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£42 JT MfE Ii E AID OB R. fflOTUKDAg,
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THE HOP WOOD WILIi CASE. Ojt Saturday, t...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Domcnieo Cecchotti, A Workman Employed I...
, jt iie . DeJsgaiio ^ he ( had . tbe bcMama say the . Pope ista-sarae * constituted authority , and that he' ac-. iBowle ^ ged no . headship but that of Christ . A letter from Berne states that , in consequence of the ratificstaon of the convention of Milan by the Austrian Government , Jtiie Ticmese , -who had beea excelled , will be allowed to - return , into Lambardy from the 11 th inst-A cirealaT * degpatch has been addressed by'M . Ih-otiyn de Lrhnys-to the diplomatic representatives of France at the various courts of Germany . It is an indirect
Teference to that despatch in which M . de Manteuffel expressed his astonishment that the French Government should have taken notice of some observations made by M . de Bismark , Prussian Plenipotentiary at the Frankfort Diet , in that assembly , and in which also he denied the right of any foreign Power to interfere with the deliberations of the Diet . The French minister contends that , " when an opinion put forth at Frankfort has had sufficient echo to pass the limits of the federal deliberations , " foreign governments have a right to discuss it , and to make objections if they think fit . of
The Spanish Cortes have rejected , by a majority 163 to 50 , the amendment proposed by M . Vargas , alcade of Madrid , against the bill on the National Guard . The sitting was a very stormy one . A telegraphic despatch from Madrid , received in Paris-on Wednesday , says that " a vote of confidence in the 'National Guard has been proposed and unanimously adopted . Some alarming shouts Tvere raised by groups assembled round the Palace of the Cortes . The groups were dispersed without resistance . Madrid is perfectly tranquil . The National Guard is animated by the best 'disposition . "
The Spanish correspondent of the Times says that an official note has been received by Lord Howden , in which it is stated that the Spanish Government has felt it to be its painful duty to transmit copies of the whole of the papers , relating to the recent affair in connexion with the Protestants , to the English Government . Lord Howden considers this as completely tantamount to an application for recal . The Times correspondent thinks that the Spanish Government is desirous to do justice to all religious sects , but that , being weak and surrounded with caution
with difficulties , it is obliged to more . Lord Howden , the same writer conceives , had " acted with a well-meant , but too urgent , zeal . If the English Government should convey the slightest hint" of censure upon the conduct of its minister , it is confidently expected that his lordship will resign . —In a recent sitting of the Cortes , the Minister of the Interior gave his version Of the affair , and denied that the Protestant clergyman at Seville had , been in any way molested . Lord Howden , in consequence , wrote to the Clamor Pvblico , charging the' Minister with a suppressio veri .
Baron de Beust , the Saxon Minister of Foreign Affairs , " has addressed ^ a despatch ( dated April 6 ) to the Saxon Ambassador at Vienna relative to the question of the mobilisation of the Federal forces . Saxony is of opinion that the necessity for such mobilisation rests entirely with certain future eventualities ; she therefore opposes herself decidedly to " measures which might be considered aa a demonstration againstthelWestaslong as the liberty of the Confederation is not menaced from that quarter . " The despatch concludes by observing" As regards the question put in the despatch of Count Buol , whether the placing on a war footing of the Federal contingents shall be within or outside the Federal territories , we think that on this point also we may adhere to the expose des motifs of the committees relative to the resolution of the 8 th of February , which
says that the proposed placing on a war footing is to . be understood in this - sense , that it be assured that'within fifteen days after the request is made , the troops bo ready to take the field in their respective quarters . But we are , on the other hand , perfectly convinced that the simplest consideration of existing facts excludes the supposition that ; thereby it is demanded that Austria shall assemble her Federal contingents on German territory , as the despatch , of . the 28 th of February aeexas to , admit . " Nine men have boen found Nguilty at Angers , in . France , of a Red Ropnblican and Socialist conspiracy . ' On ana occasion ^ these men held a meeting in a railway tunnel . They woro charged with having openly . preached the , pillage of * he rich , and rooraoraended assassination as ia means io their and . It appears that tihoy also expressedwiBlies for the success of the Kuesians .
The * Viflfcala has overflowed , < and the inhabitants of . East Pnussia have suffered very greatly in consoquenco . The Imperial ordonnanco for the annual recruitment of the Austrian > army . is usually iaaued in the spring . This year it is . said , the order will not appear / until « t bo known * what-may be the ocmrao . rendered nocefsary by the jeesalt of the / Conferences . r £ ha : Monitcuv of Thursduy announces that , in answer totbe > applicaitan'Of , thejFrancu minister at Brussels with reapect rto the celebrated pamphlet " By a General Officer , " " the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs replied , on th , e 7 th of April , ' that in the opinion of the law advisors of the crown , it-would be impossible , in accordance , with the existing laws , , 'to institute proceedings that would xneet-ihe exclusive object proposed by the Goverjauwnt of theJOmparor—rihat is to- s # y , io obtain a dooroo for the suanswwton . of : . a title whiob , worded deliberately with
1 ^ sufficient ingenuity for escaping enaction at law , " conceals an impudent speculation . From the steps prescribed to the envoy of his Imperial Majesty at Brussels , there will remain the formal and direct denial of the imputations that have been published by the foreign press ; and parties who gave credence to them will have their attention called , to the repudiation in question . "
£42 Jt Mfe Ii E Aid Ob R. Fflotukdag,
£ 42 JT MfE Ii E AID OB R . fflOTUKDAg ,
The Hop Wood Wilii Case. Ojt Saturday, T...
THE HOP WOOD WILIi CASE . Ojt Saturday , the Attorney-General began the defence . He said that Captain Hopwood had not stated that his father was mad , but that , from his great age , there was a weakness of intellect which rendered him incapable of transacting matters of business , and liable to receive undue influence from others . His mind , indeed , was so changed , that he would behave with impropriety before ladies . The Attorney-General then commented severely upon the conduct of Mr .-Frank Hopwood , to whose officious interference he attributed the disagreements between the Captain and his father . Mrs Edward Hopwood , the wife of the defendant , was tlKTfirst witness called . The chief points in her evidence were that Mr . Hopwood had gradually become perfectly ciiildish in his intellect ; that Mr . Frank Hop-wood had himself urged Captain Hopwood to takefheir father ' s affairs into his hands ; that , upon the oceasion of her -visit to Mr . Hopwood to implore him "to . 'see her husband , Mr . F . Hopwood would insist onbeing present , though the father was
willing that they should be alone ; that the former , in conjunction with Lady' Eleanor , prompted the latter in everything which . lie said ; and that Lady Eleanor induced Mr . Hopwood to refuse receiving the Captain ' s letter of explanation unless it was sent through the post . Mrs . Hopwood also stated that she was ordered abruptly to quit the house , though it -was raining hard at the time , and she did not know where to go to ; and that she was told , if she did not go immediately , she would be put out .
Captain Hopwood was then examinedr and , having spoken of the weakening of his fatlxer ' s intellect , said : — " In July , 1852 , I arranged withjtfr . Slater that , if there was anything important in business matters to do , he should communicate with me . At the same time , my brother Frank said it was desirable that Mr . Livesey , who paid my father a great deal of money , should pay it direct into the bank instead of to my father , as he was in the habit of losing money . This was agreed to . My brother Frank also suggested that the household bills should be sent to Mr . Dixon , and paid by him . They had previously been sent in to my father . I said it was a good suggestion , and it was carried . My brother
Frank and myself afterwards communicated this arrangement to my father , and he agreed to it . Colonel Hopwood very strongly urged ine to take the management of the j > roperty . I was averse to doing so at the time , because I lived at a distance . Colonel Hopwood said my father was no longer fit to manage the business , or to apply to about business . In the following August , my father visitedTriein . Wales , when I noticed him to be in thei sameEstate asil "" haveJ described ; " Shortly-after ltiy father ' s return to Hopwood , I received a very singular letter from him . It was directed to me , and began as if addressed to my sister Mary , and concluded as if addressed to my » brpther Harvey . At this period I received a letter from White , the butler , stating that my father
was confused and seemed to think I was detaining Harvey , and he desired me to write to him . In the beginning of the following January , T heard that my father had had another attack ( having * ad two previously ) . On the 19 th of January , 1853 , I went to Hopwood , and found my father still weaker in memory as to passing events . ' On mentioning my wife ' s name and the children ' s , he'took no notice . On that occasion , I had a conversation with Colonel Hopwood , who told mo that wiy father was in a very precarious state , and that Mr . Wood , the medical man , had informed him that softening of tho brain was going on . Colonel Hopwood aguin
urged me to take tho management of the estates , which I agreed to . I then gave orders accordingly to tho various agents ; and , on apprising Colonel Hopwood of what I had done , ho seemed very glad . At that time 1 saw my futher attemping to rend , and sitting with-tho newspaper indifferently wrong side up . Colonel Hopwood told mo ho could not read . After this time I gave orders to White and to Mrs . Williams . White said ho had given . up taking his book to my futher , ns he did not understand him . " Captain Hopwood was croas-examined ; but his testimony was uot shaken .
Mr . Harrop , a friend of the family , gave evidence with respect to Mr . Hopwood ' s imbecility . after tho attack of 1852 , and spoke of the disagreements between the brothera . —Mr . Jamea Dixon , land agent to the Hopwood estate , said that , in 1850-51-52-53 , the accounts wero examined and signed by Mr . Frank Hopwood , and that that gentleman had Bald his brother , tho Captain , ought to take tho control of tho property . The witness tliought that Mr . Hopwood , eon ., was quite incapablo of understanding matters of business , as he would wander and talk nonsense .
Mr . Thomae Xiveeey ,. coal propraetor , and manager of Mr . Hopwood's colliery , gave evidence to the effect that , in May or June , 1852 , Mr . Frank Hopwood told iiim not to pay any more money to his father but into the bank instead ; but that in April . 185 s ' Mr . Hopwood directed that the accounts should be brought to him . About , the- same period , Mr . p Hopwood took the management of the Chamber estate in place of Captain Hopwood . Tlie witness believed that from 1852 Mr . Hopwood was incapable of managing any business ; and it would seem that he was sometimes prompted by Mr . F , Hopwood when lie gave directions ahout the estates .
A great number of witnesses , friends or dependents of the family , testified to the imbecility of the late Mr . Hopwood , and gave instances of delusion and wandering on his part . On one occasion , he accidentally upset the tea-pot at breakfast ; upon which he « was so excited that , with an oath , he threw a . knife across the table at a lady who was present . On another occasion he was looking out of windowj when lie asked , " What tlioae soldiers were doing ?" there being no soldiers there at all . One morning he mistook-a female servant of -his for a man servantand he commenced a letter to his third son In this wanner : —" Dear Harvey , —Here I am * on my last London legs . " The unfinished letter was taken from him ; and it does not seem that he missed it . Up to
the time of his attacks of illness he had been very amiable ; but he then became extremely irritable , and would swear , which was not formerly his habit . He appeared , according to the witnesses for the defence , not to-take interest in anything ; and it was scarcely possible to engage him in conversation . Mr . Wood , the medical attendant on Sir . Hopwood , said that that gentleman had suffered since 1849 from congestion of the bloodin the head , and that his intellect liad been much weakened in consequence . Captain Ilopwood threatened to take out a commission of lunacy against . him , and this led to the family differences . In the opinion of the witness , Mr . Hopwood could not understand any matter of business , and was not in a fit state of mind to make a will .
All the witnesses having been now examined , tlia Attorney-General addressed the jury , recapitulating the evidence for the defence . On the next day , Sir Frederick Thesiger replied on behalf of the plaintiff . He observed : — " The interest of Lord and Lady Sefton is not afl ' ected whether this will be established or not . Xeither has Mr . Slater—a gentleman of deservedly high professional reputation—any interest in the result . Mr . Frank Hopwood was singled out as the principal object of my learned friend ' s vituperation . Mr . Frank Hopwood was from the first averse to any addition of benefit to himself . It is admitted on both sides that in the early part of 1853 Captain Hopwood ' s brothers wished him to undertake the management of the estates . The only difference between them is that the brothers desired that such interference should take place with the assent of their iar oft
father . Captain Hopwood resided in Wales—too to-attend to . his father ' s comforts . duria ^ g his . latter yearc One of his brothers always resided with their father . If , as alleged , Captain Ilopwood was satisfied of his father ' s incompetence , should he not , following a venerable example , with filial piety , have thrown a veil over his parent ' s helplessness ? On the contrary , he roughly interfered , as if he were actually enjoying the property , instead of being , its heir . His arrangements were mad *" not with a view to his father ' s comfort , but were dictated by -sordid economy . Tho Hah were ordered not to be sent daily , the supply of toa even was scanty , and a broken pane in his father ' s library was . long sutfercd to remain unmended . His orders to the housekeeper and butler were peremptory . The rest of Mr . Ilopwood ' a family endeavoured to conceal these things from him . What wero the family to do ? AVore thoy to eee their father degraded into a cipher ?"
Sir Frederick then went over tho whole of the evidence of tho plaintiff ' s witnesses , contrasting it with that given on the other'side . His speech occupied four hours , and was followed by the summing-up ol Mr . Justice Creaaw & l . This was in iteelr * very elaborate speech ; the whole of the evidence being minutely eaamined , and' the discrepancies between the different allegations exhibited and criticised . A certain amount of leaning towards tho plaintnl , or plaintiffs , was evident throughout this summary ; pointed
and the Judge , among other inconsistencies , out . that Mr . Wood , although he now stated tlinfc Jur . Hopwood had fceen unfit to mako a will ever siuco July , 18 .-52 , had said , in April , 1853 , that ho was quite fit for matters of business , and that tho idea < u u oommisaion of lunacy was absurd . f The jury retired at a qnartwr past seven ocoet As there did not appear to bo any prospect ol tiiew wrreeing , his Lordship . deft the court about oigni olclock , directing that tho decision should bo sent up to him . At a auartcr p *« t . ton o ' ctook , however , tlio
jury again made their appemrimco , and < f nyerou their verdict to tho protbonotary of t *» o court . xi w « for tho defendant on both * sboo « . A great crowd « m remained in court , trad immediately < on the foienian
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 14, 1855, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14041855/page/6/
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