his way to the young lady's fortune. But had such a case been made out? When a man had conducted himself in life with so much propriety, as far as his honour and his character were con cerned, as Lord Stewart, it was impossible to say that such a charge of direct misconduct had been made out. But although he said this, nothing on earth should prevent him from declaring, that there certainly had existed some indiscretion on the part of Lord Stewart, as well as Lady Antrim. His lordship then entered into a particular statement of the transactions from the first introduction of Lord Stewart to Lady Frances Vane Tempest, down to the 9th April. The anonymous communications had been four in number; with the facts stated in them he was not acquainted, therefore he was unable to decide upon the effect which their contents would have upon his own mind, supposing affidavits were framed upon them. While the letters remained what they were, anonymous, he could pay no attention to them. With respect to the lady of high rank, about whom so much had been said, he should say, that there was no evidence to prove a concert or collusion, on the part of Lord Stewart, to get possession of the young lady's fortune. As a judge, the conversation which was said to have taken place between that lady and Mrs Taylor, would have no effect upon him. On the 9th April, the offer was made and accepted; and he had no difficulty in saying, that Lady Antrim should have been a little more considerate than to allow these parties to come to the point, without giving them the opportunity of further deliberation. He was also decidedly of opinion, that neither Lord Stewart nor Lady Antrim should have taken that hasty step without first consulting the wishes of the guardian, Mrs Taylor. Under all the circumstances of the It had been stated in Lord Stewart's affidavit, that his lordship, being at her Majesty's drawing-room on the 26th February, saw Lady Antrim and her daughter; that he had known Lady Antrim, and been introduced to her daughter some time before; that out of common courtesy he had handed the daughter to her carriage, and that this happened by accident. Mrs Taylor, on the contrary, said, that her niece had told her that she expected Lord Stewart at the drawing-room. This was very probable, because, from his rank, there was every reason to believe he would be there, though he positively swore he had not given any intimation of his going there. He had seen the young lady at several public places, and acknowledged that the qualities of her mind had made an impression on him; that he had avoided meeting his Royal Highness the Prince Regent at Lady Antrim's on the 13th March, understanding it would not be acceptable to Lady Antrim, whom he afterwards satisfied; that on the 9th of April he informed Lady Antrim of his attachment to the daughter, whom he saw in the evening, in presence of Mr M'Donnel, before whom his proposals were accepted by Lady Tempest; and finally, he declared, that every part of his conduct had been open and candid, and always in the presence of others. Lord Stewart's counsel also urged, from the arguments of his learned friends, it should seem it was their wish, that when a gentleman wished to marry a ward of the Court, he should come, and beg permission of the Court to make his addresses to the lady. Such certainly was not the practice of the Court, nor was it even agreeable to common sense. Sir Samuel Romilly, however, replied, there were strong circumstances which he could not pass over. It was very singular to see his lordship at the drawing-room, case, he could see no objection to the reference being made to the Master; nor did he see any cause for delay in the present inquiry; on the contrary, he thought it would be most advantageous for all parties to have the propriety of the union inquired into. It would be acting unjustly towards both Lord Stewart and Lady Antrim, if inquiry were delayed. If the Master should be of opinion that this is a proper marriage, it would be by no means a matter of course that this Court would confirm that report. With respect to the other motion, whether Lady Antrim should be continued under the restraint to which she had voluntarily submitted herself, he felt no difficulty in saying, that, paying no regard to the transactions of 1816, and to the present affair, it did appear to him to be proper to order, that until the Master's opinion should be given, that restraint should be continued. If Lady Antrim felt uneasy at this restraint, she might have an opportunity of applying to the Court whenever she 66 thought proper, and of giving any explanation she might think expedient; but there were circumstances in the history of this transaction which did not appear to him to be quite consistent with the duty of a guardian. JUNE 22. The Master in Chancery having reported that he considered it a fit and proper marriage, the Chancellor made the following observations : Mrs Taylor carried into the Master's office the following state of facts; (his Lordship then read the state of facts, which stated that Lord Stewart was at the age of forty years, and then described his rank and title.) His Lordship then said, the representation verified what Mrs Taylor represented as a ground of objection to his marriage-namely, that Lord Stewart was of the age of forty years, Lady Vane Tempest being admitted to be of the age of eighteen. It then stated that Lord Stewart was a widower, with a son of the age of twelve years; a son, particularly distinguishing Lady Tempest among other females, paying her those attentions which she ought more properly to have received from Mr M'Donnel, the husband of Lady Antrim; meeting her at public places, arranging every thing for a marriage, giving the public every reason by his conduct to believe she was intended to be his wife, while one of the guardians was kept completely in the dark. She was, according to Mrs Taylor's affidavit, introduced to him a few days before the drawing-room-he said a few days, because this was not denied by the other side, but only met with the vague expression of some time. Yet the mother was willingly blind to all that was going on, and had her reasons, no doubt, for not seeing what every other person in the fashionable world saw; for she made no communication whatever to Mrs Taylor, but, on the contrary, invited her daughter to a dinner party, at which the Prince Regent and Lord Stewart were to be present. That lady of high rank, alluded to in the former hearing of the case, made the communication to Mrs Taylor on the 12th of March, the day preceding this dinner; and though Lady Antrim was informed by Mrs Taylor of what this lady told her, she on that very day recommended Lord Stewart as a person fit in every respect to be her husband, the very day when the Prince and Lord Stewart were to dine there. With respect to what had been said about suitors coming to his lordship for permission to make their addresses to wards of the Court, he had never for one moment held such an opinion, and, indeed, he was astonished to hear it gravely brought forward. But, in the present case, Lord Stewart had first taken care to secure the affections of the lady, before he applied to one of the guardians, or to the Court. therefore, said his lordship, about six years younger than the lady whom he proposed to be his second wife. He proceeded to read the state of facts concerning Lord Stewart's relations, and said, that with respect to Lord Stewart's situation in the world, he would observe, wishing to do so in the most respectful way to Mrs Taylor, that it was impossible to look at the affidavit which Mrs Taylor had made, without seeing that that lady, when she represented his situation, did most thoroughly believe that Lord Stewart was a man in the most embarrassed circumstances that was stated in the strongest language, and no doubt Mrs Taylor did believe it. She could, how ever, only believe it on the representation made by numerous and respectable persons; however fallacious, and however unfounded those representations might be, how firmly that belief was entertained, would be seen in the representation contained in this state of facts, then verified by affidavit; and it was remarkable, that the world had taken such an interest in this business, that among other anonymous information, he had received anonymous information as to the circumstances of Lord Stewart, which was now verified to the satisfaction of the Master. The affidavit stated, that his different appointments of Colonel of the 28th regiment, of Ambassador to Vienna, and others, amounted to 15,700l. His Lordship said, he would take them all to be appointments subject to the pleasure of the Crown: that, with respect to his personal property, he had personal property which he estimated at 26,000l. and that his debts were only his Colonel's expences for a few months, and some articles that were furnished for his use in his way to Vienna. That he was tenant for life in the possession of estates in the county of Londonderry, which were in the occupation of his father, for which his father paid him 2,000l. His lordship then went on to state the different estates of which Lord Stewart was possessed; by which it appeared, that if he survived Lord Londonderry and Lord Castlereagh, he would then become entitled to a family estate in Downshire to the amount of 18,000l. a year, and succeed to the title of Lord Londonderry. He had no doubt that Lord Stewart had a son by his marriage, and that was a circumstance which might intercept the descent in second marriage, it might prevent the issue of the second marriage ever taking any interest in the estates of Lord Stewart. At the same time, when he recollected how many accidents in life bring forward successions that were not thought possible to take effect, it was a contingency not without value, and the son of the second marriage might become the owner of all his property; but, recollecting in what profession Lord Stewart was brought up; recollecting in what manner Lord Stewart has, at least as a public man, passed his life, from the age of twenty-one to forty, it was calling upon him to impute to Lord Stewart the character of the meanest wretch that crawls upon the earth, if under such circumstances, on anonymous testimony, let the witnesses be who they might be, he was to say Lord Stewart had no object in marrying but the lady's fortune. He proceeded with the state of facts, detailing the expectations of Lord Stewart with reference to his property; he had no doubt that, if the marriage went on, those expectations would be made good. It was a circumstance proper to be noticed, that Lord Londonderry and Lord Castlereagh had proposed to postpone their own interests, in order that a jointure might be secured to the amount of 30,000l. With respect to Lady Frances Vanè Tempest's property, it appeared to be 1,400l. a year, in Ireland; and as to her English property, its value depended upon collieries, one of which was held under a lease from the Dean and Chapter of Durham; that lease would expire in about eight years, and it was understood there was a considerable difficulty upon the subject of renewing. She had, however, independent of that, a very considerable fortune, but much less than the world had given her credit for; it had happened to her, as it had to many others, that the world had supposed her to be three times as rich as she really was. The first question for him to decide was, what was the weight of Mrs Taylor's objection on the ground of disparity of fortune. His lordship, on this part of the question, referred to the case in which Lord Thurlow had decided against a marriage, on the ground of disparity of fortune, though the Master had reported in favour of the marriage. The opinion of Lord Thurlow had been confirmed, on appeal to the House of Lords. That case differed widely from the present one; there, the person who had proposed the marriage had only 500l. a year allowed him by his father, 300l. a year as ranger of a park, and 100l. a year in his own right. Another case was that of Lord Carteret, who had paid his addresses to Miss Watson. Lord Carteret was a man of rank, but of no fortune. Lord Thurlow's mind had long vacillated upon that occasion; but, at last, sensible that the affections of the young people were too closely united to be severed, he had consented to the marriage. In the present case, there was rank, fortune, and he hoped character, and very great connections. The lady had a fortune equal to a provision for any family; therefore, nei ther the authority of the cases cited, nor a just view of the subject, led him to think there was any disparity in point of fortune, particularly when it was considered that Lord Stewart had purposed to make such settlement as the Court should think proper. This proposal having been carried before the Master, Mrs Taylor had offered her objections; they consisted of a refuta. tion of all the statements in the affidavits. She objected to him as a suitor to her niece, on account of his age, cha. racter, the situation of his property, and other circumstances stated with regard to his family. His Lordship then proceeded to state the four ob jections to the report, and answered them in their order. With respect to the first objection, the age-as to age, Mrs Taylor had stated the age of Lord Stewart at forty, that of her niece at eighteen; and added, that after the most diligent inquiry, she felt herself compelled to repeat, that she believed his disposition and habits were dissipated and irregular, and ill-suited to promote the happiness of domestic life. The other objections of Mrs Taylor against Lord Stewart, referred to his having a son, who would inherit his title and property; that insanity had appeared in certain branches of his family. His Lordship said he should not enter into an examination of the reasoning in the Master's report, as to the advantage of a young lady having a husband of mature age; for his own part he could not think disparity of age was any recommendation. It was a point which it was the duty of the friends of the lady to represent to her. Although it did not follow, that because a man was forty years of age, that he was therefore of mature judgment; yet it seemed a fair inference of the Master, that Lord Stewart, having spent his life in the attainment of every honour that every country in Europe could confer on him, was entitled to be looked upon as a person who had well conducted himself, and as a man of sound judgment and high cha- legal. Was it an imputation upon the moral character of his lordship? If so, it ought to have been so put ; and if it were an imputation that he had irregular habits, it was necessary that he should be acquainted with specific facts, or how was he able to judge whether they were calculated to disturb domestic happiness? There was a very great difference between statements made by third parties, where the intermediate person put her own construction upon the facts related, and when the persons themselves voluntarily came forward and stated all they knew. He could not help saying again, that if character was to be thus attacked by anonymous witnesses, and no opportunity was given to meet that attack, there was no safety for any individual in existence. He could not, therefore, as a just man, as a father, or as a Judge, lay stress enough upon this allegation to act upon it as a good objection. Sir Samuel Romilly, whose judgment either as a gentleman or a father, he believed, was as sound as any man living, or had lived, put the case, that supposing the Lord Chancellor was the parent of this young lady, would he make all those inquiries; and would he not be contented with the assurances of Mrs Taylor? To this he would answer in the affirmative. It was also very remarkable, that the person who was sent to Ireland to make inquiries respecting the family of Lord Stewart, never gained one tittle of information relative to the alleged irregular habits of his Lordship. The next objection is of a nature which to be sure imposes a duty most painful and difficult. It is, nevertheless, a duty imposed upon the Court to consider it, and the Court must do its duty, whatever may be the consequence. I make no observations upon the conduct of those persons who think proper to get information, which |