The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-01-25
GOOD LUCK AND BAD


.rlv sfiuent in giving instances OF luck IN
families. But here, as elsewhere, what ID goou
Iuok In one direction is sure to turn, up a9
bad luck in another. The representatives y,
the Duke of Kingston, when they opta,neu
the large sum left as a jointure TO ms WlIow'
famous and handsome Elizabeth Chuoleleu'
were lucky in proving her FORMER ma una.
rage with Lord Bristol but his DucneSs, GU, ~
victsd Of bigamy. poor and disgraced, had 70
retire 70 Russia, where she lived many years
before she died. Earl Talbot was in great
luok when. ten years ago, the bShreWspury
t;tIes which made him Premier Earl OF Eng
land. were assigned to him, and perhaps IN
still greater luck when, in the following ysaI,
the Shrewsbury estates were also assigned W
when the vast Bridgewater estates were
involved, is one which more directly involved
luck.
In this case estates to the value of seventy
thousand year were at stake. The Earl OF
Bridgewater had devised these large estates 70
Lord Afford, the son of Earl Brownlow, with
the provisO that if he died before he had at
tanned the title of--Duke or Marquis of Bridge
water, then his heirs should not inherit the
estates, but they should pass to the second
brother, Charles Henry Gust. Lord Afford
died in the life Of his father, Earl BrownlOw,
leaving a SOD, and without having attained
any higher grade in the peerage. Nlce-Chan-
cellor Lord Cranworth held that, the oondi-
tion not having been fulfilled, the estates
passed away. An appeal was subsequently
brought to the House Of Lords, that is to say,
to those few eminent personages who are
known as the law lords, and to whom the
House relegates its judicial functions. 1t is
rather interesting and amusing to attend the
House of Lords on the occasion OF the hearing
of an appeal case. Two or three gentlemen
in plain clothes are lounging about
on the empty seats, paying more or less
attention to the monotonous pleading
of counsel at the bar, and the vast
empty space Of the glorious chamber
contrasts strongly with the crowded appear
ance of the narrow section formed by the bar,
beyond which none ofus dare advance. 1t must,
however, be said that the law lords well earn
the fve-thousand-a year pension and though
their body at times rather needs recruiting,
and Lord Westbury has decided tendency
to absent himself its decisions are received
with the greatest respect. Their decision in
the matter of the Bridgewater estates was
decidedly against expectation. The Vice
Chancellor, an eminent, sound, and careful
lawyer, had given it against the child Lord
Afford. The House of Lords submitted a
series of questions to their assessors, the
judges; and the judges, by very large pre-
ponderance, also gave their voices against the
infant. Nevertheless, the House of Lords
Truro, and st. Leonards-tOOk view utterly
conflicting with that Of the judges OF the land
and that of the Vice Chancellor, who at the
time of the appeal had become Lord Chan
cellor Cranworth.
They held that the conditions of the bequest
were void, as being against public policy, it
being a well-estahlished rule of law that a
condition against the public good is illegal aud
void. All the law lords agreed that the con-
ditinY1 uau oooipct Y,Olinu Thau
pictures, not very flattering, of what ministers
might do. A peer of the realm, with seventy
thousand year at stake, might be able to
bring mighty inducements and temptations to
bear, to which poor human nature must ne
sessarily succumb. Here would be a young
nObleman attempting to prescribe to the Crown
what should be his exact title, with its condi-
tions and limitations. Such condition would
bring on parties a painful pressure an ire
sistible temptation. Lord Afford might be
induced to use all kinds of undue means to
gain his elevation. A peer was a judge, an
adviser of the Crown, member of the legis-
lature; and conditions such as these, taking
men as they were, and human nature as It
is, must necessarily have a tendency to
tetter mans free agency. His mind would
be bent less upon his duties, and with less
independent bias, when his fortunes were at
stake upon his promotion. Under these cir
cumstances the four law lords, reversing the
opinion OF the court below, confirmed Lord
Afford in the possession of the estates, by
holding those conditions to be void according
to the non-fulflment of which he would incur
their forfeiture. A constitutional decision by
these great lawyers cannot but be received
with respect and yet Lord Cranworth's argu-
ment on the other side is very convincing,
and 80 is the opinion of the judges. The pre-,
sent Earl Brownlow may certainly be considered
an extremely lucky man in ovarth rowin, az, al,
body OF legal opinions, and through the
voice OF legal minority gaining such enor.
nous advantages.
And now let us take another cause ckl9bre
1t shall have a stroke of luck in it. One day
man was lounging about in the grounds OF
Ashton Hall, the fine old seat OF the Smythes
lie knew the place well. A near relative o.
his had been housekeeper there for years. He
lad made it his business to collect all the in
formation he could respecting the family. The
estates attached to the family were very
great producing rent-roll estimated not ia
from thirty thousand a year. The lord o
these large possessions, in broken and un
certain state, was i'll at the Hall. The day ol
which this man was prowling about th
grounds was destined to be the baronet's las
day on earth. The following morning he wa
found dead in his bed. That this man wa
in the grounds that day there is no doubt: tn
fact is proved and is uncontested. remark
able sort of man, quite middle-aged, witt
great precision of dress and manner, sallow
iron-grey, dressed in black; one who described
himself as q schoolmaster and lecturer, an
who looked the character. This was stated
that this eventful evening he sought and oh
tanned an interview with the barOnet; that h
announced himself as his nephew, the son {
his eldest brother by previous marriage, tn
Tightful heir of the title and estates which h