The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-29 00:00:00

WILLS AND BEQUESTS.

The will of the Most Noble Henry De-la-Poer
Beresford, Marquis of Waterford, K.P., was ad-
ministered to, in the London Court of Probate, by
his brother, the Most Noble and Rev. John De-la-
Poor Beresford, Marquis of Waterford, as one of
the next of kin, there being no executor named in
the will; the Marchioness, the relict, having re-
nounced the grant. The will is dated the 17th of
August, 1852, and is written on a small sheet of
note paper, and witnessed by John Parkinson and
William L. Farrer The personal estate was sworn
under £70,000. He leaves Ford Castle, and the
lands and estates in Northumberland, to the
Marchioness for her life, her jointure being
paid out of these estates • and also leaves to
her the jewellery, plate, and money at the ban-
ker's. He bequeaths to his' sister, the Countess
Talbot, £l,OOO a year, to be a charge upon the
Irish estates; and, subject thereto, he leaves the
Irish estates to his brother, the present marquis, as
well as the estates in Northumberland and else-
where on the decease of his wife, the Dowager
Marchioness.

The will of Henry William De-la-Poer Beresford
(Peirse), Esq., of Bedale Hall, Yorkshire, who died
on the 24th of July, 1859, was proved in London
by the widow and executrix, power being reserved
to Marmaduke Wyvill, jun., Esq., and George
John White Melville, Esq., the other executors.
The personalty sworn under £B,OOO. The will is
dated Feb. 13, 1850. He has bequeathed to his
wife the residence, household furniture, and effects,
at Aiskew, with the carriages and such of the plate
not having the arms and crest of Pierse ; and be-
queathes the estates at Bedale, together with the
mansion, furniture, paintings, and the plate with
the arms and crest of Pierse to his son, grandson,
and heirs male ; every tenant in possession to bear
and use the surname of Peirse after his own, and
obtain a licence for that purpose, and to quarter
such arms with their own, and such plate to be
heirlooms with the Bedale estate. The estates are
under strict settlement. The trustees to give the
next alternate presentation of Bedale to his brother,
the Rev. John George Beresford—value, £1,936.
The will of Colin Campbell, Esq., formerly Phy-
sician-General in the Hon. East India Company's
Bengal Establishment, was proved in London by
Major Lionel Percy Denham Eld, one of the exe-
cutors. The personalty in England sworn under
£12,00. He has bequeathed his property princi-
pally amongst his sons and daughters, leaving a
few legacies to his friends and relatives, and to his
servants.—lllustrated London News.

[ADVERTISEMENT.] —E PPS' S(Homoeopathic Chemist)
Cocoa.—This esteemed preparation is sold by the prin-
cipal grocers at Is. fid. per lb., in lib., ]lb., and
packets. Each packet is labelled " James Epps, Homoeo-
pathic chemist, London."
[ ADvEnsi s EMENT.] —lf ell °way' s Pills.—When we con-
sider how uncertain are life and health, and their value is
appreciated by all human beings, it is. strange, indeed, to
observe how often men neglect the means of preserving
these blessings at even the most trifling cost. They pay
heavily to ensure their premises from fire or their goods
from accident on flood and field, but they often put off until
it is too late the expenditure of a few shillings on a box of
Holloway's Pills, which they might keep by them as an
uLfailing safeguard—as a. charm which will protect the
possessor against all diseases. They must certainly do
good, if used according to instructions given with each
box.

DR. SMETHURST.

A rumour was very current on Saturday that the
HOme Secretary had sent a respite for the prisoner,
but it had no foundation, and at present the execu-
tion is fixed for Tuesday, the 6th of September. It
is true that the solicitor for the prisoner, Mr. Hum-
phreys, has made an urgent solicitation to the Se-
cretary of State to delay the carrying out of the
sentence, and the culprit himself has also addressed
several very long communications to the Home-
office, in which he gives a history of the connexion
between himself and the deceased lady and most
strenuously asserts his, innocence; but the whole
matter is still under consideration, and it is not
likely that any decision will be come to until the
middle of the week.

The prisoner still continues to exhibit the same
calm and almost indifferent demeanour that cha-
racterised him throughout the whole of the painful
proceedings, and he has never ceased protesting his
innocence of the crime of which he has been con-
victed. On • Wednesday, after the day had been
formally fixed for the execution, it was deemed
prudent by the gaol authorities that the clothes he
had worn down to that time, and which were the
same he had on at the trial, should be taken away,
and he was dressed in the prison garb. This was
done as a matter of precaution, as it was thought
he might have some deadly ingredient concealed
about his own garments. Nothing of this descrip-
tion, however, was discovered, and Dr. Smethurst
submitted to the change of garments without any
complaint, and the only observation he made was
to the effect that if he went to Madame Tussaud's
in that dress he should look " a complete Guy." The
Rev. Mr. Jessop, the chaplain of Horsemonger-
lane Gaol, communicated to the prisoner the fact
that the sentence was to be carried out on the day
above-named, and he heard the 'communication
without exhibiting any emotion, but merely ex-
claimed, "If the sentence is carried out, I am a
murdered man."

It has been stated above that during the
week Dr. Smethurst has been engaged in writ-
ing a long communication to the Home Secre-
tary upon the subject of his alleged offence. In
this statement he again asserts his entire inno-
cence, and declares that the deceased died from
natural causes. He also particularly observes upon
the absence of any motive for his committing such
a dreadful crime, and states that the deceased had
so much affection for hire that she would at any
time have called in the mortgage and given him
the money if he had asked her to do so, and be also
urges that the deceased lady had a contingent inte-
rest in a great deal of other property, so that his
interest would have been much stronger in her life
than in her death. He also endeavours to show
that the circumstance of his attending upon the de-
ceased in the manner he did, supplying her with
all her food and medicine, and not allowing any
one else to attend upon her—all which facts were
so strongly urged against him in support of the
charge—were in reality merely the result of his
affection for the deceased, and he says, that during
the illness of his wife, the real .Mrs. Smethurst, he
always used to wait upon her in the same manner.
The prisoner also states with regard to his having
taken the soup that was brought by Miss Louisa
Bankes a day or two before her death, and which
she represented he took out of the bedroom, and
was heard to stir ou the landing, that all he did
was to take it to the window to cool it, as be did
everything else that was taken by the deceased, the
doctors who were in attendance upon her directing
that she should have everything cold. It will be
remembered that according to the evidence of Miss
Louisa Bankes, the deceased's sister, the moment
she tasted the soup the deceased vomited, and the
inference was that the prisoner left the room for
the purpose of putting some noxious ingredient into
it ; but he asserts most solemnly that this '*as not
the case; and accounts for his conduct in the manner

above stated. It is rather a remarkable circum-
stance that the prisoner does not appear to have
given any explanation of the circumstances under
which the deceased lady consented to go through
the ceremony of marriage with him, when she
must have been aware that, at all events, he
was living with another woman who passed as
Mrs. Smethurst, and was always regarded as his
wife, and that this had been the state of things
for nearly two years. There is very little doubt,
however, that when the first unhappy inti-
macy took place between the deceased lady and
the prisoner he asserted he was not married, and
that it was under the impression that this was a
correct statement of the nature of the connexion
that existed between them that the deceased con-
sented to go and reside with the prisoner, and it
was at her urgent solicitation alone that he con-
sented to the marriage taking place at Battersea
Church under the circumstances elicited at the trial.
If this should really have been the case, it is clear
that the prisoner might at any moment have been
taken into custody for bigamy, and that it would
have been impossible for him to have gone back to
live with his own wife while the deceased was in
existence.

Dr. Smethurst passes a considerable part of the
morning with the chaplain, and appears to exhibit
a good deal of religious feeling. He expressed a
desire not to attend the ordinary chapel service, as
he did not wish to be the subject of the curiosity of
the other prisoners, and his request was at once
complied with.