Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-06-08
from III Liverpool Mercury.


from III Liverpool Mercury
.u ihs Bas"t VIII case, having occupied twenty
Two days, was concluded yesterday, May IL
OwlEg 10 ne high position of the parties in
y,lved in the litigation, the great sum of
money sought for, and the extraordinary and
SENSATIONAL testimony that mark ed every stage
OF the case this suit has caused much interest
not Tb ". yin n II Ireland =; but in England;
Nevile vi" Ra ID ta'Spne was that OF Christopher
1871. Ii was propounded by the executors and
trustees trustees Mt Bernard Bagot, the testators
Drotner and Mr. Holmes; BY it he left sl,OOOa
she gave birth to after marriage with him The
resi- OF the property, which was of enormous
vaaue, ne directed to accumulate for twenty
years and then to go to the heirs of his broth,
eIs. Inns Will was disputed by Mrs Alice
Bag0t, widow of the test ator, on behalf of the
chlid; ana she set up a previous will in which
aCoul tlO,O00 year, to the child whom he de-
1t appeared at the trial that CHRISTOPHER
NeVli ~ BBagot, the testator, was the younger
son Oh C0nnaught gentleman of good fortune
III in4i, Delng ~ years of age. the teStatOr left
ireland for Aus ralia with flOOOi in his pocket.
ne plunged into the bush, and little was heard
OF ON h1m, save letter now and then home, till.
.St2. he, being then 81 years of age returned to
ireland, having saved by stock farming, goli
mlhlng, and speculation a quarter of million
tate OF Aughrane county RoScommon and led
the life of a country gentleman for some time
slcE OF THIS SOFT of life he went to London,
Letters were read from him at this time alud-
ing to his life. In one of them he averred that
ne Lad seduced more girls than any man he
Of a very fast life Notwithstanding this he
m mn IN the very best of London society, be-
Raga kh mst v as the Nuggetn In 1862 Mr.
ing fed, and soon after signs of locomotor
Gidrie, or paralysis of the lower limbs. set in.
l dhese symptoms gradually increased, and
ALT Az years OF helpieSsness and suffering he
dled In 1913, when he suffered much from
tnls disease, but when he was able to walk
about with sticks, Mr.. Neville BagOt met he
lazy whom ,! he afterward married. This lady
was MISS Alice Werner, the daughter of an
iIlsn haf0net. and granddaughter of one of
me EarlS of longfOrd who. when she met
MI. Bago' hrSt was girl of 20, and was of ex-
IRENE beauty. He was then over 40 years of
age.
:, A close intimacy sprung up between Mr..
ihaeEt and the NernerS, and some disclosures
ing. IL appeared that the Misses Werner
KEEP, latch keys Of heir own. and after the
mother had retired to bed, as Miss Alice said
in one of her letters, with the Frenchman."
IN other WO' dS retired to bed with the brandy
botl e, she slipped out OF the house, and with
her her sister and blother, supped with Mr.. Neville
Ragot in his hotel, the Alexandra, London
One OF the letters read in the case. from Miss
Edie Werner to Mr.. Bagot, was as follows:
or Urea rlease, Mr. Bagot, viii you let me and one
ard have nmp of G Thick s snd IT to6 53fTf
moist, at II O'Clock, if you have it ready be.
forehand? Good-by till then.
Yours sincerely, EDIE WERNER"
Now comes the first disputed fact i'm the case.
MISS Werner sWore that i'll June, 1875, Mr.. Bagot
first Obtained possession of her person by a
mann marriage. She depOSed that she was
driven In a closed car iage to a back street
ne ar London, taken into dingy Office by Mr.
Bagot, and there ceremony of marriage was
performed by two men. She was taken back,
and a fortnight afterward she again went tn
TIER, did she yield TO the embraces of Mr..
Baeot This story, of which it may be said
executors ridiculed and denied, and desig-
mated 1t as corrupt perjury. However, it IS
certain that on the 5;h of August. 1875. Mr..
Neville Bagot and Miss Werner were married
ward son was born. This act of marriage,
counsel for the executors said, was an act of
restitution on the part of Mr. BagOt to society,
in order that he might cover the shame OF
Mrs. BagOt, who had fallen, and on account of
tie number of girls he had destroyed. MIR.
81 bag2t was at this time in an advanced stage
being able to stand much less to walk.
Several surgeons who attended him at this
time swore that it was physically impossible
, ht Inn to be the father of Mrs: Bagots child;
put, on the other hand. it was fully established
that he expressed delight at it's birth, and.
called it young Aughrane, after his estate, and
sporty afterward made will describing the
Chi as his son, and leaving him almost every
thing that he had in the world. The marriage
was, most unhappy one. Furious quarre1s
1 1S9k pace between Mr. and Mrs. Bagot, and in
family, began to correspond with his brothers.
The upshot of the matter was, that Mr.. Bern
ard BagOt went to London. and either Neville
BagOt went back with him to Ireland, or. as
Mrs Bagot's counsel said, was carried off by
Bernard. She followed and when living in
ell; nd wi h him she had violent quarrels with
mn nm though ne was in an advanced stage of
his di' ease. The result of certain alleged mis-.
conduct on the part of Mrs. Bagot was that her
hus band be gan to dislike her, from firm be-
il, that the child was not his, and by the will.
In dispute SOlemnly declared this to be So dis
inherited the in ant, and left the estate to his
brothers heirs.
The case against the will was that the belief
of Mr.. Neville Bagot that he child was not his
was an insane delu>ion, Brought about in part
by lln' IS and the fraud, falsehoods, and undue
influence OF his b. othe S, and that the will
bad. Mrs. BagCt was lady of extreme beauty,
beat tifully-cut fea ures, with a mass of dark
mar s! a1lnS her forehead, and dressed in the
DR.. BagOt in the costume of Pharaohs daugh
ter, and it may be added that her styie of
beauty was somewhat Oriental. Her sister,
Miss werner, was, however, the heroine of the
case, result which arose not alone from her
preposseSslng appearance, but from the lead
ing counsel against Mrs. Bagot having
launched at her vast number of charges OF
IaStneSs, none of which were sustained
During the case popular opinion was high in
Mrs. BagOt's favor and several times this
leeHng was manifested in court 1t is said
that The fees of the medical witnesses will cost
over $1,000. The cost of the whole case will
amount to f30OtO
The jury retired at o'clock yesterday after
noon and returned al g. unable to agree. The
Judge ordered the jury to retire for five min
utes. The counsel for the defendant then
asked the Judge to discharge the jury. Counsel
Tor tile plaintiff objected, and the Jury were
then ordered to consult till 5 O'Clock, but at a
quarter to 5 they returned into court with a
verdict that Neville Bagot, when making the
VIII, was labOring under insane deluSi0n as
regards the paternity of the child. Mrs Bagot.
therefore, gains the case.
From the London Times
DUBLIN: May 2l-When the court sat this
morning Judge Warren resumed his charge to
the jury, reminding them that they were not
trying whether Mrs. Bagot committed adultery
In the Marine hotel or the hotel in Chester.
nor were they trying directly whether Mrs
Bagot committed perjury or not If she had
not committed perjury he thought She had
proved her case. But if she had cOmmitted
perjury they would find how very little thai
afected the case they were trying. They were
trying substantially whether the estates and
property of the deceased gentleman were tO
go to John Lloyd Bagot and his descendants
or to the child and his descendants If the
child was not the son of CHRISTOPHER Neville
Bagot he was bound to say unheSitatingIy that
the case OF the plaintiff had broken down. IF
there was no delusiOn as to the Sun-and there
was no delusiOn-if the son was NOT his the
plaintiD'S case had failed. But then there was
the tranSactiOn OF the poison and the evidence
OF Mr.. Fry on the subject, which was import