The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-01 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.—This Day.

COURT OF PROBATE.
(Before Sir J. P. Wilde and a Special Jury.)
BELLEW V. BELLEW.

The hearing of this case, which has occupied so
many days, was resumed this morning.
Mr. Hawkins, Q.C., summed up on behalf of Mr.
Henry Bellew, who propounded the will of his sister
the late Countess of Bellew, which was made in his
favour, and was disputed by their mutual sister,
Miss Frances Bellew, who alleged that theinstru-
meat was a forgery. The learned counsel said that
not only would his client be deprived of a large pro-
perty, but the reputation destroyed and the very
liberty imperilled of two respectable persons,
namely, Mrs. Cap and Joseph Verlaudo, by an
adverse verdict. It must be admitted that if this
will were a forgery these two persons had
been guilty of a dangerous and foul conspiracy,
which, notwithstanding the alteration of the law
which abolished capital punishment for forgery, still
rendered them liable to penal servitude for life. He
said he would be able to satisfy the jury that there
was no ground whatever for imputing any such
infamous misconduct to the parties in question. It
appeared from the facts developed in the course of
the evidence that the aunt of the Countess of Bellew,
the testatrix, had left Mr. Henry Bellew and Miss
Frances Bellew £4,000 each, and constituted the
Countess of Bellew her residuary legatee. That
will Miss Frances Bellew disputed in the Prero-
gative Court at Exeter, but without success, and
very unsisterly feelings between the parties were
engendered. The breach was never entirely closed,
and shortly prior to her death the countess was
heard to complain bitterly of the conduct of her sister
in involving her in expensive litigation. He con-
tended that it was not likely that Mrs. Cap, if she
had been a party to forging the instrument in dis-
pute, would have limited her own legacy to £5OO, or
that Verlando would have been instrumental in the
fraud, without deriving any benefit whatever, by so
nefarious and dangerous an act. The learned
counsel then went through, the different points of
the voluminous evidence.

The jury returned a verdict against the will.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE—This Day.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

STEALING WET LIN-EN.—Gebrge Davis, a rough looking
fellow, was charged before Mr. Knox with stealing some
wet linen, the property of Mr. Smith, tailor, of Silver-
street, Gower-square.
The prosecutor said that on the previous afternoon be
was at work (his servant girl havingjust gone out) when
he heard a noise upstairs ; and on going into a back room
he saw the prisoner, and on asking him what he wanted
there, ho said he was "looking for Mrs. Sullivan." He
told the prisoner .that he had no Mrs. Sullivan there, and
hearing something rattle in" his pockets, took from them
two keys, which he told the prisoner were most convenient
articles for him to carry about with him. He then found
that the noise ho had previously heard had been caused by
the fall of part of a candlestick which the prisoner had
dropped. The prisoner begged hard to be allowed to go,
and as he appeared to have taken nothing, he let
him go, but directly after his servant coming in, and seeing
a strange bag, and which turned out to be full of wet linen,
near whore the prisoner had been crouched down, he gave
information to the police, and he was overtaken and taken
into custody. The articles in the bag were his property.
_ _ _ _

Police-constable Foster, 98 C, said that from the descrip-
tion of the prisoner he received he went after him and took
him into custody, in a public-houss in Pulteney-street,
when he said that he had only gone to the house for the
purpose of seeking employ.
Inspector Bowles said he believed there would be other
charges against the prisoner, and Mr. Knox remanded him.