On this page
-
Text (2)
-
j^BB^^r-17, 1855,] THS 11ABER, - . _ _ _...
-
ELECTION INTELLIGENCE. Tiverton.—Lord Pa...
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Hope Vebstts Ag0adcx. O«K Readers Have C...
« rwW in PdriMi ^' whicb . he h * co 9 elf was-not prepared to follow her . The French pleasures and extravagant hahitsaedto * £ tterne 8 s and ^ KH » pe » ata < m , » Bdby the year 1846 tfreser feeling had become aggravated . Sir F . Theriger trferred aU this - to Mi *; . Hope ' * aeqiuuatance with the corint Ae « a &» ; btsfc that acquaintance did not S £ SSS * . W" **« At th ^ Jme , indeed , the Ck > ant was- a mere boy . Hei ^ as only about twenty years < rfTre . whil * Sfe * Hope was twenty-mae or thirty . It Was ab 3 atd'to » ippo 8 etbat a young man -of that jige wonld become 4 *» sedttcer of a woman of thirty whose affections wart * xed oa < ber husband , though it-was quite possible that he might excite the passions of a woman whose aflfeetitfns were- already alienated . The disunion of the parties Trenton increasing , until , in the year 1853 , it was found tha * they could no longer live together .
They had not ltted-as-n * a « and wife since the year 1846 r but that was not Mm . Hope ? s act , but arose from the representations of * : physician , who declared that another confinement would endanger her life . In her affidavit Mrs . Hope . Said , that afterwards Mr . Hope followed his own course , that he sought his pleasures elsewhere , and she charged him with adultery and cruel conduct . Those charges "Mr . Hope repelled , denying that he had ever assaulted his Tfife , except on one occasion , when he boxed her ears with his open hand . He-charged : his wife , with extreme violence of temper , and constantly using the most irritating and abusive language' td him . He ( also described her extras vagance in dress , and he * being addicted to gambling , and spending too much money in lace , baby linen , & o . He said she was quite unfit ,. mentally and morally , to have the cateof the- children , having on-more than one
occasion threatened to commit suicide . The affidavit disclosed a mostpitiable state of domestic misery , the only redeeming , feature of Vwbich was that the daughter was described : as rnshmginrto part her parents , and so receiving the blows which were not -intended for her . Here some disoussion arose as to the real question to ba tried by the jury , and it-was ultimately agreed that it was notito he one of damages , but as to the fact of adultery hafing taken place . The Attorney-General then besought the jury not to give credit to the extraordinary and incredible stories which , have "been told by the witnesses from Havre * That evidence would be shown to be ^ n entire fabwoa ^ tion . The Count did not occupy the room wfeach had
been stated , and this would be distinctly proved by the proprietor of the hotel and by the Count ' s brother . A witness ( Young ) had told , a story about Mrs . Hope ' sLgoing to visit the Count in the Rue de Mouceaux . In that he % ras confirmed by the driver of the brougham . But it would be clearly proved that the Count never had any apartments at all in that , street . With respect to the alleged visits of the defendant and Mrs Hope to No . 20 , Rue Labordei-e , the Count had never been there in his life ; but the house had been taken by the defendant's brother , the Viscount , whom the witnesses had mistaken for the defendant . It was a remarkable fact , that all the time the defendant wa 3 staying at Folkestone , among English witnesses , not one single act of impropriety was
spoken to as having been witnessed . He was never at MS . Hope's b ~ y night ; "he never slept there , and they-were never discovered in any suspicious circumstances . That there was intimacy there could be no doubt . But there was not one fact from beginning to end which showed that an adulterous intercourse had taken place at Folkestone . As to what took place at the Reigato station , while Mrs . Hope was on a visit at Deep Deene in September , 1848 , if that transaction had ever taken place , it must have been in Soptember or October , 1848 ; but he would show that in August the Count went on a tour to Italy , and it was impossible that there could bo any truth whatover in the evidence which had been given by the witness How . That brought him to wh ; it was alleged
to have taken place at Fraseati ' s Hotel , at Havre , in 1849 , where the chambermaid asserted she saw Hrs . Hope one night go into No . 104 , the room of Count Aguado . The fact was that that room was not the room of Count Aguado , but of his brother , the Viscount , who would prove the utter falsity of the whole story As to the account of what was alleged to have taken place at the Rue Labotdere , that rested chiefly on the ovidonce of Talamlio . Who was Talandie ? A man who had been discharged from Ms service by Count Aguado ; a man wh . 6 hud been imprisoned for an assault on his previous master ; to whom the Count Aguado had refused to give a chavactcr , and who had threatoned to pay him out for it , but whom Mr . Hope had now taken into his service . Talandie further spoko to driving INfcrs . Hope from
day to day to the Count ' s lodgings in Pans ; but that statement was altogether incrodiblo and improbable . For how couM it bo imagined tlvat tho Couut would discharge with ignominy a servant who would bo able to prove tho particulars of an intercourse which tho Count had up to that time taken ovary pains to conceal ? As to the story of tho Count and Mrs . Hope swimming together in tho sea at Havre , and coming out hand in hand , thtt ( . would bo shown to bo physically imposniblo on . adcouht of the division which uoparatod tho bathing place of tho women from that of th 6 man . It would bo shown that there was a aontinol stationed ( on the spot to prevent anyautsh improprieties , which , if it had occurred , would have boen at onco rosoutod by every father and husband in tho hdtol . It was scarcely crediblo that a
woman , who had 1 ) 6611 advised . by her physician to discontinue all ititercdurse with her husband , lest it should lead to Consequences fatal to her health , and even to her life , would' alto ; w an adulterous intercourse with the Count , uhdet circumstances which were sure to lead ' to detection . It was possible that he might not be able to answer every fact in this case , but , if he showed that in many and essential' particulars it rested on "hollow and untfustwbrty evidence , it was not presuming too much to call upon the jury to conclude as to the rest in favour of the defendant ,. especially when it was seen that the witnesses by whom the case was sought to be established were still retained in the service of the plaintiff , with a knowledge of the infamous conduct of which they had been guilty . Various witnesses for the defence were then examined by Air . Serjeant Wilkins , after which
Lord Campbell summed up the evidence . His Lordship began his observations by remarking that it was a reproach to our jurisprudence that adultery was not regarded as a crime , but only as an injury to be compensated , by damages . He agreed in the opinion that adultery was a great crime , and ought to be treated as a crime , and not to be made the subject of civil action . The present state of our law upon this subject was looked upon by foreigners as a disgrace and a reproach to us . He had been obliged to confess that such was the state of our law , and to blush for it . A person who now wished the bond of marriage to be dissolved was compelled in the first instance to bring an action in a court of law , for by a standing order of the House-of Lords no bill for the
dissolution of a marriage was allowed to pass until an action had been brought and damages recovered . His observations would be very few , nor should he consider it necessary in this case to read over the whole of the evidence . He would , however , draw their attention to the several cases in which it was said there was evidence from which they might infer that the fact of adultery had been committed . There was , first , the case at Havre , in the year 1846 , when the defendant , after having possessed himself of Mrs . Hope , was seen toying with her , and putting his arms round her waist , & c , in a manner that was highly improbable . On the other hand , there was a contradiction as to the number of the apartment which he was said to hava _ occupied . The
plaintiff ' s witnesses said it was No . 122 j whereas the proprietor of the hotel and others agreed that that apartment Was not occupied by the Count Aguado , but by another person . Then there was the evidence of the bathing , which was not contradicted by the baigneuse , who had been called , for it appeared that Mrs . Hope had learnt to swim in the year 1846 ; and . her skilL in that art might have so far improved as to ~ have ~ enabled her to swim in the sea in the year 1850 . The more important facts of the case were what fol-I 6 wed : —The first was , what was spoken to by Anne Rowse . She appeared to be a very decent Woman , and nothing was extracted to shake her testimony . The witness said Mrs . Hope resorted to some contrivances .
She , in the first place , asked her husband to go and take a walk . She sent the children out , and cautioned her , Anne Rouse , not to come into her room again till the bellJcang . _ Count Aguado was seen on that occasion to come up into her bodrooin ^ "Now ; 'Tie" ( Lord Campbell ) did not think that continental manners authorised that ; and he could not believe that that could be innocently done in any part of the world . It ivas then proved that Mr . Hope went to his estate in Holland , and that Mrs . Hope sent over to Boulogne to the Count in a clandestine manner . The Count came over , and remained at Folkestone during Mr . Hope ' s absence . A pianoforte was brought , and removed the day before Mr . Hope's return . Tlic 30 circumstances seemed to show concert
between Mrs . Jlope and Count Aguado . "What could bo the object of that concert if it was not to carry on an illicit intercourse ? It was not said that any one saw any indecency between tho parties at Folkestone ; but . that was not necessary , if the jury believed that they had acted iii concert with a view to criminal intercourse .. If the jury believed the witness How , it scorned clear that an act of adultery had been committed at Tteigate . But strong evidence had boon brought forward to shako that testimony . How appeared to be a " respectable anil sincere witness . Ho stated that , while nt Deopdene , Mid . Hope gave him a letter addressod to tho Count Aguado , to bo delivered to a gentleman , whom ho was to see nt tho Reigate station . He said ho met a Kontleman there , to whom
he gave the letter ; that ho received an nnsjvcr written in pencil , which ho gave to Mrs . Hope . He said ho went to see a friend in a room at tho hotel on another day , and that ho there saw a lady and gentleman sitting on a sofn ; that Mm . Hope was tho lady , and tho gentleman was tho gentleman who received tho letter addressed to tho Count Aguado ; and that at that time tho gentleman had hirt arm round Mrs . Hope ' s wnist . If tho jury believed that , it was certainly strong evidence that an adulterous iutoroourso had taken place . Hut on tha other hand there was strong evidence that this was impossible , for sovorul witnesses wore called to show that ou the 31 at of July tho Count wont to Italy , and did not return till tho month of November . Ho now
camo to tho only remaining case—that at I ' olkestono in June , 1851 . That waH a matter entirely for tho jury . If tlioy boliovod tho witnesses called for tho nluiiitiir , there could bo no doubt about tha case .
There were four xrithesses who shewed there was concert between Mrs . Hope and Count Agiiado . They stated that on the evening of the 5 & toi June , 1851 ; Mrs ; -Hope arrived at Folkestone , aiid engaged the rooms Nbs . 58 and 59 , one for herself and tW other for a friend Afterwards the Count Aguado came . He was told that No . 58 -was taken by Sirs . Hope for a friena , and h < a at once took it . Those two-rooms communicated by double doors ; and , if the witnesses were to beTjeTTeved , a piece of the door was broken off , and the door opened , so that an opportunity -was given , and probably taken . If the jury believed that evidence they were at . liberty to infer that adultery Was committed because an opportunity for it was thus procured . That was on
the 5 th of June , 1851 . There had been rough weather ; but on the morning of the 9 th of June the porter called the Count . He then found the door was still open which led from No . 58 to No . 59 , and he said he saw the Count in his undress , and the lady in her undress . He ( Lord Campbell ) must say that the contradiction in this part of the case was very feeble . With these observations , he ( Lord Campbell ) would , leave the case in the hands of the jury * beggiftg them not to give more weight to theJm than they thougift they deserved . With respect to the amount of darnageB , in case they should find for the plaintiff , he thought they ought not to be large , because if the plaintiff ' s case was-true , the defendant could trot be considered as a Beducer , and the plaintiff's loss was but very slight .
The jury , in less than half a minute , found a verdict for the plain fciff . It was then left to his Lorship to say what -should . be the amount of damages , and his Lordship fixed them at 200 * .
J^Bb^^R-17, 1855,] Ths 11aber, - . _ _ _...
j ^ BB ^^ r-17 , 1855 , ] THS 11 ABER , - . _ _ ____ ^___ ..... Wi
Election Intelligence. Tiverton.—Lord Pa...
ELECTION INTELLIGENCE . Tiverton . —Lord Palmerston has been re-elected without opposition ; and in consideration'of his important services being required in t 6 wn the electors dispensed with his lordship's presence on the occasion . In his address to the electors , I / or < 5 P & lmerston said : — " This country has been compelled to engage in war for objects Tehich the judgment-of the nation has declared to be of sufficient magnitude and importance to reader necessary the exertions and sacrifices which-that war may require . We are contending against a powerful adversary , but we are contending in concert with a powerful and faithful ally ; and I" confidently hope that the spirit and energy of the British people wiU'triinnph . over-all difficulties , " and that by vigorous exertions in war we shall attain that end which is the object of all just war—a safe and honourable peace . "
South Wilts . —Mr . Sidney Herbert has been reelected witliout opposition . In returning thanks to the electors , he apologised for so often troubling them ; and , adverting to the condition of the army , lie said lie thought that much of the blame should bo laid elsewhere than on those who had the management in the Crimea . He also repeated his former remark , that the defect of the British army was , that it was only a collection of regiments . TTfoseregiinents , "however , - were thorough masters of their duty , but a knowledge of the working of troops in masses tvas required . Respecting the present state of a ff airs , lie said : —
Let them recollect that if peace wa 3 to be obtainedand the object of tho war was peace , for it was to get rid of tho difficulties that existed previous to the warthe object of the war being thus peace , it was the duty of those who wore most anxious for peace to contribute most readily thoir energies and assistance towards tho vigorous prosecution of tho war . They looked to tho termination of the war in pence—when , it was impossible for man to say . Th « y were aware that tho Government had deputed one of the most eminent statesmen of the clay to proceed to tha Continent to nogotiato—if negotiation could be fairly conducted—for peace , which might bo honourable to England , and durable to tho world . Regarding his new appointment as Colonial
Socrotary , ho felt tho full weight of tho responsibility that devolved upon -him in undertaking an office of so much importance , but ho was glad to say that his anxiety , under tho circumstances , was much diminished by tho measures of his predecessors , who had fostered and encouraged the growth of self-government in tho colonies , in opposition to tho arbitrary system whioJj had onco prevailed , which lind been mot by anger nnd resistance , until tho relation * of parent and child wore the reverse of what they ought to bo . Theso tunus iwa gone by , and they had hcoii by experience that taero wore persons in our colonies who appreciated tho responsibilities and were equal to tho duties of self-government—a principle which wm » nt onoo the beat preservative of order and liberty .
KnriiiB the honourable gentleman ' s speech he waa much iiuorrupioti by cries of " Who sent green cofTou ? " " W hy spare Odessa ? " & c ^ , „ Radnoxwhiub Buna . ia .-Sir Goorgto Cornwall Lewis has boen elected iu tho place othia father , in his address , Sir George said : — " I wish to sco a cessation of that inordinate and senseless dosiro which has been Bomtfthnos expressed oi
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 17, 1855, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17021855/page/7/
-