The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-22 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIG ENCE.—Nov. 20,

COURT OF PROBATE AND DIVORCE.
(Before a Common Jury.)
MARCIIMONT V. MARCIIMONT.
Mr. Sergeant Pigott, Dr. Deane, Q.C., Dr.
Spinks, Mr. Tindal Atkinson, and Mr. F. J. Smith
were counsel for (the petitioner; Mr. R. Macaulay,
Q.C., Dr. Phillimore, Q.C., and Dr. Swabey for the
respondent,
The petitioner, Caroline Maria Marchmon t, prayed
for a judicial separation from her husband, Henry
Marchmont, on the ground of cruelty. She alleged
that he had treated her with great unkindness and
cruelty, and had extorted large sums of money from
her by threats and violence. Various acts of cruelty
were spurned in the petition. The respondent de-
nied all the allegations of cruelty, and also pleaded
condonation.
The case was opened by Mr. Sergeant Pigott.
All the material facts were elicited in the evidence
of the petitioner, which we subjoin. It is only
necessary to state that the respondent, before his
marriage, was the minister of an Independent
Chapel at Islington, and that the petitioner
was the widow of a Mr. Locket, who kept a tavern
in Threadneedle-street.
Mrs. Caroline Maria Marchmont, examined by
Dr. Deane, said—l was married to the lespondent
on the 17th of October, 1857. I had known him
since December, 1856. I was a widow, and had
£50,000 at my own disposal, which had been left
me by my first husband. Mr. Marchmont first
proposed to me in February, 1856. I did not then
accept him. On the evening before I was married
I saw Mr. Marchmout's mother. She was then
dying. I was married at St. George's Cathedral.
Mr. Marchmont was an Independent minister
when I became acquainted
.with him. I am a
Roman Catholic. All my property was settled on
myself. After we were married we went to Tun-
bridge Wells. Mr. Marchmont's little boy, about
five years old, went with us. The morning after
our arrival we heard of the death of Mr. March-
mont's mother. Before my marriage I had lent
' Mr. Marchmont's father £9OO. He had also had
£llO. I advanced this at Mr. Marchmont's re-
quest. I had lent Mr. Marchmont £lOO. We re-
mained about five weeks at Tunbridge Wells.
Several unpleasant things occurred between my
husband and myself. Mr. Marchmont's two other
children joined us there. On the 18th November he
told me to go and hang or drown myself. On the
next day he told me he should leave me, and told
the children to take off the things I had bought
for them and put on their own. A few days after-
wards, while we were out for a walk, he called
me a liar, and when I made some observa-
tion he said it was a lie. The day after the
marriage I gave him £lOO, and afterwards lent
him £7l. About the end of November we went to
Dover. Early in December -Mr. Marehmont called
me a mean-spirited thing, or worse, and said he
wished me away. I said, "If you will allow me
to get my bonnet I will go." He followed me up-
stairs and spoke to me in a violent temper. I went
out of the house, and he then told me to go back
and pay the bill, adding that if I did not he
would throw me into the sea. He was very white
and his eyes flashed fire. I got into an omnibus to
go away, but went back to the hotel again the same
night. One morning he insisted on having a cheque
for £lOO, and another for £l5, and stood over me
with his fist up until I yielded. He was continually
telling me to go to the devil and to hell, calling me
.names, such as " cat," and "dirty slut." About
the end of December he asked me to make it up.
I said I would if he gave me the £lOO cheque. He
did so and we were friends till the next day. We
went out for a walk in the afternoon, and one of the
children took his arm. I said it -would be better
if they did not take his arm. He said they should,
got very violent, and threatened to knock me down,
or give me in charge to a policeman, and called me
" a beast and a cat." I struggled and ran away.
I got into an omnibus and went to Deal, and the
next day went to my sister, Mrs. Davis, at Black-
heath. I went back again to my husband at Dover
on Christmas-day. The next day after he expressed
a wish to separate" and to have £lO,OOO. He
would go off in his temper at any moment, and I
was so frightened, that at his request, I wrote to
my trustee expressing my readiness to give him
that sum and to sign a deed of separation ; but he
did not let me send it. He said in the morning that
he felt he was going to be in an ill-humour, and he
prayed that it might pass off; but that he was like
Mount Vesuvius, and when it was boiling over
it must have vent, and he could not help it. We
went from Dover to Ostend on the 31st December,
and then on to Brussel.% We returned to Dover
on the 7th of January. On the following Sunday
he was in an ill-humour, and when I went home
from church he called me names, told me to go to
• hell, and said the sooner he saw me there the bet-
ter. He also repeated his demand for £lO,OOO. He
threatened to call a policeman and to say I was
mad, ground his teeth at me, and called me hell-
fire, spit-fire-cat. He then became calm. He after-
wards broke out again, said I had £50,000, and he
did not see why he should not have half. I repeated
the words tl-at he had used to the servant. After
dinner he said I might go if I liked. I accordingly
went out. He followed and asked me to go back,
and said if I did not he would drown himself. I
walked about for some time. He called to me on
the pier and said he was only waiting for it to get
dark, and then he would drown himself. I returned
to him that evening. On the 12th of January we
went home to my house, 10, Percy-place, in the
Clapham-road. On the 21st of January he went
off into a passion because I had suggested that he
could see a little longer without a candle, called me
a drunken faggot, and rushed upstairs and broke
open my room door, which was locked. He tried to
take my account-book out of my hand, and in
struggling he blacked his face. He then said that
if I was a man he would spit in my face and force
me to fight a duel. He went upstairs, and he fol-
lowed and said to the children, " If that woman
speaks to you. slap her and spit in her, face." A
number of people had collected round the front
door, and I wanted to get out. He tried to carry
me into the parlour, and I screamed. He took the
children into the drawing-room, and when I went
to them he thrust me out of it. I went towards the
back door, and he followed me. His passion be-
came so violent that he pet up his hand and struck
my forehead. His hand was open, but the blow
was so violent that my eyes struck fire. I was doing
nothing but trying to get out of his way. I spent
that evening in the kitchen, and I slept at night in
the servant's room. He asked me to make it up, and
although we were not friends we went on quietly
for some time. He took the children to see the
illuminations. He once brought home a Newfoun-
land dog, and when I made an observation about it
lie flew into a rage and passed the night on the
sofa. He asked me to go to My solicitor, and said
if I told the solicitor he had struck me he would
torment me as long as he lived and shorten my
life. The day afterwards, when I objected to go
out in the carriage, lie said he would " not mind
swinging" for me. I was so frightened that I ran
out of the house to a neighbour. My husband
followed me and sent me a letter. I slipped out of
the door and went to my sister, but she was ill,
and I then went to my niece, Mrs. Walmsley.
(Some letters written by the respondent to his
wife were here read. In the first of them he re-
quested an interview for a few minutes. " Don't,"
he said,—
" Refuse your husband, who loves you to distrac-
tion. If you refuse I shall go God knows whither
—I do not. Think of what I have borne since last
Thursday, more than tongue-can tell . . God make
and keep you happy, Caroline . . To me life with-
out you is a burden and the world a desert. Shall
the last note of intercession be in vain from your
husband? Heaven protect and bless you. So prays
your ever devoted, though despised and hated
Henry."
In another letter he said—
, " My dearest Caroline,—Do you think I deser we
this ? Pray see me, and let me tell you how sorry
I am for having caused you any pain, and then if
you wish me I will leave you, and make no further
effort to see you again. My heart is almost broken
by sorrow, mortification, and anxiety. I love you
with my whole heart, in spite of any severity of
manner I have shown towards you. God is my
witness that I am thoroughly sincere in these pro-
fessions. I have no motive beyond my love for you
. Come home with me, my own darling, and I
will still do as I have always endeavoured to make
you happy."
Examined continued.—On the 25th of February
my husband came to me at Mr. Walmsley's. We
were at dinner. He said I must go. with him,
and I went without bonnet or shawl. He took
hold of me and thrust me into a cab, and forced me
down. He was in such a passion that he trembled
and could scarcely speak plain. (The witness with
considerable reluctance mentioned some epithets
applied to her by her husband. They are too gross
for repetition.) I screamed, and he put his hand
before my mouth and tried to stop me. He loosened
my teeth and he threatened to throw me out of the
cab and let the wheels pass over me. I begged and
prayed him, for God's sake, to stop, and he said he
did not believe there was a God, for if there was
he would not be permitted to feel what he then
felt. A gentleman stopped the cab, hearing the
screaming. I begged to be taken to the station-
house. The cabman drove there, and my husband
then asked me not to give him in charge, and after
more than an hour's hesitation I yielded and went
home with him. I made him a present of £220, as
I thought it would make him kind to me. He went
with me to the banker's. He wrote this paper at
the banker's. The document was as follows :
" I promise and swear three things to thee, First,

to renounce all other women and cleave only unto
thee. Second, to endeavour to curb my temper and
restrain all angry expressions. Third, to love thee
with all my heart, disinterestedly, purely, con-
stantly, and until death.—l am, my dearest Caro-
line, thine affectionately, _H. MAnciimoNT."

Within a day or two before that he had asked me
to write to my trustees about giving him the
lease of the hope in Percy-place. He shook his
fist at me, and repeated the names he had called
me in the cab. After the cheque had been given
we had another violent quarrel about the house,
in which he again called me names. I then left
the house and went to Mrs. Mackenzie's. I went
in order to avoid seeing him when he came
home. I stayed with Mrs. Mackenzie for a week.
My husband found me out and insisted upon
my going with him. He said that if I did not
he would carry me down stairs. I went home. I
had made my will before my marriage. He said
on the Gth of April that he had heard I had left
him £lO,OOO, but he did not see why he should not
have half my money. I said that if he behaved
kindly for six months I would make another will.
Soon afterwards, as he again called me names,
and I feared another outbreak, I went again to Mrs
Mackenzie, and took apartments with her in Que-
bec-street. He found. me out. I refused to return
with him unless Mrs. Mackenzie accompanied me.
She came with me and stayed for three days. On
the morning that she left he was in a violent pas-
sion, and said he would never leave me till my
dying day unless I gave him £25,000. He wanted
to know how long that woman was going to be a
spy on his actions, and made me send her away.
He also insisted on my giving him £lOO, and he
was so violent that I let him have it. About the
beginning of May I went again, in consequence of
another quarrel, to my sister's. When I had been
there a week my husband wrote to me to say that
one of the children was ill, and I returned home.
Wken he came to fetch me from my sister's I was
so alarmed that I tried to get into an ottoman, but
it would not close, so I got out and concealed my-
self in the coal cellar. I went home the next morn-
ing, believing that the child was dying. I found it
had only a slight cold. My husband seemed pleased
to see me. Two days afterwards he was ill-hu-
moured and made use of some dreadful expressions,
and as he was shaving threatened to draw the
razor across his own throat. He took my keys
from me and locked them up, and told me to go
downstairs and find half a dozen blank cheques and
he would fill them up. When I went down he
got into a passion in consequence of something
I had said, and said he would knock me down,
and he did not mind dying for me. He used
language too bad for me to repeat. On the 3d
of June I called on my solicitor, Mr. Barnard.
The next morning my husband asked me if I had
been there, and repeated the names he had before
called me. The same day he said that if I told the
servants anything about him he would take my
tongue out. I got out of the house and went into a
neighbour's at No. 9. He followed me, and almost
threw me over the wall in endeavouring to take me
back. He and his brother-in-law ran after me and
caught me in the garden, and took me back to the
house. He told his brother-in-law to bolt the doors
and windows, and said I should be a prisoner.
When I was speaking about what he had done to
me, he took up a pair of scissors and threatened to
throw them at me. In the evening I was attacked
with spasms and was very ill. I kept my bed for
five or six days. I had asked for a doctor, but my
husband said I did not want one. My cook went
and fetched Dr. Bird, who attended me. My hus-
band told me, while I was ill, that it was useless
for me to think of a judicial separation, for he
would never leave me until I had let him have
£25,000, and then I might " go to Hongkong for
him." On the Bth of June my sister came to see me.
I told her what had occurred in my husband's pre-
sence. He was very angry, and almost turned her
out, when she stooped down to kiss me, and I whis
pered to her, " Go to Mr. Barnard and do all you
can for me.:'• Later in the day I saw my sister
and Mr. Barnard coming to the door. My hus •
band was at the door trying to prevent them from
coming in. I went to the door, and he turned
round, took hold of me, and carried me into the
parlour. I there fainted. When I recovered m y
sister was by my side, and a policeman in the
room. My husband begged me not to take him
before a magistrate. He was very calm then. We
all went before a police magistrate, and my hus-
band was bound over to keep the peace for three
months. I went to the house of Mr. Mitchell, a
medical man, where I remained.

Several letters written by the respondent en-
treating forgiveness for his conduct, and promising
amendment, were then read. They were in the
same tone as those we nave already given.
he compared himself and his wife to a sweet rose
and a pure tulip which had been separated, and
asked whether they were ever to be united ? In
others he inserted copies of verse,—
" Thou art gone from my gaze like a beautiful dream,"
and similar productions. He begged his wife not
to expose family quarrels or listen to the advice of
lawyers, who, he said, would always say there was
a good case where there was money. He also
spoke of the effect of the exposures which had
already taken place upon his own prospects, and
said that anonymous letters were pouring in upon
him—he had just been obliged to pay 2d. for one.
The reading of the letters occupied a considerable
time, and caused much amusement in the court.
_ _ _ _

It was admitted that Mr. Marchmont still re-
sided at 10, Percy-place.
As the examination of the witness had occupied
the greater part of the day the Court adjourned at
4 o'clock, without commencing the cross-examina-
tion.