Court Of Chancery, Friday...
The Times, 1824-04-10T00:00:00

LAW REPORT. itr. HonIrE yesterday stated, tnat tuc objcct ot umc petituon in tlhis cesc was te lhave the present conmmission inquired ilito, and superseded, on th7e following grounds:-The jury, on inquiry into the fact of the lunacy, 'found olr. lYarren to have been unsound of mnind for five years previously to the date of the investigation. Affli. davts annexed to thc present petition alleged that he had been inca- lable of managing his affairs long before that period; that during hizttime he hail been compelled by firce to execute legal deeds of grea timportance; the execution of thcse deeds not falling withiin tile Apace of five years, the period of lunacy found by the jury, they ,wereof course at present legal, though it could be proved that they had.been perfbrmed by the lunatic when he was actually unsound in intellec, and incapable ofmanaging his aff'airs. If matters should Temain in this' state until the lunatic should have died, it would bea source ofcxpshtvclitig,ttion after that occurrencc. On these grounds, the petitioncrs prayed that the Court would investigate the procecd- ings of the commission, with a view of extending the space of the lunacy as far back as the evidence should support that extension, r, if t'ue Court should prefer it, of supersedmig the commission :et her. The allegations of the affidavits proceeded to state, that the lanatic was brother to Sir J. Warren and under his protectien .Zuing the life of Sir Jobn; after his death the lunatic residcd somc time with, his sister, Mrs. Tyrrel; in this time he declared witlh iribch acitatiops and distress of mind, that lie had been, during Sir J. W Farcns lifetime, locked up in a private room by bir Joln, Ladv *-Wirren, ana others.; that a pen was put into his hand, and that hc 4wa compelled to bign some lcgal deeds, of wlhose nature he was totally ignorant. Shortly after the death of Sir John WVarren, Lady WVarren took stcps to procurc a conmmission to try the statc of mind of thc lunatic, several persons were examined, and the result was, thb the Jury found him to have been of. unsound mind for five yeafs 'bcfore the investigation. The petitioners, the nieces of the Junatic, considering that the lunatic had inaie a will to their preju. dice, tok measui-es to inquire into tbe existence of such an instru- rneat: tbac rcsult of.the inqniry was that Lady Watren produced a *will Mhich shc, in-her affidavit, declared to, have been made by the lureatic at the instigation of Sir John Varren, in favour of the peti- -tioners, wliepcmplained of the execution of the will. Dir. PeaEEnTomr resumed the case this morming, and, on the uat of Laay WVarrcu, denied the application of vtolenlce to the lunatic when he made the will, and asserted the purity of Sir John 'Tarren's imotives in advising the lunatic to iiiake that wil-; by which' wiU Sir John WVarren himself was deprived of *all legal claini to. the lunatic's property, and thc petitiouers clothed with a title to it after the lunatic's deatb. This would be quite sufficient to prove the integrity, the disinterestedness,and ievn tfhe gqnerosity of Sir .loln IVarren, in advising the execution of that wiU: 'it woufd also overthrow the charge that Lady lVarren procured the finding of. the jury to extend only to five years back- ward; in order that this will, which she was asserted to have con- cealed; rnight no, become invalid. As to the application for super- sedifig tliecommission, on' the ground that there was evidence of lu- -Macy far more than five years, it wostid appear front the boxes of thp commissioners, that the-tastimony of theimost material witness went only sol far back as five years. For these reasons, he trusted his ]Lordship would not stir the. commission; it would be extremely expensive.' ifr. STUART followed. There was no proof that the comnmission 'wagaimproperlyexecuted- The present petition was got up only to throw imputations on Lady Wrarrer. M [r. HOn.O.E replied. the Loss CHANcELLoR -lad nothing to do with imputations hehad read theuinotesoftlhc inquiry, and saw nothing in the evi- dence whieh could induce the jury to limit the period of lunacy to fire years, any more lb;tp 45 years. His Lordship did not see that LFady W\Varren's conduct In thfis matter deserved anvyinputation ; but 'beiDg of opi'nion that the finding of the jury was not warranted by "the evidence, he niust'bc conside'red as quashing the 'comnission, iunles~ lieagain uiintioned' the ease on Tuesday.v - rnT?RT OF' CHANCERY, FRIDAY, ArRIL 9. IN TI1E MATTER OF WARREN, A LUNATIC.