Star.
London, England, 1819-08-17 00:00:00

L_l TV LVTELLK;ENcr.

• CIOURT Or CI:A NCERY, AUGUST 10.
GORDON V. GORDON.
The LORD CHANCELLOR this morning delivered
his judgment in this case, which occupied him for
two hours. His Lordship, after going over all the
facts of the case, said his view of the case was this,
that he was fully persuaded Mr. James Gordon knew
quite well that there was a private marriage, and
yet he dealt with his brother as if the public mar-
riage had been the only one in question. Mr. Gor-
don swears he knew not any such private marria2e
had taken place, but he (the Lord Chancellor) woad
not be justified in believing that' such was the fact,
and he was sorry to say so too. " I may be justified
(said his Lordship) in believing Mr. J. Gordon to be
correct, but the natural consequence is, that I must
impute the most gross and horrid perjury to the other
witnesses ; whereas I have not the least plausible
pretest to do so. I have not the slightest evidence
that Harry was aware, at the first agreement, that
there was a private marriage. I must say more, and
I da say it with regret, that if James knew it, and
did not disclose it to his brother, that he was taking
him in very improperly. I say More, that he ought
to have
.given the plaintiff time and due opportunity
to inquire into the facts of the case, which I am
sorry to state that he has not done. My decided
judgment is therefore that the agreements can-
not stand ; but I shall be liable to correction from
any of you in the case, if I am wrong. A number
of letters have been read to shew me that this was
the deliberate act of Harry Gordon. All I shall say
is, that they prove quite the contrary to me of what
they were intended."
Mr. Gordon, who is a Ilarrister, seemed much af-
fected, and laying his hand on his breast, declared
before Goo that the evidence was false, for that he
never knew of the private marriage.
The LORD CIIANCELLOR—" I am very glad to hear
you so solemnly protest your innocence, Mr. Gordon;
but allow me to say 14 believe the affidavits I have
'read and heard read. I cannot get over what they
have sworn, and I am sorry for it.".
Mr. GorrooN-4 My Lord, I do from the bottom
of my soul assure your Lordship that I was totally
Uninformed by Dr. Hogg that such a thing had takes
place. My Lord, I cannot speak ; but my heart
and conscience bear witness to the truth of what I
am saying."
The LORD CHANCELLOR—" I laMent exceedingly
having been compelled to hear such a case as this;
brit where I can be blamed I know not. I feel for
your painful situation, but GOD knows I must do
my duty. You have heard the witnesses deposi-
tions; and really, Mr. Gordon, I Must say, with all
respect for you, that I must believe.them unless you
can prove to me they are guilty of most infamous
perjury. I am sorry fur you, but strict justice com-
pels me to do as I have done. You had better not
say more, as it will lead me to the review of the
consideration you paid for these agreements, which I
don't wish to do if I can help it. Your Counsel or
yourself are at full liberty to point out to me where
I am wrong ; I will hear them or you either ; 'out I
must say that I cannot resist the strong body of evi-
dent* which I now have against your claims. Con-
vince me, if you think I do wrong, and I will hear
you ; but, my feeling, from an honest conscience, is
such, that I cannot do otherwise than say that I grant
the application of your brother. I regret you came
here at alL"—The Court was crowded to excess.
IN THE MATTER OF SiEftige, A LUNATIC.
This was a case of considerable interest, which
had been fully argued befiim the Court. .It was
founded on the petition of the Roe. Riehaid Stevens,
which Prayed that the petitioner might be examined
in persffi as to the sanity of mind, and that the
commission of lunacy issued against dim inight be
superseded. For this purpose the petitiaksit forth
that a coMmissiOn, in.the nature of a setsige tinatice
intaiiiisefii, had issued in January last, under which
theokitiOnei was &told a loot. IC webs' oat lucid' in.
tervals, so that he was not inifiCierft far ehv gtiverts•

mutt of himself or his property, ind that he had
been in such state of mind from February, 1817 ;
that the petitioner's brother, John Stevens, was ap-
pointed the commute:: of his person and-estate; that
the petitioner was aggrieved,by the commission anti
return of the inquisifinn ; that he was 34,years of
age, and had been for many years Ortvious to his
late marriage, a senior fellow of Brazennose College,
Oxforct,;. that on the Ith of March, 1817, his brother
had nlacedhith under the care of-Mr. Warburton, of
Hackney, wiei whom he remained until diets:snow-
ing August, when he was released;ihat upon his
tekase he proceeded to Oxford, and resumed his
academiCallabonri; that about July, 1818, he went
to France to spend the vacation, intending to return
at the commenceinent of the next Term, and that •
be resided in Ftattcf at the time of issuing the corn-
missiOn. It furthei. 'stated, that 'on the 7th of Ja-
unary last, he had Irltern'aarried with Anne Emily
Sierra, one of the daughters of Mt. Sievrac, of
Path, in the 'presence of the Rev. Wm. Bevan, who
had married Mrt'Sievrac's eldest daughter that the
Marriage had been solemnized by the Rev. Wm.
Foster, Clerk, Chaplain to the Ititish Embassy, and
that the ceremony had been afterwards repeated, in
compliance with the laws of France, at the Munici-
pality of Paris, in the presence of the Mayor of the
first Arrondivernent, or quarter of the city; that
the comenjssion had issued under very peculiar and
extraordinary circumstances, and that the inquisi-
tion had been taken under false and erroneous im-
pressions, and widlont any notice, so as to enable
him to present himself to the Commissioners ; and
that the petitioner had been before, at the time, and
ever since the commission, of sound mind. From the
statement made by the Counsel on behalf of the pe-
tition, it appeared that in February, 1817, Mr. Ste-
vens had been afflicted with a depression of spirits,
and that it had been thought necessary to place him
under the temporary care of Mr. Warburton, but in
the following August he had completely recovered
his heat*, and returned to his scholastic duties, ,
which he continued to perform for upwards of a year.'
In August 1818, he accompanied Dr. Ashley, senior
fellow and principal of King's Hall and Brazennose,
on a tour to Paris, where he contracted an intimacy
with the family of Mr. Sievrac, and that intimacy
produced an affection towards one of his danglitcrs,
an accomplished young Lady, whom he afterwards
married. Intelligence having reached this country
that he was about to contract matrimony, his brother
proceeded to Pais with a view to dissuade him from
his purpose. The brother, attended by a medical
person, abruptly entered his apartment, reminded
him of his former mental calamities; and throwing
him into a state of agitation by certain questions he
put to him, cliched answers, which induced the me-
dical Gentleman to sign a certificate, importing that
his former malady had returned. The commission
had issued on the affidavits of the brother and two
medical Gentlemen, Dr. Powell and Dr. Ainslie,
whose opinions were founded not on actual observa-
tion at the time, but on information. Iq opposition
to the testimony upon which he had been declared
insane, she affidavits of numerous-members of the
University ; and, first, of Dr. Hodson, principal of
the Kin's Hall and of Brazennose College, described
him as in the perfect exercise of his mental faculties,
mild in his manners, amiable in disposition, punctual
in all his habits, attentive to all his duties, public and
private, irreproachable in every part of his crnduct,
and in every respect perfec;l; competent to the un-
controuled management of his own affairs ; and the
Principal added, that he had been in the constant
course of corresponding with him while he was in
Paris, and that his letters were in themselves strong
evidence of his being in the full exercise of a correct
and unimpaired understanding. Dr. Dean, the Prin-
cipal of St. Mary's Hall, Dr. Ashley, Dr. Latham,
and seven or eight other distinguished Graduates of
the University, spoke of him to the same eileet ; de-
scribing him as having filled the office of burser, and
managed the accounts and pecuniary concerns of the
College with the utmost precision and accuracy. In
addition to this testimony, there were the affidavits
of his numerous friends and acquaintances in Paris,
speaking in the highest terms of his classical acquire.;
ments, the urbanity of his manners, and general ism•
proachable conduct. They expressed their entire
conviction of his perfect sanity. Dr. Foster, by whom
he was married, stated his having had many personal
interviews and conversations with him prior to per-
forming the ceremony of his nuptials, and that he
never discovered the slightest symptom of even a mo
mentary alienation of his mind. There were, besides
these, the affidavits of M. and Mrs. Sievrac, his fa-
ther and mother-in-law, in which they deposed most
unequivocally to the perfect state of his mind. In
corroboration of these statements various passages of
letters written by the petitioner were read, among'
which was the following extract from a letter written,,
to his sister, in which he answers the objections made'
to his marriage, in consequence of the Lady's reli-
gion; she being a Roman Catholic and he a Clergy-
man of the Church of England. After having cub °.
gised the virtues of his wife and having described
her as possessing delicacy of mind and simplicity of
manners foreign to the French character, but conge-
nial to the feelings of an Englishman, as well as a
cultivated understanding, he continued—" I hear you
exclaim, but she is a Catholic She is a Catho-1
lic ; but she is a pious Catholic, and GOD forbid that
either you or I should be such bigots, or so intolerant,
as to believe that the way to HEAVEN is not open tb
the sincere Christian of every persuasion."
In support of the Commission it was urged, that
it was admitted on all sides, that Mr. Stevens had at
one time been properly subjected to restraint. Among
the letters connected with the case was one written
bj Dr. Hodson to Mr. John Stevens, and dated De-
cember, 1818, in which he stated, that he was satis-
fied from a letter he had received from Mr. Allen, a
competent judge and faithful friend of the family,
that his poor brother was not only haunted with the
adniimi under Which he labohred in the spring of

1817, but with otheis also of a much More distress-
ing nature. The Consrnission had been taken opt in
January, 1819, and yet it was to this same Dr. Mod.
son alt appeal had been made, in order to sheiv'that
the Commission had been taken. ant by 'the brother
from improper motives. The Critannisslon had not
beer; itsuid-updsi the gudgmetit.of jOhn Stevens alone,
for he had called to his aid those Medical men who
were best able to appreciate the existence of disor-
ders of the kind. Mr. John Stevens would not have
acted with the fraternal attention" due to his !stuffier
if he had not endeavoured 'to have prevented the
marriage *hi& he was informed was in contempla-
tion. So far from having hastily and improperly
made him the subject of a commission of lunacy, he
resorted to it for the purpose of preventing the ruin
which he saw would be the consequence of hi's mar-
riage: it was the only means by which he could pre-
vent this gentleman from displacing litmsclf from
the situation he held, in Brazen Nose College.
It, Stevens had, at the age of 36, risen up to be the
Second Senior of the. College, wills* the prospect Of"
soon obtaining a valuable prefernititt. He was,
from causes which-PaovinEalca did net permit to be
known, reduced to such a state of mind, that he was
obliged to leave the City of Oxford altogether. The
grounds of delusion operating upon his mind were of
a description that evidenced the aberration of reason,
namely, thai he was the subject of ridicule. This
gentleman, who had received the valuable testimony
of the Principals and Fellows of many: of the Colleges,
had laboured under the morbid delusion that he was
the subject of ridicule and caricature—as strong a
feature of loss of reason as could be stated. These
were two of the topics on which it was insisted the
Ireason of this gentleman was lost, and that he had
become a fit object for personal restraint. He had
Ilaccordingly been placed under proper protection in
February, 1817, but Dr. Hodsoa having visited him
he was enlarged in August. But both Dr. Ainslie
and Dr. Powell were yet of opinion his mind was not
restored. It had been said, that on his return to Oxford
he had performed the functioas of his sacred office, but
he had merely taken his turn in reading the prayers
of the College. It was not because he might have
been capable of settling his accounts as burser with the
cook and manciple, that it was to be admitted, that his
mind was perfectly reinstated in its pristine vigour.—
This, it was contended, was one of the fallacies of
the case; a man might be an able classical scholar;
he might be an acute mathematician, or competent
to adjust pecuniary accounts, and yet labour under
morbid incapacities, and have his mind haunted by
delusions ; and accordingly this gentleman supposed
himself the object of ridicule and reproach, though
his talants and moral character placed him above the
reach of either. It was not the character of insanity
to produce a total paralysis of the mind, but to
cause a partial paralysis, an enervation of the mental
faculties referable to some particdlar object. The
disease cf Mr. R. Stevens was one of this description,
and this disease was not yet removed, as the evidence
of the Medical Gentlemen, Drs. Ainslie and Powell,
proved. Connecting their testimony with the former
state of Mr. Stevens s mind, the Commissioners ap-
pointed to investigate the matter could not avoid the
decision to which they came. Mr. R. Stevens had
been urged, at least, to defer his marriage till he ob-
tained the living which was tangible, and actually
within his reach ; his reply was, that he would not
take the best living Brasennose had to give—Whit I
not take £lOOO u-year? Was there such haste—
had he such a precocious feeling for marriage that
he could not wait, perhaps, a few months for a for.
tune of £l,OOO a-year ? It would not be inferred
that a man was to be considered as deranged because
he threw away a valuable preferment, but in a case
like this, it was a circumstance of extreme import-
ance. For those reasons it was intisted, that there
was no time from the Spring of 1817, that this gen-
tleman's mind was not morbid and deranged.
Many other circumstances tended to confirm this
statement. The quitting of his College, to become a
voluntary exile in France, his marrying there a Lady
of different religious persuasion, afforded strong
grounds for the conclusion, that this Gentleman was
in a state of mind which rendered the commission
absolutely necessary. It could not be denied that his
right to traverse the commission was ex debitojustitiee;
and that by appealing to a Jury, if he could she
that at the time of issuing the commission, he was in
that state of mind which it was insisted he was not,
he would be entitled to obtain a relaxation from that
restraint which his friends believed had been justly
imposed upon him.

The LORD CHANCELLOR having conferred with the
medical gentlemen on whose evidence the commission
was granted, this morning called the attention of the
Counsel engaged on both sides, to the case, 14 ob-
serving, that he had carefully read over all the pa-
pers relating to it, and that he had investigated all
the circumstances attending it, from February, 1817,
to the time of his giving his decision. He hadthciuglit
that a proceeding in the nature of a writ, de minas
incuirendo, iniOit be instituted ; but after a diligent
search, he could find no instance of such proceed-
ing, except in cases where the finding of the
Jury, was insufficient. The Jury was bound to
find that a party was of sound or unsound mind.
When it was merely stated that the party was not able
to manage his own affairs, and so on, in such cases,
the finding was insufficient. In cases in which the
point of form of the commission was right, he could
find no instance of such a proceeding. Hence the
question, was the commission to be superseded on the
evidence as it Stood ? He thought not ; and did not
see how hh amid interfere father. It would be neces-
sary to institute an action to traverse the commission.
A short conversation then took place between his
Lordship and the'Counsel for the Petitioner, and it
was agreed that the case should be mentioned to his
Lordlip again, when the Petitioner had been seen
by Doctors Willis, Ainslie, Powell, and Latham, aid
also by Mr. Warburton.