The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-06 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGEIcE, Dec. 5.

VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT.
(Before Sir W. P. Wood.)
DRAKE V. SYNES.
This case came on upon exceptions to answer.
The bill was filed by certain shareholders in the
International Life Assurance Society against the
directors, and one of the securities on which the
moneys of the society had been invested. Interro-
gatories had been filed, containing inquiries of a
searching nature as to the business of the society,
and requiring the defendants to set forth a list of
the policies ;ranted and their particulars, and also
the wav in which the funds of the society had been
invested, what loans had been granted, and to
whom, &c. The defendants in their answer had
referred to the books of the society (38 in number
and scheduled), as containing full and correct in-
formation as to the policies now in existence, and
as to the particulars of the securities upon which the
moneys of the society had been invested. The
plaintiffs had applied for an inspection of the books,
and it was decided in chambers that they were en-
titled to an unlimited inspection, the defendants
having proposed to seal up certain portions. Not-
withstanding this decision the plaintiffs had on the
same day excepted to the answer as insufficient in
these particulars.
Mr. Itolt and Mr. W. H. C)le, in support of the
exceptions, contended that the plaintiffs were en-
titled to have the information sought for presented
to them in a tangible shape, without being put to
the trouble of sifting the 38 huge volumes which
had been scheduled, for the purpose of collecting
the necessary data for making their calculations and
submitting them to an actuary.
Mr. W. M. James and Mr. Cotton, for the de-
fendants, contended that the books contained full
particulars as to everything inquired for by tho
plaintiffs. The books were open for the inspection
of the plaintiffs, and the directors had no further
information to give beyond what was contained
therein.

Mr. Rolt replied on the question of costs.
The Vice-Chancellor, after observing that it
was desirable that great care should be taken
in framing interrogatories so that they should
not be oppressive, said that the information
which was contained in the books ought to be
pointed out in some easy and accessible form. With
respect to the inquiry as to loans, &c., the Court
would not require the names of the debtors to be
set out. So in a litigation between the members
of a banking firm, the partners would not be bound
to set out the balances of all their customers. His
Honour, after adverting to the circumstance that
the exceptions had been taken after the order for
inspection had been made, said that when a defen-
dant was asked to set out lists of this oppressive
character, he was
•justified in saying that all the
accounts, &c., were contained in certain books,
which books were true, provided that he referred
to the books sufficiently to make them part of the
answer. At the same time, in referring to books
in this way, the defendant was bound to make the
examination of those books as convenient as possi-
ble, by in some degree at least specifying and nar-
rowing the sources of information through which
the plaintiff had to seek. It was not enough,
therefore, when the inquiries were specific, to give
a simple reference to these enormous books. It was
surely for the benefit of all parties that the infor•
mation should be given in the cheapest and most
accessible form.
The exceptions must, therefore, in strictness, be
allowed, but he should reserve the costs until fur-
ther order.

DIVORCE COURT.

BELL V. BELL AND THE MARQUIS OF ANGLESEY.

Mr. M. Chambers, Q.C., Dr. Deane, Q.C., Mr.
Cleasby, and Mr. G. H. Cooper appeared for the
petitioner. ; Mr. Sergeant Pigott and Mr. Dixon for
the respondent, and Mr. Edwin James, Q.C., with
Mr. Gordon Alla% for the co-respondent.
This was a petition by James Morton Bell pray-
ing for a dissolution of his marriage with! Ellen
Jane Bell, on the Bound of her adultery with the
Marquis of Anglesey, and also asking for damages
from the co-respondent. The damages were laid
at £lO,OOO. The respondent and the co-respondent
pleaded a denial of the adultery.
Mr. M. Chambers, in opening the case, said that
the only object of the petitioner in asking for da-
mages was to place himself in the same position as
before his marriage with regard to the money se-
cured by him to Mrs. Bell by the settlements exe-
cuted at the time of the marriage. By the 61st sec-
tion of the act of last session the Court had power
to deal with marriage settlements in certain cases,
bat it was doubtful whether it was authorised by
that section to interfere with the settlements where,
as in this case, there had been no children of the
marriage. Mr. Bell had, therefore, been advised to
insert in the petition a claim for damages.
It appeared that the marriage took place at Pad-
dington, on the 10th of July, 1851 ; Mr. Bell being
a merchant, the son of another merchant of consi-
derable wealth, and the respondent being one of
the daughters of Mr. Berman, a wealthy stock-
broker. Mr. 13?.11 was 2.5, and Mrs. Bell, 21 years
of age, and she was described as a lady of remark-
able beauty. They had a house in Gloucester-ter-
race, Hyde-park, and as Mr. Bernan resided close
to them in Sussex-square, there was a great deal of
intercourse between the two families. Mr. Ber-
nan also had a house at Worthing, where Mr.
and Mrs. Bell were accustomed to spend a few
weeks every autumn. No evidence was given as
to the time and circumstances of the Marquis
of Anglesey's introduction to the family, but
it appeared that he used to visit the
Bernans at Worthing with his children, Lord
Berkeley and Lady Florence Paget, and that the
Bernans and the Bells had visited him at Beaude-
sert. In Oct., 1858, Mrs. Bell was at Worthing, and
on the 23d of that month, during Mr. Bell's ab-
sence, she left her father's house and went to Lil-
lyman's Hotel in Lower Brook-street, where she
was joined by her waiting-maid, Sarah Denseley.
The Marquis of Anglesey visited her there every
day. After remaining for a fortnight she and her
maid and the Marquis went together to the Calver-
ley Hotel at Tonbridge-wells. Mrs. Bell passed by
the name of Mrs. Burton, and they occupied one
sitting-room and two bedrooms near each other, and
took all their meals together. About a fortnight
afterwards they removed to lodgings in Halfmoon-
street, Piccadilly, where the Marquis and Mrs.
Bell lived as man and wife, Mrs. Bell then taking
the name of Lady Anglesey. They remained there
until March, when Mrs. Bell went to the Castle
Hotel, Richmond. A butler named Wicks, who had
been in Mr. and Mrs, Bells's service, said, in his
cross-examination, that they had slight differences
at times, but never any serious quarrel, and that
Mr. Bell used to complain of her seeing too much
company. The attorney of Mr. Bernan, Mr. Sewell,
also said that it turned out to be an ill-assorted mar-
riage. The Marquis of Anglesey was stated to be
a widower.

Mr. Sewell also explained the provisions of the
settlements executed at the marriage, as to which
it is only necessary to state that Mr. Bernan
secured certain sums to his (laughter, and that Mr.
Bell settled upon his wife the interest of £5,000 to
her separate use for her life.
Mr. E. James, in addressing the jury in mitiga-
tion of damages, fully acquitted Mr. Bell of any in-
tention to put money in his own pocket, and said
that he was quite justified in wishing to relieve him-
self from the liability for the payment of the inte-
rest of £5.000 to his wife during the remainder of
her life. He was not instructed to the slighest
imputation upon the conduct of Mr. Bell, but the
marriage was not a happy one, and there was no
evidence that the Marquis had been guilty of any-
thing like deliberate seduction, so that it would be
sufficient to award damages which would place Mr,
Bell in the same position with regard to the settle-
ment as before the marriage.
The Judge-Ordinary, in summing up, said the
only question for the jury was the amount of
damages, and in considering that question, they'
were directed by the statute to be guided by the
same rules as were formerly applicable to actions
against adulterers for crim. con. He never remem-
bered to have heard it suggested that in actions of
that kind the jury could lgitimately take into con-
sideration the provisions of the marriage settle-
ments.

Mr. M. Chambers reminded his lordship that in
the case of Dr. Lardner the settlements were given
in evidence, and £B,OOO damages awarded in copse-
sequence of their provisions.
The Judge-Ordinary said lie did not remember
the case. lie could understand thfat the nature of
the settlements might be atopic
whator an address to
a jury, but. he.eould not seeprinciple. the
settlements could be nivle‘nboilwioe'ill.f-eidmeinoehetin
baction
against the adulterer.
make ducks and drakes of the money ctcflacind to her
orc
separate use, and the husband had no control over
her, whether he lived with her or apart from her.
However, after the precedent -which the learned
counsel had cited, he would not withdraw the settle-
ments from the consideration of the jury. In as-
stessing'damages the usual course was to take into
consideration the position in life of the parties, the
terms on which they had lived together, the cir-
cumstances under which the adulterer was intro-
duced to the husband's family, and the means he
had of paying damages, a-A to make the damages,
as nearly as they could, a compensation—although
it was a miserable thing to talk of money in such a
matter at all—for the loss the husband had sus-
tained. If they thought the Marquis had taken
advantage of the prestige attaching to his title and
to his large possessions to induce a handsome wo-
man, perhaps fond of admiration, to give up her
honour to him, and had thus robbed Mr. Bell of

his wife, they would probably look upon it as a
case for a serious amount of damages.
The jury, after a short consultation, found. a Tcr -
diet for the petitioner, and. assessed the damages at
£lO,OOO.
Their Lordships pronounced a decree of disso-
lution, and condemned the co-respondent in costs.

BREACII OF PROMISE EXTRAOR-
DINARY.

JULIA SARAH DE WINTON TROWSDALE v.
HUGH STEWART.
This was an action for breach of promise, tried
at the Court of Queen's Bench, Dublin, on Friday,
before the Lord Chief Justice and a special jury.
The court was densely crowded during the day.
One of the side galleries was occupied by ladies.
Mr. Sergeant O'Hagan, Q.C., Mr. Armstrong,
Q.C., and Mr. Crawford appeared for the plaintiff.
Mr. Whiteside, Q.C., Mr. Macdonogh, Q.C., Mr.
Joy, Q.C., Mr. Sullivan, Q.C.; and Mr. Falkiner
appeared for the defendant.
Mr. Crawford opened the pleadings. The sum-
mons and plaint contained three counts, alleging
that, in consideration of defendant being then
unmarried, he promised to marry plaintiff,
nad alleging as a breach of the eontract
that he married a certain other person named Lizzie
Hope. One of the counts alleged that the promise
was to marry the plaintiff in a reasonable time after
the death of defendant's grandfather, and stated
that his grandfather was dead, and the defendant
married to Lizzie Hope. The defendant pleaded
that he did not promise to marry the plaintiff as
alleged. The issue for the jury was, whether the
defendant did promise and undertake to marry the
plaintiff.
Mr. Sergeant O'Hagan, Q.C., statedthe plaintiff's
case. He said that it now became his duty to state
the grounds on which the plaintiff claimed da-
mages, and large and ample damages, at the hands
of the jury. The plaintiff, Miss Julia Trowsdale,
was the daughter of an English gentleman, resi-
dent in Belfast, where he held the responsible posi-
tion of an officer of Customs for a great number of
years. Between the families of the plaintiff and
the defendant, or at least between certain members
of them, great intimacy had existed for many years.
OldiMr. Stewart, of Holywood, was acquainted with
Mr. Trowsdale, the Customs officer in Belfast ; and
the daughters of Mr. Trowsdale and the grand-
daughters of Mr. Stewart, the sisters of the defen-
dant, were sent by their respective parents to a
place of education well known in the county of
Antrim, Grace Hill, a highly respectable and ex-
cellent school, kept by the Moravian community.
The young ladies of the two families formed an in-
timacy which continued until the death of one of
the sisters. Whether previous to the autumn of
1856 there had been any acquaintance between the
plaintiff and the defendant did not appear ; but
about that time he met Miss Trowsdale at Sunny-
side, the residence of a lady named Mrs. Rounds,
and on one occasion he accompanied her to her
home, at a place called Ballyhackamore, between
Holywood and Belfast. From that period very.
close and intimate relations were established be-
tween the defendant and this young lady. He
became a constant visitor at the house of her pa-
rents, and they having made inquiries as to his
character and conduct, be did not appear to them
to be an ineligible person to be a suitor to their
daughter. His visits to the house continued from
the autumn of 1856 down to the time almost at
which he broke his contract. During the period a
correspondence of a very voluminous nature was
maintained between these young people, with the
full knowledge and approbation of the families on
both sides ; and towards the end of 1856 a positive
agreement to marry was entered into between them:
The correspondence proceeded throughout the year
1857, and until the death of old Mr. Stewart, in
November, 1858 ; the defendant's visits to Mr.
Trowsdale's were of weekly and almost daily oc-
currence' and (what might be expected between
affianced persons) little love gifts, lockets, and "en-
gaged rings," as they were called, passed between
them. Up to the period of his grandfathers death,
the defendant was not possessed of much property
himself. He possessed something less than £1,000;
but he kept a yacht, and enjoyed himself as became
a gentleman of fortune. The defendant, however,
did not desire to enter into the marriage state until
he became perfectly independent in the world. But
it sometimes happened that love cooled, and that
what a man intended to do when he was in poor
circumstances, he shrank from doing when his cir-
cumstances improved. It would appear from the
correspondence that Mr. Stewart, the grandfather
of the defendant, died, leaving the latter property
said to be worth £6OO per year, and that in a very
short time afterwards the defendant began to cool
in his attention to the plaintiff. Still the corres-
pondence went on. In March,, 1859, the plaintiff
discovered the change that had come over her affi-
anced husband, having written repeatedly to him
without receiving any answer. Then, for the first
time, the defendant began to make an excuse for
the purpose of avoiding the completion of his solemn
contract. He stated as his reason for not having cor-
responded before, that he had heard from somebody
of the plaintiff having exhibited his letters to other
people. That was in March, 1859. The plaintiff
answered that the charge was false—that she had
,n ever done anything so unmaidenly and unbecoming,
and desired to know the name of the slanderer. The
defendant's first answea was that the communica-
tion was confidential ; next, that it was made to
him by a person who had gone to America, and that
until he heard from him he could not state the name;
then, that this nameless person tvas travelling abroad
in America, and he could not tell exactly when a
reply could be got. It would be found that, before
a reply could have come, he had married another
woman, and the jury would therefore come to the
conclusion that the charge advanced against the
plaintiff was merely a false and base pretence of the
defendant to justify the breach of his contract made
18 months before.
The learned counsel then read the following
amongst other letters :
" Holywood, Midnight of Saturday.
"My dearest Julia,—l am sure you can but little
imagine the pleasure I now experience in writing
to you, although so immeasurably less than that of
seeing and holding converse with you. Imagine,
then, if the pleasure in writing to you be so great,
what must it be that I shall experience at receiving
a letter from you, dearest Julia. What a magic
there is in that little word, Julia, and to what a
source of hope and joy d)es the very mention of it
give birth !
For strange, fond moods the spirit hath
That never trod life's common path.
And is this feeling, this emotion. love ? Yes, love
for you, dear Jul:a, pure and fervent ; for is not
that feeling love, that fills the soul to the complete
annihilation of every other thought and feeling,
thus enabling us, as it were, to lift the veil of the
invisible world ? Oh, yes, love must be holy. Are
there not moments to all of us, when clearer
thoughts and more elevated feelings than are often
wont to visit us take possession of our minds ?
When, thinking on some beloved object, our
thoughts are enabled to rise from the study and
contemplation of the creature to the more fervent
worship and adoration of the Creator. Do we not
feel all t his to be the case when But excuse me,
I feel that I am wearying you, and allowing my pen
to wander from its original subject; but I know,
dearest Julia, that you will excuse me, as the very
fact of my writing to you is surely sufficient to ac-
count for my wandering. It has been wisely ordained
by an all-wise Providence that we can in the ideal
thus converse with those we love and honour; for
remember, that although absent from you in per-
son, I am present in spirit ; for I never open a book,
or look upon anything in the face of nature around
me, in which I do not see, in plain and legible
characters, your face and features there depicted
before me; although were I to speak the truth,
that face is never, even for a moment, absent from
my mind : for surely it is this, that heart needed'
heart.

In. my dreamings of thee,
Still I fear to depart;
In my dreamings of thee,
In that doorway I stand,
Meet thy welcome so bland,
And I still press thy hand
In my dreamings of thee.

I hope you felt no ill effects from your dancin 0. last
night. May every happiness be thine, is, believe
me, the fervent wish of your very deVoteilly attached
and affectionate,

" HUGH STEWART, Jun."
In another letter, dated Holywood, Tuesday even-
ing, he said,—

" There are moments when the heart glows with
unutterable emotion—when the electric spark of
love thrills our whole being with a joy too great for
utterance. Would that at such moments, dearest
Julia, language were given to express even a tittle
of that love with which you are worshipped. There
arc some whose natures are cold and paSsionless—
whose hearts can never thrill with love's emotion—
in whose bosoms no generous sympathy with spon-
taneous energy ever breaks forth—who, wrapt up
in their own cold, selfish interests, alike insensible
to every holy and kindly feclitig, walk this eutli
as in a living tomb. So in love there are those
who, when they love, love with their whole mind,
their whole being—to whom no. possible sacri-
fice at the shrine of love would offer an impedi-
ment to their devotion ; and, again, on the other
hand, there are those who would degrade that
holy and blessed emotion, which is so cramped
and deformed in their own bosoms as to be
scarcely recognisable. But enough of this. I must
crave your pardon for being so wrapt up in the ques
tion of love that I almost forgot I was writing to
you. Forget you, didit say ? Oh, no. I look upon