The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1885.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 3306, 2 May 1885, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1885.

The English papers to band by the mail contain particulars of yet another " Romance of the Peerage." In some of its features it strongly resembles incidents of that most successful of sensational novels, " Called Back," although unfortunately the ending has not yet been so happy. It involves some very curious psychical problems, and taken altogether it is not surprising to learn that it created an amount of interest at Home which even threw the BussoAfghan question into the Bhade for the time being. The romance m question came before the public m the form of a matrimonial suit brought by the Earl of Durham for a declaration of nullity of his marriage with Miss Ethel L. Milner on the ground of her insanity at the time of her marriage. The lady was admittedly insane at the time of the trial, but her relatives defended the suit on the ground that, at the time of the marriage, she was of sound mind. Lord Durham, it is hardly necessary to explain, is the holder of -one of the most wealthy earldoms m England, his money being derived principally from coal mines. He is now m his 30kh year. There was a curiosity m connection with his succession to the title and property from the fact that he had a twin brother, who was then and is still living. It was m 1879 or 1880 that he first became acquainted with the respondent, Mifis Milner, an exceedingly lovely girl m appearance ; m fact, one of the acknowledged " Society beauties" of the day. It was not, however, until 1882, when they both stayed m the same house at Aecot, that they became intimate, and there is no doubt that at that time Lord Durham was completely smitten by the charms of her personal beauty. Throughout their acquaintance he noticed that she was exceedingly shy and reserved, and it was suggested by learned counsel engaged m the case that this was probably one of the features which especially attracted Lord Durham — a hint which young ladies will probably note, and perhaps profitby. On August 14th, 1882, Lord Durham went on a visit to Lord Oastlereagh at Durbani, and Miss Milner was there at the time. They both remained there, according to the statement of counsel for the petitioner, until the 24th of the same month, and during the interval Sis Lordship paid the young lady attentions which could not be mistaken, but her demeanour towards him, and indeed her demeanour generally, was extremely Bhy. Lord Durham, while led on by her beauty to declare his affection for her, was at the same time greatly puzzled by her conduct. He consulted his brother as to what he should do, and also spoke to the Hon. -Mrs ■ Gerard, sister of the respondent. Mrs Gerard reassured him by stating that Miss Milner was shy because she was so much m love with him, adding that she herself was very shy when a girl. Lord Durham accepted this explanation, so gratifying to his feelings, and the same day proposed to the beauteous but bashful girl. Her reception of the offer was of the most disheartening kind. At first she made him no answer; then " she gave him what he took to be an affirmative reply." He then embraced and kissed her. She suffered him to do this, but made no manifestation that his affection was reciprocated. He again asked her why she was so shy, observed that he was his own master, and that now she .had accepted him and was to be his wife there could be no reason for her shyness. Her tongue, which during their, previous intercourse had mainly confined itself to saying " yes " and " no," then became to some extent loosened. She startled him by saying, " I have something dreadful, awful to tell you." Lord Durham was naturally anxious to know what she meant, but after this declaration she became as silent as the grave. She repeated the same statement on several other occasions, but he was never able to ascertain to what she referred. It was suggested that there had been a prior attachment to some other gentleman, and Lord Durham endeavored delicately to question her on this subject, but she did not seem to know what he meant. Being asked by counsel on the opposite side what he thought of her behavior — whether, when he was proposing for Miss Milner, he believed she would make him a fitting wife, he said that when' proposing for her his belief was that if she remained as she was then, she would be a very unfitting wife for himself .or any other man* With lees delicacy he afterwards said that imnie* diately after the marriage he thought he had an idiotic wife— ra person without any mind whatever. It appeai'ed from his statement that her conduct throughout the period of her engagement continued cold and reserved m the

highest degree. Letters which she had •written to him were produced. They commenced with " My dearest Jack," and ended " With best love, believe me, ever yours affectionately, Ethel L. Milner." They consisted merely of two or three sentences, and it was stated that during the whole time of the engagement Mies Milner never used one endearing term, or one indicative of affection by word of mouth. Still, as haß been intimated, Lord Durham went on with the wedding, which took place on the 28th October, 1882. The day previous Lord Durham's brother offered her a present, but she could not be induced to take it. At the marriage the respondent was shy to a degree, and when Bhe returned with Lord Durham to Prince's Gate, where her mother resided, she remained standing passive on the pavement until he raised her train and almost bore her into the house. The same afternoon they went to the Durdans, Lord Rosebery's residence at Epsom. They remained there for ten days, daring which time he could never get her outside the grounds, and though she was a good musician, and would play on the piano by herself, she would never play for him. When they returned to their home, there were, as usual, great rejoicings among the tenantry, and the latter made a presentation, but as they did so, she kept her eyes fixed upon the ground and did not acknowledge it. When at Lambton she gave no orders to the housekeeper, took no part m the management of the house, and apparently had not the slightest interest m life. Several eminent physicians were consulted, and after a time these were forced to the conclusion that she was afflicted with mental disease. Finally, she made an attempt to throw herself out of a window, and aB it was then evident that she was dangerously out of her mind, she was sent to an Asylum, where she was detained at the time of the trial. The picture of Lady Durham's condition after her marriage mußt be admitted to have been melancholy m the extreme. The question to be decided, however, was, whether she was sane at the time of entering into the contract — whether she had " a capacity," as it was put at the trial, " to understand the nature of the contract, and the duties and responsibilities which it creates." Her relatives brought forward a very large amount of evidence to show that she did fulfil the requirement here laid down. Her grandfather, the Archbishop of Armagh, stated that he regarded her " as the most sensible of his grand-daughters." The Archbishop of York, at whose house she stayed, m January and February 18i>2, said' that she talked quite freely to him, that her manner was always perfectly composed and simple, and that there was nothing to mark her out from other people m that respect, although His Grace noticed also that Bhe was shy. Great stress waß laid on the fact that she was seen professionally by Sir William Gull, the eminent physician, after her marriage, and that be discovered no signs of insanity about her. Upon all the facts the President of the Divorce Court came to the conclusion that the respondent became insane after the marriage and not before it, and so the petition was dismissed with costs. Thus ended one of the most painful trials m the annals of the English aristocracy. There are, no doubt, many reflections to be drawn from the story, particularly as affecting the mysterious borderland between sanity and insanity. For the present, however, we confine ourselves to merely relating the facts as they were disclosed m the English Law Court.