THE GREAT IRISH WILL CASE.

Inangahua Times, Issue 19, 30 September 1878, Page 2

THE GREAT IRISH WILL CASE.

TOfRXMIUTIOK OV THUS TRltUfi. ''■ Tho Bagot will qnso, having oocupiad twonly,4wo days, concla.dodi on Monday. Owing (O' tho high couditionof tho parties, inv.olyed in tho litigation, tho .groat s.im. of money Bought for, this extraordinary andt sensational ovidonco that innrk.i<d ovcry stngo of tho c/iso, this sujt has oflusod ,'unparallolod intcrost and oxcitoment, not only iaoyery part of Irclnnjlj

but in different pnrts of E igland. Daring tlio progress of tho trial tho Dublin IVobato Court has boon .densely thronged. On many days several poors of tho realm and jtulgos of tho land occupied scats on tho bonoh with tho presiding judge. Tho will in djsputo was that of Christo* phor Neville Bagol;, who. diod on tho 2nd May, 1977. It was propounded by tho cxocu.to.ru and trustees, Mr Bernard Bagot tho testator's brothor, and Mr Holmos, By it ho loft £1000, a yorir to his wlfo and £10,000 to tho child which slyo gave birth to. after hor 'iqarringo with him, Tho rost of tho proporty, which was of cnor-« mous value, ho directed to aecumulato for tvvouly years, and then go to tho heirs of his brothers. This will was disputed by Mrs Alieo Dugofc, tho widow of tho testator, on bolmlf of the ohild, and sho set up a prcyious will, in which Mr B^got loft nearly all his proporty, worth about £1.0,000 a-yoar, to tho child, whom ho doscribod as his son' It-nppearod at tho trial that Christopher Novillo Bagot, tho lostator, was tho younger son of a Conunught gonLleman of good (ortuno. Tn tho year 18 M, boing lft- years of ngo, tostator loft Ireland for Australia with £1000 in his pocket. Ifo pljung^f'.luto tlio hush, and little wan hoard\of hiir sav6 c lot lor now and l!.<on sent Hiomc*, till 18G2, ho boing then 37 yonra of a^o, when ho re* (urnod to Irolnnd, having snvod by stock* farming, gold-mining, and speculation, a qunrlorof million of mon<;y, On his return ho purchased the estate of Aughrone, County Kesoommon, and led tho lifo of ,a country gonllcman for sometime. Siolc o^ this aort.of lifo ho procooJod to London and immediately pluufiod into tho midst of it» dissipation and guiotios. Lottors wero road from him at this timo alluding to his life, In ono of thorn ho stntod that ho had soduood moro girls Hum nny man lio had ovor mot. All tho Idlers boro indications of a very fast lifo. I^ethwithstanding this ho mixed in tho vory bost of London Soeioty, whoro ho was leuown as tho • Nugget:' In tho year 1805 Mr Bngot mot with a serious accident in tho hunting fioKl, and soon after signs of locomotor atuxie, or paruljsU oX tho lower limbs sot in. Tlicso symptoms gradually inorcascd, and aflor 3 oars of holplosnnoss and safforing ho died. In 187 ft, when ho sufiorod m,uch from this diaoaso, but when ho was ablo to walk about with sticks. Mr NoyiUo Bagot mot tho lady to, whom Lvo wos afterward* married, This lady was Miss Alice Vo'rnor, tho daughter of an $rish bavonof, and granddaughter of ono of the Earlb. of [Longsford, who, whon aho mot Mt Bugot first, was a girl of twenty,, and waa ofex'romo boauty. Ho was then 4) yean of ago, A closo intimacy thon sprung up Mr Bagot and tho Vornors, and some disclosures in roforenco f,o this intimacy wcro most startling.. It appoftVa' 1 ilmt tho Misses V'crnors kept lalch keys of thoir own, and whon tho Hyothor would rotiro to bed, as Miss Alico said in ono of her lottors, with tho .VVcnchra.an, in other words, votirod to ood wi^th tho. brandy bottle, sho would slip out of tho houso, and with Ivor sistor nnd brother would sup with Mr Noyillo Bagot at his hotol, tho Alexandra, London. Ono of tho lottors road in tho caso from Miss Adio Yorner to Mr Bagot was as follows !,—' IMoaso, M,v Bogot, will you let mo and ono or two otlwrs, muybo less, oomo in to«nij»Ut and havo a lump of thiok and a toothful of moist at 11 o'clock, if you havo it voally boforchand. Goodbyo till to-nigli,t. — Xou,rs siuoorcly, Avui Vkukkr;." Now coinos tho (U'st disputod faot in tho caso, Miss Yornor sworo that in tho month of June, 1875, Mr Bagot ftrst obtainod possession of hor porson by a sham marriage. SJi.o doposod that sho was driron ii> a elos&d cfifiiringo to a back street near London, brought into a din^y ofllco by Mr Bagot, and thoro a ceremony of marriago was gono through hy two men, Sho wan brought back, and a fortnight afor sho again went to tho oflioo, nnd thon that night, and not til,l ll*on, did sho yield to tho cmbraoos of M1 1 Bngot, This ttory, of which it may bo said thcro was no oorroboration, counsel for tho executor ridiculed* ai\4 dpniod, and dosignatod it us corrupt perjury^ However, it is oortain that on tlio sih August, l^yS, Mr Novillo J3;igot nnd, Mioa Y/onier- woro married by special license, and two m,onths aftor a son was born. This act ol mar* raiago, counsol for Iho executors said, \va< an act of restitution on' tho part of deceased to soeioty, i.a order that ho might eovor tho shaiw) of Mrs Bagot, who had fullcn,, an 4on account f>f tho number of girUho Ivadi de^troyocU M& Ba/vofc was at thi» timo in an advanced stoigo of his discaßO,. an<l doscriJjod, himself as not boing able to stand tmtoh loss, to. w,alk. Sovcra). stwgoona who atbcndod him at thisUimo, sworo thnt it was. physically impossible fo»hjra ti bo tho father of Mra Bogot's, child* but on, tho other hand, 'it waa fully established that h.) oxprcg3od delight ut its birth, and, called it Xoung Augnr,onp, after, his, qstato,.and shortly aftor mado a. mill describing tho ohild .as-. Ilk sou, and leaving; him everything almost, that ho had in tho world, Th.q\ marriago was a. most unhappy one, burning quarrels, took place between Mr andi Mrs Bugofc,, and in 1.570* Mr Bogot, who\ was estrangod from his family, beaan, to cocrospond with his brothers. Thp upshot of tho matter was that Mr Bernard Bagot wont to London, and oithor, Novillo Bigot wont back with him to Ireland, or,, as Mrs Bngot's. counsol said,, was carriod off by Bornard. Sho followod him, and whon living in Ireland with, him, shq hud, violent quarrels with

him, though ho w«#Th ati advancod stage of his diaeuso. In company with hor sistof sb,o was constanlly in military society. Sho supped, dinod, walked, and visited Ui out res with officers, nnd on ono occasion, nooompanlcd by hor sister, sho loft Kingstown Tor Chostor, whoro they dined in n hotol with tiro officers of tho 17th Lnncors, the party lasting till ono o'clock at night. Tho result of this coin duct on tho part of Mrs Bagot was that her husband began to dislike her, formod a firm belief that tho child was not hn, and by tho will in dispute, solemnly doclarod this to bo so, disinhoritod tho ; infant, and loft tho ostafo na<aboro*mon» tioned to his brothor's heirs. Tho caso ngainst tho will was that tho bolief of Mr Ncvillo ]3n got that tho child was not his was an insnno dolusion brought about in part by ill health, and tho fraud, false* hoods, and unduo influence of bin brothors, nnd that tho will being being tnado under theso circumstances was bad. During tho caso popular opinion was high in Mrs Bagot's favour, and several tiraos this fooling was manifested in Court. It' is slatod th.it tho feos of tho modioal witnossos will cost ovor £7000. Tho cost of tho Vt'holo enso will amount to £.10,000: On Monday tho jury, on roturning into Court, atitod that devonr/cro ngreod upon a vovdiot. Tho tiolicitoivGonaral said tho importance of tho caso demanded that further consideration should bo givon to tho vordio':. Tlio jury again retired, and on coining into Court n ncooiul timo found that tho testator wns sound in mind, except as regards tho paternity of tho ohilJ ', wytU rc^paot to tins ho was undor t an insano delusion. Tho judge stRt«M thate^lio iftidjijjg^was nn assertion thnt Mr Bugot did not Icnow or approvo of tho contonts of tho will. A now trial is to bo movod for.