The Sun.
London, England, 1827-01-18 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF CHANCERY, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 17.
WELLESLEY V. THE DU EE OP BEAUFORT.
(Concluded from our paper of-yesterday.)

Mr. HART then rose. In the course of the' remarks he in-
tended to offer to the Court, he should carefully abstain from in-
dulging in any invectives calculated to affect improperly the
character of any individual who hadlitherto come before it. He
should state the evidence as fairly as he could en one side and on
the other, and should then call for the deliberate judgment of his
Lordship as to the side on which the preponderance of evidence
rested. Whether he should call it perjury, or a mere contradic-
tion of evidence, was perhaps immaterial ; but this he must say,
that the evidence of the gentleman on which this application rested
at first, had been proved to be false, not by the contradiction of
other witnesses, but by the impossibility of reconciling the vari-
ous parts of it with itself. He had supposed that on the former
discussion they had entirely done with the testimony of that in-
dividual. His Learned Friend (the Attorney-General), who
always conducted his case with great discretion, appeared to en-
tertain the same supposition ; but his Learned Friends who
Lad followed on the same side, had dispersed themselves in
all directions over the affidavit of that individual, with the
evident intention of so bewildering those who had to answer
them, "as to render their answer unintelligible. He, therefore,
thought it the best to take up the case ab initio. His Lord-
ship had asked for explanatory affidavits. Instead of explana-
tory affidavits, new affidavtis had been filed, and he admitted
that those affidavits would disqualify Mr. Wellesley from hav-
ing the care of his children, if his Lordship should think that the
affidavits which Mr. Wellesley had sworn on the 2d, 6th, and
28th of February, 1826, ascribing that all intercourse between
him and Mrs. Bligh had ceased, were not borne out, but contra-
dicted by facts. From watching the steps of Mr. Wellesley with
the utmost diligence, and he might even say vindictiveness, the
other side thought that they had got up a case to prove tl.at
Mr. Wellesley had either sworn untruly as to facts, or evasively
and fraudulently, so as to mislead the judgment of the Court, the
intercourse between him and Mrs. Bligh having only been sus-
pended for a time to be resumed hereafter. Now, if it were true
that Mr. Wellesley had sworn in this manner, he deserved to be
subject to all the censure which every man deserved who had
sworn to what was true in letter, but false in substance. He
should contend that there was no contradiction whatsoever to Mr.
Wellesley's affidavits. He would prove from the evidence of the
other side, not only that the intercourse between Mr. Wellesley
and Mrs. Bligh had ceased at the time when those affidavits were
made, but that Mr. Wellesley had endeavoured to terminate it
for months, he might almost say years, before.
The LORD CIIANCELLOR—Is there any affidavit on the part of
Mr. 'Wellesley, stating that the connexion between himself and
Mrs. Bligh had ever ceased ?
Mr. Ham—Yes, the affidavit of the 20th of February.
The LORD CHANCELLOR—No. That affidavit merely says
that;,he has not seen her, and has not openly or clandestinely.car-
ried on adultery with her. Such an affidavit by no means affirms
that the connexion between them had ceased.

Mr. Ha RT said that he had spoken with too much latitude when
he observed that the connexion had entirely ceased ; but he had
been led into it by the observations of his Learned Friends, who
had always argued as if Mr. Wellesley had sworn so. They had
talked much of the courageous interference of Dr. Bulkeley. How
was it that this interposition was never mentioned in Mrs. Welles-
ley's narrative?
The LORD CHANCELLOR—One of my reasons for asking whe-
ther Mrs. Wellesley's letters were admitted to be genuine was,
that in one of them she states her great obligations to Dr. Bulkeley
ley, fey the protection he afforded her against the intrigues of Mrs.
Bligh.
Mr. HART did not know how that might be, but was aware
that no mention was made of it in the narrative. He would,
however, state once for all, that many things were stated in her
letters which were not the emanation of her own mind, and that
several essential parts of the narrative had recently been found to
be suppressed, which led them to doubt of the genuineness of
some of the letters. He would, however, show from Dr. Bulke-
ley's own affidavit, that Mr. Wellesley had endeavoured at a very
early period to abstract himself from Mrs. Bligh. Here the
Learned Counsel read that part of Dr. Bulkeley's affidavit, in
which he relates a conversation between himself and Mr. Wel-
lesley at Florence, in which Mr. Wellesley had told him be must
get rid of this b—h, and had fabricated a letter to enable him
to do so. After condemning Dr. Bulkeley's conduct, in con-
structing a fraudulent letter on the suggestion of Mr. Wel-
lesley, he proceeded to show the absurd improbability of
the story which the Doctor told, commenting with great se-
von each paragraph:in the Doctor's affidavit. In allud..
ineity
grto that part of the affidavit in which the Doctor states,
that considering it might be fatal to Mrs. Wellesley and
her children to cross the Alps at the time mentioned in
the fabricated letter, be advised her to throw herself on her
brother-in-law, the Ambassador at Florence, and leave her
husband to journey by himself, the Learned Counsel said
that Mrs. Wellesley's answer to this proposal proved that Mr.
Wellesley had not treated her in that brutal manner described on
the other side, for Mrs. Wellesley said that nothing should in-
duce her to quit her husband. It was evident, therefore, that
she would have risked any danger rather than separate herself
from the husband of her affections. The Learned Counsel con-
tinued to comment upon Dr. Bulkeley's affidavit, and then said,
that he should now more particularly confine himself to the single
point which he had before hinted at, namely, that from Dr.
Bulkeley's own showing, it was the anxious wish of Mr. Welles-
ley that the connection existing between him and Mrs. Bligh
should be broken off. He said, that from the whole of this part
of the Doctor's affidavit, a very strong inclination to repentance,
if not repentance itself, might be inferred. He then com-
mented very strongly on the manner in which Dr. tulkeley, a

mete dependant en the family, had interfered between Mr. and
Mrs. Wellesley. Matrimonial broils, which would, for the
moot part,' end, after a little scolding, in mutual forgiveness,
wee not unfrequently rendered fatal by the interference of
thitd persons. The Learned Counsel then traced Mr. Wel-
lesley and his family to Paris. Here, again, Mr. Wellesley
wit* followed by this unfortunate lady, Mrs. Bligh, who clung
to i him like ivy round the oak. Mr. Wellesley left Paris
fori Utrecht, to which place also she followed him ; and here he
must beg leave to draw a line of distinction between perseverance
in a good resolution, and that firmness of nerve, not to say bru-
tality, which would have led a man to shut the door in any
wopian's face under such circumstances. At this very time Dr.
Bulkeley was still employed as the agent who was to fix Mr. W.
in his resolutions, and bring him back to his wife. For this
purpose he followed him to Utrecht, from whence Mr. Wel-
-1 lesley departed in his company as privately and secretly
as possible, and yet Mrs. Bligh still followed him. Here it was
but justice to that unhappy lady to state, that her attachment to
Mr. Wellesley must have been of something more than a pecu-
niary nature. After referring to several other parts of the affi-
dasit relating to the unfortunate disagreements between Mr. W.
and his wife, Mr. Hart alluded to Mr. W.'s residence at Calais,
and to the arrangement which he made for establishing Mrs. B.
there, in order to get rid of her, and Mr. W.'s immediate depar-
ture for London. He came, said the Learned Counsel, immediately
to London, in pursuance of his plan and determination ; but here
again she followed him, and we next find her in a hotel in Pic-
cadilly, not living with Mr. Wellesley, but using all the means in
her power to get into communication with him. She had come
alone, leaving her child and all her property behind her. Was it
at , all improper, or at all unlikely, that Mr. Wellesley should
say to her, " If you won't live at Calais, you had better settle
in some house here." Some persons might say that Mr.
Wellesley ought to have said—" You shall live in Calais ;"
but there was abundant evidence to prove that there was a
degree of violence and wild resolution about that lady, to
thlvart which required an effort which few men could muster.—
The learned counsel had treated of these preliminary steps in order
to prove the bona fides if Mr. Wellesley ; and he would now
willingly meet the affidavits by which it was attempted to be
proved that the illicit connexion between these parties was carried
ort in York-street. He would first call the attention of the Court
to the affidavit of the immaculate Aire. Scott. He called her im-
maculate, because he had learned that she was AO by the gratuitous
information of her husband, who was a journeyman carpenter, and
de-Scribed himself as a gentleman in his affidavit. That gentleman's
information upon the point of his wife's character, reminded him
of iwhat Sergeant Davy once said to a jury on a similar occasion.
Gentlemen," said the Sergeant, " it was only the ass, who
when he saw his long ears flapping behind him, fancied that he had
horns ;" Providence had kindly ordained it that beasts which
naturally had horns, should have them situate so far back on
the head that they could not themselves see them. The
Learned Counsel then commented upon Mrs. Scott's affidavit,
and particularly on that part in which she confessed that for
the first six weeks after Mrs. Bligh went to York-street, she
did not go out at all. Now, it would be found that Mrs. Bligh
west to that house in February ; so that the six weeks would
bring us into April; and the testimony of the watchmen, who de-
posed to their having observed that lady return at these unseason-
able hours, immediately, or very soon after she came to the house,
was not worth much. Besides, if it were true that the connexion
between Mrs. Bligh and Mr. Wellesley was so public that all the
servants and four watchmen knew of it, to what purpose was it
that Mrs. Bligh disguised herself, and went to brothels with Mr.
Wellesley for secrecy? Mr. Hart then observed upon the question
of depriving Mr. Wellesley of his children. He said that if it
had ever been laid down as an axiom in the law of England that a
man for simple adultery was incapacitated from taking care of his
children, then he (Mr. Hart) was free to admit that Mr. Welles-
ley had no claim to his. He did not stand up there to vin-
dicate the morality of Mr. Wellesley. Few persons—
few even of his learned friends around him would stand pure
in the eye of his Lordship, if all their past private affairs
were laid open. The Learned Counsel then went on with
the affidavit of Dr. Bulkeley. The doctor, said Mr. Hart, de-
posed, that he was called in as a physician to attend Mrs. Bligh,
and here the doctor gave, as he (Mr. Hart) thought, very gra-
tuitously a great deal of information, which most professional men
were in the habit of holding sacred, and which answered no
purpose of justice. The doctor stated that be went on to die-
perse what he supposed to be her disorder when he first saw her,
but having received several messages from Mr. Wellesley, he went
to him, and was informed by Mr. Wellesley that Mrs. Bligh
greatly apprehended that she was with child ; and then followed
something, which he (Mr. Hart) would not read, about her
husband's inefficiency. The doctor then went on to state, that
after he had attended Mrs. Bligh a short time, he told Mr.
Wellesley that she was a very dangerous woman to have any thing
to do with, and that after a few days he discontinued his visits.
Now he (Mr. Hart) must say that he thought Dr. Bulkeley was
the first Physician who had ever discontinued his visits to a patient
on account of any other danger than that of not getting his fee ;
or who relesed to take his fee on account of danger in other per-
sons. He was quite sure that it was not so with lawyers ; many
of his learned friends around him often had to do with dangerous
persons, but they always took care to keep themselves out of the
danger.
The LORD CHAVCELLOR said that was because there was so
much certainty in the law, and so little in physic.
Mr. HART then went on to read that part of Dr. Bulkeley's
affidavit which stated that Mrs. Bligh had said to him that she
should be ruined if she had not something to procure a miscar-
riage. What! said Mr. Hatt, a married woman ruined if she
had not something given her to procure a miscarriage. Dr.
Bulkeley then deposed that he said that it was the duty of his pro-
fession not to destroy, but to save life ; on which Mrs. Bligh re-
plied—" Doctor, you had better see Wellesley, and then you will
perhaps be of a different opinion." The Learned Counsel liked
that advice well. Mr. Wellesley had a mode of inducing the
Doctor to form a different opinion, which he should not mention,
but which it was very easy for any body to imagine. Mr. Wel-
lesley used that mode, and the Doctor changed his opinion. He
called again, he said, on Mrs. Bligh, to save appearances. She
then asked him whether he had seen Wellesley, when, to quiet her
mind, he told her that he would. So that the Doctor in that in-
stance, as in every other, objected first, but assented afterwards.—
He says that when he left Mrs. Bligh it was quite dark ; but that
as lie went home Mr. Wellesley saw him, and stopped him. Now
this was extremely odd, as Mr. Wellesley was, it appeared, in his
carriage at the time.
The LORD CHANCELLOR reminded Mr. Hart of what Mr. Pit-
man had sworn on this point. It corroborated the statement of
Dr. Bulkeley.
Mr. TaxsLovx observed, that it appeared from one of the affi-
davits, that the place alluded to by Dr. Bulkeley, was one of the
best-lighted places in Naples.
Mr. HART then alluded to the parts of the affidavit in which
the Doctor swore that both Mr. Wellesley and Mrs. Bligh con-
fessed to him that they had been criminally connected with each
other on Mount Vesuvius. Why should they do this ? That
Mr. Wellesley might make such a confession from vanity was just
possible, though he swore positively that he had never made it ;
but that Mrs. Bligh should spontaneously come forward tudestroy
her own reputation, was a point which to hiin was completely in-
iceoymspeorehnedouscitb,lew.
hicHhebneecxotndaedmvenrtededintomaospot
urtnimoneasoufreDd rt.e r n Bu
—e -
They had been told that Captain Bligh had thought it necessary
to challenge Mr. Wellesley for dishonouring his bed whilst at
Naples. Mr. Wellesley refused that challenge. He wrote a
letter to Captain Bligh, stating, " If you will fix a quarrel
on me on any other ground than that which you have chosen,
I will readily meet you ; but if I accept your present chal-
lenge, it will fix the stigma of guilt upon your wife. You
suspect your wife unjustly, and I will not give yon the satisfac-
tion of shooting me through the head, because by doing so I shall
admit her guilt." His Lordship would be surprised to hear that
a copy of that letter had been transcribed by Dr. Bulkeley, and
had been delivered by him to Captain Bligh, to satisfy him that his
suspicions were unfounded. What would the world think of such 11
conduct? Was Dr. Bulkeley the willing agent of Mr. Wellesley,
in instilling such a falsehood into Captain Bligh's ears ? That
such a letter had been written no one now ventured to deny. The
Learned Counsel then referred to that part of Dr. Bulkeley's-affi-
davit in which he states, that Mr. Wellesley made an affidavit be-
fore the British Consul at Naples, that he had not been criminally
connected with Mrs. Bligh ; that Mr. Wellesley told him that he
had shown it to his wife, who was so satisfied with it, that she bad
resolved to tender her protection forthwith to Mrs. Bligh, as an
injured and ill-used woman; and that both before and after that
time Mr. Wellesley admitted his criminal intimacy with Mrs.
Bligh, and spoke of her as an abandoned woman. Now he would ask
whether the statements in this part of the affidavit were credible,
taken by themselves? Next, he would ask, whether Dr. Bulkeley
had ever remonstrated with Mr. Wellesley on the impropriety of
making such an affidavit after the confessions which had been
made to him? Now, Mr. Wellesley had sworn in contradiction
to this averment, first, that he had never made such an affidavit
as Dr. Bulkeley mentioned ; and secondly, that he never showed
any such affidavit to his wife. Dr. Bulkeley had said that Mr.
Wellesley told him that Mrs. Wellesley tendered her protection to
Mrs. Bligh in consequence of that affidavit. What did Mrs.
Wellesley herself say in a letter, at the time, to Sir R. Church ?
She asked him for Mrs. Bligh's address, saying that she had only
heard of Mrs. Bligh's leaving her husband's house the night before

—that she wished to pay her first visit to that lady without
mentioning it to Mr. Wellesley, and that her reason for acting so
was, to prevent an ill-natured world from saying that Mr. Welles-
ley had influenced her at all upon the subject.
Mr. HART then proceeded to show the manner in which Mrs.
Wellesley's suspicions of Mrs. Bligh's propriety of conduct were
first excited. Capt. Bligh, on hearing of Mrs. Wellesley's visit
to Mrs. Bligh, wrote to the former lady, stating, that he had dis-
covered the latter lady intriguing with Mr. Wellesley : that he
considered her no longer as his wife, but as the mistress of Mr.
11
Wellesley ; and that was ready to submit to her such proofs of
Mrs. Bligh's infidelity as would convince the most incredulous.
In answer to that letter, Mrs. Wellesley said, that else was
not acting in' the dark, hut that her line of conduct was founded
on the conviction of Mrs. Bligh's complete innocence. Now this
might he mentioned as a proof that Mrs. Wellesley had too easily
a believing mind—for it might be said, that when the proofs were
offered to her, she ought to have looked at them. She deemed
it, however, unnecessary, as she had seen a letter written by Mrs.
Bligh to her husband, in a tone of great indignation, excited by
the manner in which he had procured her exclusion from all
respectable English society. That , letter he world now read to
the Court.
The Loan CnANcELLoa.—We'll begin with that letter if you
please to-morrow morning, Mr. Hart.
The Court then broke up.

VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, JAN. 17.
BRITISH ROCK AND PATENT SALT COMPANY.
FURNIVAL V. RICARDO AND OTHERS.

Mr. HEALD moved for an injunction to restrain the defendants,
Messrs. Ricardo, Heseltine, and Barclay, from negociating certain
bills of exchange accepted by the plaintiff; and also to restrain
them from selling certain shares in the British Rock and Patent
Salt Company, which had been pledged by plaintiff.
The Vicx-CnartcxLnos--You may take the injunction to re-
strain the negociation of the bills.
Mr. HEALD said, that that was all he asked at present.
Mr. SWANN hoped that his Honour would allow them to give
notice for the next Seal, as the defendants had not appeared.
The VicE-CHasoELLott assented.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, GUILDHALL.
BRUNTON AND OTHERS V. BLACKMORE AND OTHERS.
Frederick Brunton and
defendants, Hugh Black.:
WiTllhiaims waasndaDn
aanciteilo npbryice, ea
gapilnasi nt ttihffes,
more and Edward Swan, for an infringement on the patent gran-
ted to the plaintiff Brunton for manufacturing bonnets of silk and
cotton braid.
The plaintiffs were nonsuited.

SECONDARIES' OFFICE, JAL 17.
BURGESS V. MITCHELL.

In this case a jury wax summoned to assess the compensation in
damages dne to the plaintiff and his wife for the injury they bad,
sustained in consequence of the misconduct of the defendant's ser-
vant, in driving over them with a glass coach.
From the evidence adduced on one action brought by the hus-
band to recover compensation for the injury sustained by himself,
and On a second action by himself and wife, for the injury sus-
tained by the latter, it appeared that he is a porter ; and one even-
ing iu July last, was crossing Shoreditch, near the church, with.
his wife, when a glass coach, which was drivlPat vfurious rate,
suddenly knocked them down, and went overiiiiiin.` The driver
manifested little concern at what had happeneeirai wtrit on. He
was, however, pursued, when it was ascertained that the coach
belonged to the defendant, who keeps glass,coachei, though in an
inconsiderable way of business, near Edmonton.
When the defendant was applied to for compensation, he pleaded
he was in low circumstances, and unable to pay any thing. f-
No defence was now offered in mitigation.
The Jury assessed the compensation in damages due to the hus-
band at 401., and the damages due to the wife at W.