the
child's eyes, and there was a great deal •of
talking about the matter by the nurses, who warned
her. By her request I read the Bible to her. She would
not have her dinner, but wished to have the Sacrament
administered. She was nervous about herself, because
she had lost several friends in confinements. When I read
the Bible she seemed to understand and appreciate it very
much. I read that part which refers to our Lord curing
the blind. After that she said she was sure she should
die ' • and wished presents to be made to her servants. In
the afternoon I took Lady Louisa to her room. Lady
Mordaunt had previously refused to see her " mamma ;"
but she then said, " Oh, mamma, I have been very silly."
On Sunday I saw her. She was cheerful, and wished to
nurse the baby. She tried to nurse it for about A quarter
of an hour. I left then, but in the afternoon I asked her
. how she got on with the baby. She replied, " Oh, it's a
stupid little thing. I soon got tired of trying to nurse it."
On the Tuesday following, as I went into the room, she
said, rather incoherently, "I will confess all to Charlie;
he is so good." That was addressed to the nurse. I con-
versed with her ; she was cheerful. I went again on Fri-
day. I had a letter from Sir Charles asking me to go. I
reached there in the afternoon. I went upstairs and saw Lady
Mordaunt. She said "How do you do?" but did not enter into
conversation. She would not speak and was irritable.
The blinds were drawn. On the next day,Saturday, I was
with her for some time in the afternoon ,- she was in the
sitting room, near the bedroom, for the first time, lying
on the sofa. She seemed in great grief and trouble. On
Sunday I saw her again ; she seemed to have shaken off
her depression, and spoke quite cheerfully, saying, '• I am
much better than I have been." She said "I have had a
bad dream." Hancock, the nurse, said " Mrs. Cadogan
knows all. "She coloured up and said "It is only what every-
body does. I only did it two or three times in London. I shall
soon make it all right with Charlie." I said, " Don't be
too sure of that." She seemed quite sensible, but ap-
peared annoyed at the subject being mentioned. I did
not stay long. On the Thursday or Friday when Lady
Moncreiff was present, I saw her again. She spoke of a
person who was dying, and Lady Mordaunt said " That
would nqt be so sorrowful." Her mother said, " She is
thinking about herself. "She askedher mother to leave the
room, and aftersomereluctance Lady Moncreiff left, saying
to me, " I hope you won't take advantage of it."
and I said, " I will tell yon everything that occurs."
When she had gone Lady Mordaunt did not make any
revelation to me, but she put her arms round me and cried
bitterly. She was always glad to see me, but cried some-
times. On the 14th of April, when I was going away I
went t i wish her good bye. She was depressed. Sir
Charles was in Scotland. I said, " Why don't you write
to him and tell him you are sorry ?" She said, "I am not
sorry." I always talked to her about her position, and she
always appeared to understand me. During the whole of
the time I saw nothing to lead me to the
conclusion that she was not of sound mind.
In cross-examination by Dr. Deane, witness said she had
had no experience of insane persons. With regard to a
legacy left her of £lO,OOO, there was a suit in that court,
and she was called to speak to the sanity of the testator.
She was not examined then, for the matter was compro-
mised. She got her money. It was on the 9th of March
that witness first heard from the nurse that Lady Mor-
daunt had confessed to Sir Charles that the child was not
his. When Lady Mordaunt made the remark that every-
body did it, witness was alarmed.
The Rev. W. Cadagan, husband of the previous wit-
ness, deposed that he saw Lady Mordaunt for the first
time after confinement on the 4th of March. On the 28th
of March, having received a letter from Sir Charles,
saying he was in great sorrow, he went to Lady Mordaunt
and read the letter to her. She cried but said nothing.
He read prayers by her request. Her mind did
not seem to be affected. On the 25th of April
he again saw Lady Mordaunt. In the course of the
conversation she said, " Charlie will not be able to prove
the nonsense that I spoke ; and if I saw him I could soon
set the matter right.' Witness understood that she wag
coming to church, and advised her, under the painful cir-
cumstances of the case, not to come, adding that if she
persevered in her desire, he must consult the bishop. It
was in answer to this that she made the abwie remark.
On the 30th April witness received a letter from Mrs.
Forbes, which induced him to go to the
Hall on the following day. He saw Mrs. Forbes,
and in consequence of the conversation which took place, be
saw Lady Mordaunt the next day, and said lie understood
she wished to have the child publicly received in church.
She. said, " Oh, yes, I should like baby to be received in
church." She said Mrs. Forbes would be one of the esod-
-mothers, and Lord Dudley would be godfather. She
asked, would Mrs. Cadogan be a godmother. She ap-
• peered to be perfectly sane. That was the last time wit-
ness saw her.
Cross-examined by Dr. Deane : Was a witness in the
Thwaites (the legacy) case. In the letter referred to, Sir
Charles described the sorrow that had been brought upon
him, and said he wished his wife, having done him so
dreadful a wrong, would think of him a little, and do him
the justice to own her wrong. After receiving the letter
he told Lady Mordaunt that he hoped she would not come
to church, as he could not admit her to the church while
she was lying under this gross and notorious scandal. He
did not enter into the question further. He had heard
nothing but of her own statements. While he said this,
Lady Mordaunt was . irritably tapping the floor with her
foot ; and when he had done, she jumped up, and said if
she could see Sir Chorles she could soon set the
matter right. She then proposed a walk in the garden.
Afterwards, when he mentioned that she wished to have
the child received at church, she answered at once, with-
out hesitation. That was on the 2nd of May.
Re-examined bySerjeant Ballantine Therewas nothing
in these conversations to indicate that Lady Mordaunt was
of unsound mind.
To the Court : When he received the letter from Sir
Charles he went to remonstrate with Lady Mordaunt; and
to induce her to own her wrong ; but he elicited nothing
from her.
The following letter was put in from Lady Mordaunt.
It was. intended for Mrs. Hancock, but never reached
her :—" Dear Nurse, pray do not say anything more about
all the nonsense I have told you." It was dated the 10th
of April.-
The Dowager Lady Mordaunt examined by Serjeant
Ballantine : lam now married to Mr. Gustavus Smith.
I am widow of the late Sir Charles Mordaunt and the
` mother of the present Sir Charles. Of course I have
known the respondent. We were on good terms. She
and. Sir Charles appeared to be happy together. On the
14th of March I saw her. I had heard something. I said,
" I have come to express my sorrow for your position."
She made no reply. Later in the day I said, "Do you see the
- baby You know it belongs to you. I hope you will
take care of it." She replied, " I see it sometimes." I
- always spoke kindly to her. On the 4th of April I saw
her, and said she ought to stop the publicity which must
- inevitably follow from her conduct. She said nothing. I
, saw nothing to to indicate that her mind was wandering. On.
the 9th of May I went again to see her. She seemed sur-
prised to see me. I kissed her, and said I had not been
- lately to see her, because she had not asked me to come.
She said nothing, and left the room. A minute or two
afterwards she returned, and said to her maid, "Mrs. Caborn,
I want to see Mr. Bird." Mrs. Caborn made no answer. She
had by that time cut some bread and butter that Lady
Mordaunt had asked for, and both went out of the room.
In the course of half
e a minute I followed, and found the
respondent sitting •on a large box in the passage, in which
coals were usually kept. I went up to her and said, "We
- have had enough of this ; we quite understand what it all
means. You had better get up and go." I touched her
on her arm, and she got up and made no answer ; but
'Went away into a room. -Witness spoke of seeing the
respondent on the 12th of May and other occasions,
and described her as acting and talking rationally.
Cross-examined by Mr. Archibald : When I found the
respondent sitting on the coal box, I said, " We have
had enough of this," because I thought she was putting
it on.
Sir Charles Mordaunt, cross-examined by Serjeant
Ballantine : I was the original petitioner in this case. My
• marriage with the respondent took place at Perth in 1566,
with the full sanction of both families. I made a settle-
ment of £2,000 upon my wife. Nothing occurred to
disturb my affection for her •up to the very moment
of my discovery of the most painful circumstances
which are now being investigated. Up to that time my
happiness in her was complete. I sought to consult her
wishes in every possible way. I put no restraint upon her,
but allowed her to receive her acquaintances. I heard her
speak to Captain Farquhar, Lord Cole and Sir F. John-
stone as old friends of her family ; and I therefore received
them into the circle of my acquaintance. At Lady Mor-
daunt's instigation I invited Sir Frederick Johnstone to
Walton.
Mr. Sergeant Ballantine : Were you also aware that the
Prince of Wales was an acquaintance of your wife's ?
Witnees : I was.
I believe you had no personal acquaintance with his
Royal Highness ?—I cannot say that I knew him well. I
had spoken to him. He was never a friend of mine.
I knew that he was on visiting teems with my wife's
family.
Did he ever come to your house on your invitation ?
Never.
Did you ever have a conversation with your wife about
him ; did you ever express a desire that your wife should
have no relations with him ?—I did. I warned her against ,
continuing her acquaintance with him.
Lord Penzance : Tell us what you said.
Sir Charles Mordaunt : I said I had heard in various
quarters certain circumstances connected with his previous
character which caused rue to make that remark. I did
not enter into full palticulars.
Serj cant Ballantine : At the time you expressed that
desire to Lady Mordaunt, had he, to your knowledge,
or. opinion that during the whole tune she was perfe.ctiv
right in her mind. I saw her on the 10th July, at Worth-
Lig, and conversed with her. She was sensible at that
time. There was nothing to indicate that her mind was
wandering. The treatment of puerpural fever would bevery
marked. During my attendance on her sbe did not rave.
Sikl...expecss+L.l_ller_zelf in monosyllables. She slept very well