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

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY 'EVENING, NOVEMBER 22, 1858.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.—Nov. 20.

COURT OF PROBATE AND DIVORCE.
(Before a Common Jury.)
MARCHMONT V. MARCHMONT.
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 Marchmont, 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 specified 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 respondent
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. Marchmont'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. arch-
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 Ll.OO. -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. Marchmont called
me a mean-spirited thing, or worse, and said h e
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 fyielded. 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 welkin 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 lie 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 lie
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 Brussels. '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 lie
did not see why he should not have half. I repeated
the words that he bad 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 H
struggling he blacked his face. e 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 violentthathnhaea wasptit liP bhpiesnh,anbudtanthdestbrulocwk
my forehead. His
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
theservant'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
he 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, he 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, Catoline . . 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 deserve,
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 mo 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 feal 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
Lthought it would make him kin 4 to.nie.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,