The Sun.
London, England, 1811-02-01 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. lAN. 30.

irrTINGS AT Nlst CRIOS MORE 1.01(1.) Cilltr JUSTICE
MAN:SFIF-Ll3, WLS'I'SIIN,Ttk.

SILK AND ANOTOLIA, ifXECLItOttS OF JEf(VOIS, versus

.1 R VOIS.

This was an issue from the Court, of Chincery,
directed to try the validity of the. will of the late
l'homits Clarl,,:ti Jet vois ; and wrliether the sanic
was duly made and executed at a time when the
the testator was in sound utind, Rietnory, and tituier-
,.
ottaticlif g.
This ediSe occupied the time of the Court and
Jury the entire of Wednesday, until half-past seven
o'clock in the eVennut, and testerday until tite in
the afternoon. The Court, front the nuinber of wit-
. . Tresses iii atL nilance, and ihe interest excited, was
crowded eaelfday from the satins" until the rising.
The plaintitis'in the cause were (fie E%ecutors of the
testator, Mr. Thonias Clarke Jet voit,e ; and the de-
,fendant, Mr. Samuel Clarke Jetvois, his younger
brother-and Comniitioe.
By hiq will the tostutOr, bad disposed of a conSi-'
eerable real and personal property, in es Ines in
Hampshire, Staffordshire, Somersetshire, and Lon-
don, 'amounting to upwards of 10,0001. per anntlfil;
which he devisod, among others, to the children then
surviving of Ins youngerbrother,Samuel Clarke Jet--
VOifi, and legacies to Paulder, his natural son,
&c. &c. 'This will wLs duly,excented on the t 5t4
January, 1808, and the testator died. in December,
1809.
From the evidence on the part' of the. .plaintiffs,,
• it appeared that the, father of the testator died on
the .511-1 of. January, fB6B, by which he succeeded
to the property in litigatien ; and on btiing
the first mornent that he had tlieintimation of his

lather's demete, •he contemplated the design At
making his oWn Will ; for 'which purpoSe he applied
to Mra Hall, a respeetable solicitor, who had for
many year aaiel u s the priticipal law agent of his
deceased father, for l'he title and other deeds be-
longing to these e7tateS. Front the testimony of
Mr. Hall, Lord Hod, and a Mr. Cathcart, it
peared, that at Ilk? time of nyiking his will, the tes-
tator was perfectly ' eolleaed in all hiS mental fa-,
cultiesa and all .t hey adteitted, on their cross-
etamination, that he WiTS a man ..of must singular
eccentricities,. yet, at the' period in question, he
• .was perfeCtlycoMpetent to make a .lispesit ion of his
property. . • ,
On the of Javuary, 1808, lie gave specific
instructions to Mr liars a draft of his
leaving blmilor for -the names and sums, to be
filled up according to hi, own wishes; and from the
various inquiries he made respeaing the disposition
"'of property by will, they had every reason to con•
elude that he pr....fee-fly understood the subject Dime
which be was engaged ; .and from his subsequent
conduct on- the 13th, 14th, and 15th, (upon which
latter dty the-will was executed), it was evident he
was-perfectly collected, and hilly aware of the na-
ture and tendency of the businesy in which lie was
occuped.
Mr. Sergeant SflarflEaD) on the part of the de-
fendant, in an animated address to the Jury, con-
tended, that he should., prove , the -insanity of the
testa'or continuing, ;nest without ieterruption,
from the year 1795 to ti:ie time of his decease ; and
argtitd,- that if they shiadd find him acing like a
npnisc uniformly., for so long a period of titee, the
conclusien must b-y that he was incapable d mak-
ing a 'valid disposition,of his property. It appeared
from the evidence of Witham Best, his father's
butler, and some ethers, that ain't had giveti
tip the nenreon-house near I.:.datottr, in Hamp-
shire, to his lather; aid resided himself in a cOl-
- in the village. That the day after her death,
in 180, be havieg .succeeded to the possession of
her property, he employed the villagers, men, wo-
men,' and children, to' 0011 down the railing in front,
• of the cottage. That he erected a tent ua the
grass-plat btotere the hove, where he chiefly re-
sided. At the same time he erected another tent
in his' father's demeine at Belmont, where he also
used to pass most of his hours with Miss Faulder,
a Lady who' lived with him, and his servants
he was accustomed to cook his dinner under a
neighbouring tree, and at night reposed in a sum-
. refer-housc,-which was built ot- an adjoining end-
nence, and called the Castk. Having a.misunder,
standing with his father at this dine, he declined
entering into the dwelling-house; but one evening,,
while his father And sister were absent on a visit
in the neighbourhood, lie collected a:nutpber of
women, and children, and with ropes pull-
ed down, a stack of chimnies, which falling on
the roof, endangered, the lives of these within...—.
In the same manner, he pulled down the. aim.'
rey of the bilwliouse' for the purpose of build-
ing a fortification round the Castle, where hopro-
posed to plant-cannon, to give signals to the ship-
- ping: At another time, abbut. the same period,.
he had the privy, which was before concealed,.
pulled 'down,: and t.lilt in a situatioo exposed to
k -the high road.' He levelled the paling between
the high road and the mansion-house, leaving the
'premises eiptvid to the deprechalsana of the public.
hiyi hither was atrient, I t the great
hall tat* _the otansionehouse but would not enter
any of the chambers; here he used to enjoy his
Meals, but prohibited the attendance- of any of
servants. In. Order to'obviate tine ineouvenience,

lie bad a trapdoor made h the door leading
Om the kitchtit to the: ball, a small table' fixed,
k -
to pollies was rolled to the trap-doer, on which

the cliyhci were plitced, this oral, so eohltived

as to WOW back-wartt3 and tbrwarg to and float

the ditmer-table at the pleasure °, Mr. Javois.—

At another time be convcrted the dining-parlour

irtto a bedchamber; and although there were seve•

ral excellent and convenient bkl-roorns in the wan-
_

Muni, he. used to'sleet) there for several weeks, on a