Port Royal standard and commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1876-01-13
ACURIOUS WILL CASE.
The Will Cannot be Feund bat tho Evi'
dence of q Young Lady substituted for L.

The VIII CannoS DO fouho Dat tno Evr
dence Of q Young Lady substituted for 1t.
ThaSt. Leonards will case will take
its place as one of the most remarkable
of the interesting class Of suits to which
it belongs, and ss Sir Henry James, one
of the counsel observed in the eonrse
of his speech, will become precedent.
Apart from the actual point at issue,
there were many subsidiary features OF
interest. The testator was the son OF q
small brakeman in a provincial town /;
he had risen to, be Lord Chancellor OF
Ireland, and then of England and not
withstanding the arduousness OF .ms
career, his life had been so extraordina-
rily prohacted that, although he died in
January last, he was almost man when
the union took place between the two
countries in which he was destined to
hold the highest legal position. Lord
st. Leonards was q very careful man In
money matters, and accumulated vast
The disposal of this money seems to
have become with MIN, as it has with
many other old men in his country and
elsewhere, almost a monomania. The
last Lord Cofnwallis always carried his
will about his person, and LordSt Leon
ards was wont to have his precious docu-
ment, close at hand in tin box, OF
which he supposed that he alone pos
sessed the key. For many years prior
to his death, the person who most OF all
enio,ed his confidence was his unmar-
med daughter, and to her he habitually
dilated on the disposition he had made
Of bis property, until she was familiar
with the minutest details OF the tesla,
mentsry instrument. gii3
When the old man came to die, the
tin box was searched In vain. The will
was gone.s From March, 1874, until the
date OF his death, the tin boz had re-
maned in his daughter's room, and she
had direct interest in preserving the
will For if, il consequence OF the dis
appearance Of the will, it were held to
have been revoked by the testator, an
immense benefit would accrue TO the
present peer, and q corresponding dis
advantage to others interested. When
the viii was missing from its accustomed
repository, all available means were re.
sorted to for recovering it, but without
success, SO that II became necessary TO
have recourse to law. The decision
whichhas been given by the Judge OF
the probate department OF the 2 high
court of justice will, We believe meet
With general approval He has sus-
tanned the win on the evidence Of its
contents furnished by Miss Sugden.
To that lady's Integrity both sides were
ready to testify, and Q comparison be
Tween her recollection OF its contents
With Che codicils and. other corroborac
tive testanentasy documents, satisfied
| the iudSe sthat her memory was TO be
entirely relied upon. q As to the sdisap-
pearance of the WILL, the Judge could
And nothing at all to account tor its de-
struction by the testator, and though he
observed that it was not for him to sug-
gest any theory as to it's disappearance,
he, e,gayera hint, which Was sign fcant
teThe case" lie said,r "i1lpstfated the
thase security under which Lord st.
/ Lsonards lived, and in which they all
lived, for while he believed that there
was only one key in the house which
would open the box in which this will
was placed, there turned out to be four.
He Believed the will was lost from the
insecurity. Of the custody in: which at
waa placed . -. =, TX. ...