Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-03-31
TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION
THE SEQUEL TO An COVER TRUE

ship and Honeymoon" printed in Ss'ur-
day's GLoBE-REPUBlIC, we have already
siven the points OF law case in which
''the Right Honorable John George, Earl
of Durham" prominent member Of the
House of Lords and the owner OF three
fourths Of the valuable colleries in the vi
cinlty of Newcastle-on-Tyne and Sunder-
land, England, has prayed before the Di-
vorce Court in London, for decree of
nullity Of his marriage with the beautiful
but unfortunate Right Honorable Ethel
Elizabeth Louisa, Countess of Durham,
born Miner. Durham, early in 1882, fell
desperately in love with Miss Miner,
young women of high birth and great per-
sonal charms, who, it seems was exec, d.
insly shy and reticent, and would not en-
ter into prolonged conversation of any
sort She would say yes and mo, or Il
don't know" but finally uttered what the
Earl understood" to be consent to be-
come his wife, giving him or one or two
occasions, as an answer to his questions as
to the cause of her reticence, that it was
something too dreadful to relate. The
unhappy pair as the result of the infatua-
ton and persistence OF the Earl, were final
ly married and affairs went on from bad to
worse until the poor woman was sent to
the mad-house and the Earl brought his
suit We should state here, that, during
the courtship Miss Miner was an accom-
plished pianist, and although declin-
ing or refusing to converse, she
responded, readily, to invitations to play,
not always, we must say, in this country,
the indication of the possession of sound
reason or good sense.
We have before us copies of the Sunder-
land (England) Daily Echo, of March 9th
and 10th, handed us by Mr. William
Grant, in which, in dispatches from Lon
don, we find the sequel OF this important
case, which has certain features in COM
mon with those described in the story re-
Gently printed in the WEEKLY GLOBE
REPUBLIC, from the pen of Hugh Conway,
entitled Called Back" Sir James Han
| nan, the President Of the Court, in render
ing his decision, takes the position that
MISS Miner was not insane at the time OF
her marriage with the Earl, on the 2Sth
of October, 1882, and was therefore capa-
Bile of contracting the marriage. 1t ap-
| peared. the Judge said, from her letters
that she was a person of low intellectual
power" but capable Of receiving the
ordinary educational accomplishments Of
her class" Lord Durham" the Judge
continued, "had ample opportunities for
forming an estimate of the mental qualities
of the lady, and his sister, Lady Carmar-
then, who was certainly free from the ele-
ment Of passion, which might have OBJ
scured her judgment, approved the match.
1t was, therefore, impossible to contend
that Lady Durham presented, up to the
time OF her engagement, any sign OF in
sanity to those best capable OF judging of
her mental capacity" The Judge
then spoke of the lady's re-
mark, to her lover, that she had some
thing too dreadful to tell him." 1t was
not clear to him precisely what this meant
and the unfortunate lady was not now in
condition TO explain it. The Judge was
by no means sure, that this dreadful
thing" was an overshadowing mental
cloud, and he here mentions a matter that
seems to throw great deal of light on the
strange conduct of the lady and to ac-
count, in part, for the insanity that after
ward overwhelmed her. By proved facts"
the Judge was led to a conclusion, as to
the probably correct Interpretation Of the
mystical utterance, from the announce
ment of which he must not shrink, al
though it might give pain to some per-
sons concerned in the case" The evi-
dence, he continues, satisfied him that the
ladys affection had been fired on gen
tlemdn phom she knen before she had
met Lord Durham! 1t was clear that
that gentleman Ia certain Lord Burghersh)
loved her, that they knew each others
feelings and that the lady was annoyed at
the inter ference Of a brother in the mat
ter! He, the Lord Judge" believed that
the lady "did Lord Durham great wrong
in becoming engaged to him whilst her
affections were fixed on another man."
The Judge further said that Mrs.
Gerard, sister Of the Countess OF Durham,
was certainly to blame in stating that
Miss Miner was Sin love with Lord Dur
ham," and he remarked, en- passant, that
''her desire to secure good match" ior
her sister had assisted to ,rreck the hap
piness Of t1o iresf He finally found
that Lord Durham's case was not estab-
lished," and therefore dismissed the peti-