The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1906-02-07
A BRIEF WHICH
READS LIKE A NOVEL
tCont.Lued from page one).

| TINS is what the attorneys say follow
| ed:
The advent of this niece marks the
entrance Of discord and trouble into
the previously harmonious and affec-
tionate home life of the Notleys; the
! faithful old wife who had loved and
| lived and worked by Notley's side dur
ing the long and weary years that went
to the making of the Motley fortune
was thrust from her place as mistress
of the home was grossly tainted as a
| black woman by the stranger in her
own home and was subjected to person.
al violence at the hands of the man who
never before touched her save in the
way of Kindness; the old love of the
father for the children of that mother
| the children who had helped to make
| the family fortune-became obscured;
the happiness of former years was re-
| placed by the quarrels, distrust and
dislike which almost invariably accom-
pany the entrance of a designing
! stranger into a home: the old condi-
! tons of anectionate family unity de-
! parted upon the appearance of Emma
! Danford and as such things unfor-
! tunately always do. the subscribing of
! Motley to her views grew with the
| flight of time. She had no love for The
| black woman;' she had no love for the
children Of that black woman she
felt so secure in her position of do
minance and control over Motley that,
when stung and spurred by anger, she
did not hesitate to make declarations
concerning the disposition of his prop
erty; and in the will which is attacked
here, her boasts are made good and
her predictions are verified to the let
ter,-she knew whereof she spoke"
The brief sets out that after the
niece's marriage her influence remained
and charges cruel treatment and
neglect of Mrs. Motley, continuing as
follows:
THE WIFE DISPLACED.
What reason can be assigned for this
degradation of a worthy woman except
the distorting influence of the woman
in whose house the second codicil and
will were written and his death occur
ed? OF what high crime had this
worthy old lady been guilty, that she
should have been subjected to such UNI
speakable treatment as this? How
|
how could he explain it away. except
by pointing to the woman who con-
troled him from the first, who intro
duced discord into his home, whose
Vaccinations disrupted his family, who
made her boasts about his will, and
} who made good those boasts and Veri-
fed then to the last bitter letter If
Mrs. Motley had been wicked wo-
man if she had been incompetent as a
} mother or a failure as a help mate
one could understand this outrageous
supplanting of the wife who was good
enough until Emma Danford appeared;
but from one end of this record to the
other not one word can be found i'm the
way of criticism and disparagement of
this lady. = -
TROUBLE IN THE HOME.
"The sharp contrast between the
antecedent home life and the home life
under the Danford regime: the strife,
trouble and antagonism that ensued up
on her appearances; Notley's significant
change of attitude towards his family:
his dastardly treatment of his wife:
his equally dastardly treatment of his
sons: his change of manner towards
his old friends: Emma Danford's des-
picable treatment of Mrs. Motley and
her children: Notey's submission to
Emma Danford: his lavish attention to
her: his withdrawal of confidence from
his family to transfer it to her; his
continuous and habitual acquiesence
in her will: the relation of confidential
intimacy that obtained between him
and her, as all these things are at
tributable to some cause: somebody
brought them about and is it too much
to say that there is evidence from
which a candid jury could have identi-
fled the originator of these wretched
but characteristic conditions? Is there
not evidence from which a candid jury
could have readily inferred that Emma
Danford was the cause of this situation
so reekng and dripping with undue in
huence? = Even those who practice
the arts and employ the subterranean
Iagencies of undue influence act upon
some motive; and unfortunately as OBJ
served i'm the Parish will case, a pc
cuniary motive is usually found too
strong for most other human motives
to contend with; and he difficulty of
resisting temptation Of this sort is
universally acknowledged. Where the
path to wealth lies through the smooth
and easy road of acting upon such a
submissive acquiescence as this testatOr
whether by attentions or opportunities,
where for a long time the opportunities
for using such appliances are con-
tinued and the chance for Interference
Herewith are slight and at rare inter-
walls, it is cause for regret rather than
for surprise when we found that the
means have been used and the result
attained"
A SINISTER INFLUENCE.
Finally, the attorneys close by de-
claring that Motley wrote falsehOods to
his son about dispositions Of his prop
erty and they end with the following:
What influence was leading the old
man after he had lived the allotted
] time Of to ov,fr 10 Nd a