A Case with a Lady in it.

Otago Witness, Issue 941, 11 December 1869, Page 20

A Case with a Lady in it.

BY JUDGE CLARK."

I had just taken possession of the worst room in Diggs' tavern— l was a young lawyer on my first circuit, and Diggs kept his best accommodations for tht» old stagers— when thewbrds,,"! say, Bill," and Tom Mansfield burst upon me at the same instant. Tom and I had been cronies from the time we committed our first juvenile trespass on Deacon Boxley's watermelon patch till we afterwards' studied the action of that name together in Judge Thompson* office. a ,/rtn,,- A " I say, Bill, Fve got a case, and 1 w>nt your assistance in it. " Ah !" said Lin a consulting tone. v A will case, ho continued, "full of tho nicest kind of points, and the prettiest woman in the world for a client" "What about fees?" I enquired, by way of keeping up professional appearances. " Hear the mercenary wretch r he ex>claimed. "If we succeed there'll be plenty of money.' If we don't it will be a noble cause to fall is." " That's what they said of the dashing young chap that broke his neck trying to make two-forty time with the chariot of the sun, but it did'nt mend bis neck. " Confound your mythology; business is business. Let me state the case." "Well, state away." This was it: John Andrews had settled in the country when it was young. He had grown with its growth, and was the proprietor of half a dozen farms, and " one fair daughter, the which he loved passing well." His wife, the partner of the earliest and severest portion of his struggles, had died rauny years before, and his daughter had become tho mistress of his house while yet a child. As Elfio increased in years, hsr father prospered ; and when at loncth he found hinmelf the possessor of wealth, the ambition, so common under such circumstance*, of elevating his daughter to a station in life abovo that in which sh&had been reared, became a ruling passion. The first thing was to buy her a splendid education ; and liko other uot over good judges of the article, he was governed in his choice more by the gaudlness of the colouring than by the quality of the texture. . , , __ At the oud of tho usual period Effie was sent home «finishod"-that is, in ovory respect in which she oould be, totally spoiled. In ono thing oaly she remained the same— her lov» for her father had defied the power «yen of fashionable education, , A house was purchased in town, of which Effle was made mistress, and at whioh Mr Beld«n, a young gootlaman of city antecedents, and far too nip© to have anything so vulgar as a vlslbla calling, beeamt a frequent and not qnwtloome visitor. Hs had just brains snough to think of providing for ths future oy a sohemt, of whioh Miss Andrtwi and her »ppttTt4MM«OoWtftUtod a an**} to*

yfoolistilUWhe^rfc%ren|fdv;L7)°y foolistilUWhe^rfc%ren|fdv ; L 7)° t :?; J- , ; *\'\m <ffi*ji!WS&& remained^d i;Bi ;Bg v en-'' ctoered. { < '' VL6w to ! cbacmate Jl t^ 'rough 'JdfW^b^^f^i^^iMliiSJ^H^ 1 ; h4d permitted hifl.daugbiter xo'amuseherself'with ttfe' young finely miichfas'he* would haye.^aUo'w'edr her "ibjplay/with^a, 'poodle or a'mbifkeyV .fs-But 'could ;Hfe hate brought hiniself ifo tolerate icKe'idea|of her •marrying anybody; yef a wßle-^for'the possibility of su6h .a remote, future contibgency iniy have oocftßionally suggested itself— Horace B'elden was about the" last person on earth inconnectipri with whom it would have been 'entertained* ' ' ■ When that gentleman, therefore, reported at headquarters, and implored the paternal sanction to his suit, he received nonsuch thing } f c on the cbntrar^^' quite' the reverse." Indeed he only escaped being kicked out, of doors by a speedy voluntary departure. . " ' '"When 1 .Effie tried to talk her .father oyer', for the first time in liis life he 'flew into a passion with her, and she dared not ' renew the' jsubje'etj. ., v „ \ ' But Love, the, little pagan, pays no reBpeot to the fourth commandment.; : The offibioua interference of parents and guardians only renders him the more impat'iefit and unruly, and the present inBtanoe was no exception. Clandestine interviews were arranged ; accidental meetings took place at the houses" of. mutual friends, .till the whole ended in ( the gentleman, proposing afiielbpement; - Effie, after", protesting, she cbuld'nt 'possibly think of such a thing, arid, "after many/ vain., atteinpts ', 'to conjure, what people would say, at' laity with graceful hesitancy, obhsented;/ Rage, frenzy, despair, are weak words to describe the emotions of John Andrews when, he found that the house had been robbed of its choicest treasure. His first impulse was pursuit. It' was night when he Bet out, accompanied by a trusty Scotchman, long in his employ and'confidence. As the two galloped along, Mr Andrews' horse stumbled, precipitating the rider to the, ground, and falling heavily upon him. He was taken up insensible and carried to the nearest house A physician was called, who pronounced the injuries of a most serious; but not necessarily fatal character., As soon as consciousness returned he despatched a messenger for a nephow of his, a lawyer of not very 1 , good repute, residing in a neighbouring town. "When Mr Jackson, the nephew, arrived, he was left alone with his uncle at the, tatter's Irequest. At the end of an hour the doctor was summoned, and requested by Mr Andrews to note his signature to a paper, to which he then affixed his name, declaring it to be his will, and asking the doctor to subscribe it as a witness, which was done. , , On his nephew's suggestion that another witness was necessary, Mr Andrews named MacPherson, the Scotchman, and requested the doctor to send him in. MacPherson, it 'seems, had been sent on some errand, but as soon as he returned the doctor communicated Mr Andrews' message, and went himself to attend a sick call in the neighbourhood, not deeming his own presence there immediately necessary. When he came back he was astonished to find his patient dead. Such a result had not, indeed, been unanticipated, but its suddenness took him by surprise. By Mr Andrews' will, which was published some days after his death, the entirety of his property was devised to his nephow, who had attended him in his last moments. Everything was in duo form. True, MacPherson, one of the witnesses, pursuant to a previous intention, had sailed for Scotland shortly after the funeral, and was not present before the Judge of Probate. But his handwriting was proved, and the evidence of the remaining witness was quite satisfactory. He had seen tho testator append his signature, had heard him declare that the paper was his will, and was positive that, at the time he was of sound mind and memory. Poor Effle's grief, when she received the intelligence of her father's death, was too profound to be deepened by tho news of her own disinheritance. Under the oircumstanoes, one would have thought ihat the young husband would have been' unrainittisg in tenderness and sympathy toward his sorrowing bride, who had sacrificed so much for his sake. And so ho would had he devotedly loved her, but he did not. Thefabtia, hU whole heart and soul and mind were occupied with a previous attachment— not for aaothor— the farthest possible from that— it«oVj»ct was himself. The affection, which was of the most ardent description, had m«t with a blighting disappointment in his wife's loss of fortune: and with hsr unoaasiof grtot and oontlnual solf-aodusatfen— shs offend iw reproaches to him— h« had but little pattsoo*, uA toon gave hsr to undsrstegdajmuoh, Ttyn^who, ftmonU*

; befor^^wonldAß^ftnpn, reaoyto put on< mourning: had - . one 105t... her . - zavpunte- • canary, now turned his baok.upon, her inj< ' tKo'Kdur jaf real affliciibn; ,i, } + ,#, # n nnt * t Whetf at. length tie w^s, found*de v ad f m , biß'bedVorie 'morniing; after* a nigM r of carousal, the coronerfs,, jury said it waV tne" " act of God"— bis 'blessing yori^ilT callit:-" v "'"" :t ''■•" ;t ' ' '' " Effie's cousin, instead of making any provision for her whose "rights he had most unrighteously supplanted, left her wholly dependent on others, and had she not found a home in the house of an old and tried friend of her father, she might have "gone forth a' shelterless wanderer. Tom 'Mansfield, who had equally made the acquaintance* of the young widow, became warmly interested in her cause,, and,, guided probably more vby sympathy than' by judgment, had commenced an action to contest the will made under the ciroumstances just related. ' ■"• " t And this 'was the case in which he wished rdy aßßistance; \ T '. We sat up nearly all night in consulta-, tion. There was a point whichwe both! thought a "beaatiful" btte, and we devoted our principal effortß to strengthening it. Ours was the first cause on in the mor1 ning. Arrayed agaihst us were three of' the oldest and ablest practitioners of the 1 circuit. Jackson had plenty of money now, and was himself no fool in " putting up" a case. ' , „ I felt not* a little' nervous. It was my first case of any importance. I, too,' as well as John Andrews' will, was about to be placed on trial , ' ' My oourage revived a little when out client came in, escorted by Tom, who introduced me as his associate, and handed her to a seat near our table. Pretty as a pink, as she sat facing the jury, where Tom had placed her, I felt that our case had another " beautiful point " in it. Almost immediately the trial began. The evidence varied but little from that already detailed. The attending physician was very decided in his opinion ' that the testator, at the time of signing the paper in question, was in the full possession of his mental faculties. The signature of the absent witness was 'sworn to by Mr Jackson himself, who further testified that the deceased had requested MacPherson to witness the instrument, at the same time deoiaring it to be his will. At Tom's instance I subjected this witness to a searching cross-examination, but he stood it like a salamander. He swore that the testator had not only dictated every line of the will, but had heard it read, and had twice read it over him* self before executing it. I then gave him' up in despair. At length the evidence closed, and I * rose to present our point. It was put in the shape of a motion to direct a verdict for the contestant, on the ground that the witnesses had not subscribed in the presence of each other. I was about to adduce arguments and authorities, when the Judge interposed. " The rule you claim undoubtedly was the law, and should be so still, but a recent statute has changed it. The wit* nesses need not now sign in each other's presence. A hasty examination proved His Honour was right, and our main point was done for. To our great relief, the Court adjourned for dinner. We were to sum up in the afternoon. That task on our side was assigned to me, but Ifeit it was hopeless. I was determined, however, to take what satisfaction I could but of Jackion by abusing him as soundly as the rules of the Court would permit. Aad, after all, who could tell? The jury might take the bit in their mouth, and give us » verdict in spite of the law ; and the evidence. " ' > On the reasMfcnbling of Oourt, I was a little surprised a* well as annoyed at Tom's absenoe. Could it . be that he was leaving me in the lurch, and staying away to avoid the mortification of our final defeat? I had just risen to- address the jury, when somebody plucked me by the coat. It was Tom, his eyes fairly gleaming, and his wholo framo in * tremor of excitement. "What* the matter V "MacPhewoh'shere;" " What 1 the other witness ?" " Ye* ; just arrived, not an hour ago." "But will it help ua to call himf "Trust not to that. Put him on the stand at onoe I " « What shall lank him 1" "N© matter ; you can't go far wrong. If you miss anything I'll prompt you." Tom was evidently full of some mystery, with whioh he was bent on taking everybody ojwiurprise, inoluding himself. In » few words I explained to the Court our reason* for wishing to re*open the testimony. Jackson .turned pal* and whiapered nervously, to his oounsel, but they shook their heads ; our application, was one that would be granted, of course. " Call your witaeaV'said the Judge.

w?Fisoji^^ ■[-^TJie-w^eßs^Lbrawßy^honeßtJfaced ?;^So o a*mk>' ( T%fKiß^ed. R p> • T<( MacPtiWohf Hoc^aVthTaV signature vftel Wtis iS it :• ■? ' '^\ ' - >"■ " Itlßi 3 '^'- t'i** v-> „ ' ;irv,— > ,- * " >. v , \ "Do you know. fthe^signature- tor, .the,* right of/It IP mU .< fhhiCM t»i <<. . .'•> , .."Yes., That's the signature of. Mr An- , drews.", _ ; , v ,?* Did.you. see .him write it V . , ' 1 "No; bat' lam V.ell ; acquabted with' his hand."-' '* ■ *; " •' ' - r -- .' " Were you requested to witness that paper?" • , , ,'•'■•■ ♦'Yes.*! „; .: ,"• • * , ," By, whom!" " 1 .. ' "By'lfrr Jacdhon;"' !j "," ;'-,"', 1 a t>ii "Mr 'And^eW'say anything .about it."" " v "••"•'"•.^ . »- '■••. " No ; he was dead when I came in. " , ; There was no cross-examination. ■, ♦'I submit the case without argument", I said, resuming my seat. . . Our senior opponent was one of those lawyers with whom ,it is a matter of conscience to show fight to the last. In a brief speech he' admitted it to be essential that both the 1 witnesses should have I signed their names before the testator's death, but claimed that inasmuch as the testimony of -Jackson and MacPherson was in direct conflict on this question, it must be left to ths jury. „ •'Certainly," said his Honour; but when he had concluded his charge, there wasn't much of Mr Jackson and his testimony left. The^ |ury gave ' us a verdiot without leaving their seats: Tom, I «m sorry to say, behaved very unhandsomely in. the division of the spoils. . . Although I was liberally paid, he took the widow and her whole fortune for his Bhare. As for Jackson, not being quite as conscientious as Judas, he didn't go out and hang himself ; but, at the rate he iB going, it, will take more law than he knows to keep him much longer out of the Penitentiary.