TRIED BY HIS PEERS.

Wanganui Chronicle, 27 August 1901, Page 3

TRIED BY HIS PEERS.

EARL RUSSELL SENTENCED FOR BIGAMY.

AN IMPRESSIVE BURLESQUE

The trial by the peers of Earl Russell on the charge of bigamy, tok place on the 18th July, in the Boyal Gallery of the House of Lords, and a remarkable business it proved. His Lordship, in the end pleaded guilty, and was sentenced, as the cables informed us, to three months', imprisonment in Holloway Gaol. . In the centre of the noble and lotty hall with its stained-glass -windows, its wonderful panelled ceiling, and its great •nlded statues of some of England s past Kings and Queens, stood, at the end adjoining the House of Lords, a crimson canopy. Underneath this Lord Halsnbry, in his earl's robes and a full-bot-tomed wig, sat to preside, in his capacity of Lord High Steward. He sat on a red leather chair, with a temporary bench in front of him, and behind his chair was a throne—because the trial was, by one of those pleasant old fictions with which these ancient usages are riddled, deemed to be taking place before the King of Parliament. Directly in front of Lord Halsbury sat, on a sofa, which in legal phraseology is always known as a woolsack, eight or ten of his Majesty's judges, in full-bottomed wigs and scarlet robes. Theoretically here to advise their judicial superior, the Lord High Steward, on abstruse points of law they, like Mr Gilbert's peers in general, "did nothing in particular, and did it very On five rows of scarlet chairs, ranged right and left of the Lord High Steward, sat the peers. They had assembled at first in the House of Lords itself, all wearing their official mantles of scarlet cloth, lined with white taffeta, and scored with rows of ermine and gold I&ce^-four bars for the dukes down, to two for the barons. Then they had .entered the scene of the trial two by two—for which method.there was, of course, archaic precedent. To the rows of seats opposite, under the "Death of Nelson" picture, Viscounts LJandaff and! Kmrtsford led the senior peers, soma eighty in number. The Bishops in their lawn sleeves looked fresh anLord° ' Clarendon, Cholmondeley, and Pembroke were ; distinguished by their wands of office,' and the Dukes-their Graces of Wellington, Portland, Northumberland, and Marlborough—brought up tlie reai- of the procession, except for Lord Salisbury, last and greatest by virtue of Iris office of Lord Privy heal. THE KING'S WAND. Then entered to Lord Halsbury a brilliant figure, in flaiii^ary uniform, carrying a long white wand, twj«e *he length of a billiard cue. This wan General bir Michael Biddulph, the gentleman usher of the Black Rod, and! the white stag was the emblem of the Lord High Steward s appointment to the office, which the King —having received it from the Lord Chamberlain—had handed! to Black Bod for Hi-oduction on the present occasion. kord Halsbury nodded at it, as one recognisee a passing acquaintance; it was hefd in fM?sitkm on. the right of the Throne- and due ceremonial was now fairly set going, wifcU **ios of "Oyez, 7 the intoning of charges sirie&r enjoining every one to keep silence, *wid responses of "God save the King." But the procedure had not advanced sufficiently to require Earl Russell within the Bar, and he had to kick-bw beels without for n, time, the tribunal ostentatiously ignoring his presence. The firtst effect of all this had been to give one the sensation of having gone back a few centuries sincT-breakfasting. But looking round agai» J« eye caught too many notes of the twentieth century to harbour longer this sentiment of the long mnotc. There was Earl Russell himself, very modern indeed in a grey frock-coat suit aad the usual red neck-tie ; there were the solicitors and counsel—the Attorney-General, thle Solicitor-,General, Mr Suttoii. and others for the prosecution ; and Mi- Robson, K.C., Mr Avoiy, K.C., and Mr Charles M.athews for the defenCeENTEB EARL RUSSELL. At length the reading of the writs and the accompanying genuflexions were over, and Earl Russell was admitted within the- bar. He took his stand on a small raised dias just behind the counsel, vis-a--vis the Lord High Steward. The ceremonial, as governed by all precedents, prescribed that the Earl should now make three reverences and kneel until permitted

What happened was that Karl Kussell bowed thrice, atid remained standing with his head and shoulders down exactly in the attitude of the scho&ltooy "giving- a back," arid inasmuch as he kept on looking up momentarily to «cc how l«ng O'is. posture was to last, it would not iiaw surprised those already bewildered by tiie affair if Lord Hals-bury had sternly ordered him to "tock in his tupenny. ' But Lord Halsbury. instead, informed the Eari that he would now be arraigned, whereupon tii« Clerk of the King's Bench inquired, "How say you, my Lord, are you guilty of the felony with which you stand charged, or not guilty?" Mr Kobsou was up in n. minufce with a preliminary objection, arguing that there was no offence disclosed in the depositions, as the Act applied to bigamous marriages committed within the King's dominions. Mr Robsou's objection was overruled,

and this precipitated the end of the trial. For Earl Russell announced: "Under the advke of counsel 1. plead guilty." Leave was granted to him to be heard, and the unfortunate Earl delivered an address which seemed to have marked effect.

Standing in anything but a ceremonious attitude, with his hand on ihis hip, and speaking with an earnest, resonant voice, which filled the gallery better than that of any preceding speaker, he said he thought ho had acquired in Nevada a proper and sufficient domicile by eight months' residence to render valid the* divorce he obtained there, and to .render righteous, therefore, the marriage which he was now advised was bigamous. PASSING THE 'SENTENCE.

At the close of this speech the peers retired to their own chamber, to consult in private. They were absent.. a quarter of an hour, and their return was heralded by a proclamation to "all manner of persons" to "keep silence, upon pain of imprisonment." Earl Russell having been brought in I again by Black Rod, l»ord Halsbury piled Pelion upon Ossa by adjusting a huge black three-cornered hat on the top of his great, wig, and even then remained impressive as he passed sentence. "John Francis Stanley," ho said, "you have been convicted on youi\ own confession of felony. I need not say that all ofus regret to see your great historic name associated in this matter. Their lordships feel that, while on the one hand it would be impossible to. pass over the offence to which you have pleaded guilty, because it might encourage other offenders to do the like even without the provocation you have received, on the other hand it is possible that the extreme torture which you have suffered during a long period of your life, and- of which the judicial records of this House boar witness, may have provoked you to do that which , otherwise you would not have done." , Sentence of three months' imprisonment in Holloway as a criminal in the first division was then passed. Shaking hands with Mr Lyulph Stanley, and beckoning to Mrs Someryille, ■ his second "wife," to accompany him, the Eurl was then conducted out.

- Earl Russell, it is understood, occupies the room in Holloway Gaol which Sir John Willoughby occupied when imprisoßed after the Raid. The room consists of two cells knocked into one. So far as the provision of the prison authorities is concerned, his lordship may have an excellent bed, a wash-stand, a water ewer, a chair, and a looking glass, with a cup and saucer, a plate and a cellar of salt.. In common with other first-class misdemeanants, the Earl will rise at 5 a.m., take his exercise, and breakfast either on the prison fare of cocoa and bread or any luxuries that he may have brought in from the "cottage" restaurant outside. A pint of malt liquor or half a pint of wine is allowed to each prisoner j>er diem. The price, paid for the accommodation of the private rooms at Hnlloway, with a common ; prisoner as orderly, is 6s per week. An influentially backed Bill for the' abolition of the present method of trial by peers will probably be introduced next session in the House of Lords.