under the Court of Chancery, and, having full power to do whatever he thought fit, he asked himself the question, "For whom am I improving this estate?" and the answer at once suggested itself, "I am not improving it for Lord Egmont, but for Edward Tierney." The Earl was so drunk sometimes at Burderop that Mrs. Clesse was obliged to lock him up lest visitors should see him in that state. He occasionally took runs to London, where he could seldom be traced. He there visited a place called Smith's Hotel, at which he always arrived late, and spent his time at the bar drinking with ostlers and cab-drivers, treating them, while himself in a state of wild intoxication. No one knew who he was, whence he came, or whither he went. On his return from London he frequently brought back his portmanteau full of brandy bottles. He drank to excess in the morning, and had acquired such a detestation of business that he signed papers without troubling himself with their contents.

Having proceeded thus far in his speech, Mr. Brewster stated that he should divide his further observations into three or four different heads, and he applied to the Court for an adjournment, which was accordingly granted. On the meeting of the Court the next morning an unexpected difficulty occurred. The Judge stated that one of the jurors was ill, and could not possibly attend that day. Mr. Jones, a medical gentleman, had examined him, and found him very ill. Mr. Serjeant Sullivan said that was a serious matter, as there were minors concerned, whose consent could not be had to go on with eleven jurors. Dr. Ball said if they were acting merely for Sir Lionel and Lady Darell their anxiety would be to proceed with the trial, but they had no power to make any consent on behalf of the minors, and, knowing that the question was one of great difficulty in point of law, they could not take it on themselves to go on with the trial in the absence of one of the jurors. The Judge said he did not mean to make the slightest comment on the course they had thought it right to adopt. It would be quite beyond his province to do so. Under the circumstances, he would adjourn the trial till the morning, and the case would then either proceed or be disposed of one way or the other. The Court accordingly adjourned. The next day the case was terminated by a compromise, the terms of which were that the estates should be surrendered to the Earl of Egmont, who engaged to pay to Sir W. L. Darell the sum of 125,000l., and to defray all the costs of the legal proceedings.

II.

THE CAMPDEN HOUSE FIRE INSURANCE CASE.

WOLLEY V. POLE.

This case, which came on for trial before Mr. Baron Bramwell at the Croydon Assizes, excited extraordinary interest. Campden House, in the parish of Kensington, the destruction of which by fire in March, 1862, formed the subject of the inquiry, was a mansion of considerable antiquity and historical interest. At the time of the fire taking place it was in the occupation of the plaintiff, Mr. Wolley, who had effected insurances on the house, and on the fittings and effects which it contained, in the Sun, the Atlas, and the Hand-in-Hand, to the amount of nearly 30,000l. After a long time spent in investigating the

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claim and the circumstances of the fire, the offices determined to dispute the policies on the ground of fraud and arson, and this was the issue which was now submitted to the jury, the first action, in which the Secretary of the Sun Fire Office was the defendant, being taken as decisive of the rest.

Mr. Bovill, Q.C., and Mr. Serjeant Ballantine, with Mr. Henry James and Mr. Merewether (both specially retained), and Mr. Rosher were for the plaintiff; Mr. Lush, Q.C., Mr. Denman, Q.C., and Mr. Garth were for the company.

Mr. Bovill stated the case for the plaintiff. He began by observing that the charges made against the plaintiff were of a very serious nature, and such as induced him to desire it to be tried at the earliest possible moment, with a view to vindicate his character from these serious imputations. Mr. Wolley had resided for some years at Campden House, and early on the morning of Sunday, the 23rd of March, 1862, it was totally destroyed by fire. The claim itself was not of so much importance as the grounds on which it was resisted by the Fire Insurance Companies. The amount insured in all the policies was undoubtedly very large as much as 29,000l.,-but not larger than the real value of the house and fixtures and the furniture and pictures contained in it; and the amount insured upon the house was not so large as would be required to rebuild and reinstate this magnificent mansion. To understand the case it was necessary, the learned counsel said, to be acquainted with all the insurances, and he proceeded to state them. The amount insured upon the house (with stables and theatre) was 12,000l.; and as to the fixtures and fittings, there were 4000Z. insured in the Sun and 30007. in the Hand-in-Hand, making 70007. altogether on the fixtures and fittings. Then there were the furniture policy and the picture policy, which made up the amount of 29,000l. The action was on the Sun policy for 4500l., and no doubt all the other actions would abide the result of this. There were various pleas, but the real question would be on the pleas of fraud and of arson. Now, no one who looked at the model before them, and considered the size and character of the mansion, would consider that it could be reinstated for any such sum as 12,000l.; and as early as July last year communications had taken place between the surveyor as to plans for rebuilding. After some time, there began to be raised some question as to the details of the contents of the house. The claim was necessarily most voluminous, and it took months before it could be prepared. For some time Mr. Wolley was ill (having narrowly escaped with his life at the fire), and it was necessary of course to refer to servants and relatives, and, in the result, the list made a volume. There were upwards of 700 items; indeed, altogether nearly 1000. By degrees, Mr. Wolley having given offence to the Temples and the police by the account he was supposed to have published, or caused to be published, of the fire, there began to arise rumours that the claim was not honest. There were some persons concerned for insurance companies who always fancied a claim fraudulent, and imagined every fire to be wilful. In the result, after the lapse of all but a year, the offices intimated that they resisted the claim on the grounds of fraud and arson. There had been no prosecution, no inquiry before a magistrate, no attempt to press home the charge; but Mr. Wolley had resolved to enforce his claim, and defy any inquiry into its honesty. No doubt the offices had made the most minute investigations, and had mastered the whole history of his life; indeed, it had been found that inquiries most minute had been made of all his tradesmen, and even down to his washerwoman. It had been inquired, for instance, whether he usually slept in a night shirt (laughter), because it happened that he had escaped in a day shirt. All the parties who had

lived in the house had been examined by the attorneys of the offices, and it was with the greatest astonishment he found that after an inquiry had gone on for some time as to the value of the furniture, suspicions existed as to the cause of the fire, and in the result they charged him with setting fire to the house. He found himself virtually charged with arson-a felony not long since capital, and now punishable with penal servitude for life. That was the charge made, and it involved the butler, Crozier, and possibly Temple, who also was in the house. Coming now to the history of the house, and of Mr. Wolley's connexion with it, the learned counsel mentioned that while in his possession it had gained great celebrity, and had even been visited by Royalty in the person of the Duchess of Cambridge. He had originally taken the house on his marriage; he had first become tenant, and then in 1854 had purchased the lease for a sum of above 60007. In the lease there were covenants to repair and to insure to the full value, and, in the event of a fire, to apply the sum received on the policy for the purpose of rebuilding the house. Every tenant, indeed, who covenanted to repair was bound in the event of a fire to rebuild, and here there were these express covenants as to insurance and the application of the sums insured; and when Mr. Wolley had recovered the 12,000l. insured on the house, he would be bound by his lease to expend it all in rebuilding the mansion. Moreover, long ago by Act of Parliament the companies had an option given them to rebuild, whether the policies gave the option or not; and if it were less expensive to rebuild they would elect, of course, to rebuild. But supposing they elected to pay, the landlord could enforce the application of the money to the purpose of reinstatement. Now, persons of the highest character would be called to show that the cost of rebuilding would at least be 12,0007., the amount insured upon it. Nor could this be disputed on the part of the company's surveyor; therefore, as regarded the house, it was obvious that there was no over-insurance, still less fraud. The difficulty with the company, however, had arisen more with reference to the contents of the house than the house itself. To the nature of the interior of the house, therefore, he would now direct the attention of the jury. It was no ordinary building; it was more like a palace than a mansion, it was a mass of quaint and curious carvings and gildings, and was filled with valuable collections. No one who had not seen it could realize its magnificence, but, happily, ladies and artists had made many drawings of the interior decorations, and photographs also had been taken of the interior. The jury could easily fancy the character of a house of this kind, a hundred feet in length. Ever since Mr. Wolley had the house he had been engaged in improving and decorating it. The learned counsel here exhibited drawings of the interior, showing the carved work and beautiful ceilings, explaining that they did not show many articles of furniture, because the artists had purposely had them removed for the purpose of the drawings, which were to represent the interior-not the furniture. (These drawings, which were large and well executed, and certainly showed very picturesque and beautiful interiors, were put into the hands of the jury.) The great point to be observed was that the staircase ran up the centre of the house. At the top of the staircase was a corridor of large size. One of the canopies took three months to execute, being taken from the ruins of York Minster-from which it was purchased by Mr. Wolley-and another from Westminster Abbey. The woodwork was gilded, and the whole was one mass of gilding. The expense to which he went was enormous, and almost unbounded. Almost the whole of his fortune, with his wife's, was expended, and a considerable portion of his sister-in-law's. One of the arches in the interior was unique; it was taken by Mr. Cottingham,

the architect, from Westminster Abbey. It was decorated most gorgeously, and looked like a golden arch. The rooms were hung with crimson and gold; there were oak carvings and heavy candelabra and chandeliers, and Venetian and Bohemian glass,-every thing, in fact, which was rich and rare. It was Mr. Wolley's hobby, as well as that of his wife's family, to amass these curiosities. Old curiosity shops were ransacked for the purpose; and such was his enthusiasm, that he actually bought an estate in order to get at the carvings in its mansionhouse. There was one room in the house nearly a hundred feet long, extending the whole length of it, called the ball-room. The house altogether was utterly unrivalled; it might be deemed a folly, but it was Mr. Wolley's fancy; it was, in fact, his hobby. The whole length of the ball-room was divided into panels, and every panel filled up with a picture. Such was the style of the house, and in the same spirit its owner acted. He kept up a sumptuous and noble hospitality, and gave splendid entertainments; and at last the house became quite remarkable for its character, and ladies and gentlemen who had honoured Mr. Wolley with their company would be called as witnesses to describe it and its contents, and to negative the idea of removal of its furniture. As much as 16,0007. had been advanced to him. His wife's fortune was about 30,000Z. or 40,000Z., and it was all expended on the house. To keep up its character there were servants in livery of blue and silver-many of them borrowed for the occasion, no doubt. It might be said it was all "tinsel," but no such thing; the fêtes took place by night and day, and always with the greatest splendour. The learned counsel went on to state, that numerous persons-especially Temple and Timbrell had been constantly employed in and upon the premises. Timbrell was dead, but his evidence had been taken, and it was to the effect that he had worked for years under Temple, and that the value of the work and materials could not be less than 10,0007., and that 10007. had been paid to him alone for gold for gilding; and as to the furniture, &c., he said it was worth 60007. or 70007., and the fittings, 70007.; yet the furniture was only insured for 50007., and the fixtures, &c., for 70001. The pictures had been insured at 50007. with a priced catalogue deposited with the office, which, indeed, did not include all of them, for many were left uninsured. The witness Timbrell had been examined by the office, and his business, he said, was to regild and refit the furniture and fittings. There were other witnesses who would give similar evidence, and confirm the drawings and the value of the house and its contents. The offices, indeed, alleged that the insurances had been increased, and that was true enough; and if it were not so, what would have become of his mortgagees? In 1856 Mr. Wolley let his house to a man of great notoriety, Colonel Waugh, and on that occasion thought it advisable to increase his insurances. In the autumn of 1859 there were further insurances, in consequence of the entreaties of Mr. and Miss Coape-the latter of whom was interested, and had advanced 50007. on the house, and 80007. on the furniture. The business of the new insurance was, however, managed through the intervention of the agent, Mr. Freeth, who saw the premises, and actually wanted Mr. Wolley to insure still more. And now, forsooth, it was suggested by the offices that it was suspicious that the insurances should have been increased, although they had charged the highest possible rate-the "doubly hazardous rate”—on account of the age of the building and the dryness of the timbers. What ground was there for suspicion in the increase of the insurances up to and not beyond the real and true value? About the time these insurances were effected Mr. Wolley took a house at Brighton, and the furniture of the house at Tunbridge (which

had been removed to Campden House) was sent to that house at Brighton. No doubt there were some things also from Campden House, but the greater part was from the house at Tunbridge. It had eked out that the office intended to impute a fraudulent removal of furniture from Campden House; but the removal was not secret, and Mr. Wolley had actually insured the Brighton house furniture in the same office, the Sun. It had all been done with the knowledge of the office; and they received about 1307. a year in premiums. At this time there was 12,000l. on the house, 70007. on the fixtures and fittings, and 50007. on the pictures. There was at this time no insurance on the furniture, down to 1861. In the autumn of that year, however, Mr. Wolley had determined to let Campden House, and Miss Coape suggested that there was then no insurance on the furniture, and accordingly an insurance upon the furniture of 5000l. was effected through Freeth. That was in October, 1861, and so the insurances stood down to and at the time of the fire, the amount being 29,000l. No doubt it seemed a large sum, but what was it after all for house and fixtures and fittings and furniture and pictures? The real truth was that Mr. Wolley was the party least interested in the question, and that the parties really interested were the mortgagees and the landlord. What was there, after all, in the case to excite suspicion? It had been rumoured that the plaintiff took waggon loads of goods and pictures to Brighton. The jury would see what truth there was in that. Some things, no doubt, had been removed, but only a few; and there was no pretence for a charge of fraud but the removal. Before the family went to Brighton, in November, it being the close of the season in London, Mr. Wolley was desirous of having the woodwork revarnished, and varnish was bought for the purpose, and he and Mr. Coape, and Temple and Crozier set to work at it, and linen hangings were bought to protect the pictures, &c. The jury would hardly believe that it was suggested that all this was with a view to prepare combustibles for a fire! Well, on his return to the house, on the 3rd of March, this continued; and he would sometimes buy varnish for the purpose. The learned counsel then came to the description of the circumstances of the fire, of which a full account would be given by the witnesses whom he intended to call. The first impulse of Mr. Wolley and Crozier was, he said, to save the Temples, who were at the back of the house. The police went to the front, while Mr. Wolley and Crozier were shouting at the back, and in the result the Temples were saved. The night was wet, and Mr. Wolley, who got out-not, indeed, in his night shirt, but in his bed shirt-caught cold, and was for some time very ill. The fire burned rapidly because the materials were so old, and in many places the beams embedded in the wall were quite consumed. The rain was not enough to damp the fire, which burnt with terrible rapidity, and soon consumed the whole. The learned counsel then went on to advert to an article which had appeared in the "West London Observer," as to which he said that no doubt Mr. Wolley had communicated the information on which it was composed. It was supposed that it cast some reflection upon Temple. Beyond all doubt he was not with his wife and child, and though the police were, they said, on one side of the house, Mr. Wolley was on the other, and he did not see them. With regard to the origin of the fire, the learned counsel said it was found impossible to ascertain it; there were very few fires in the house, but, beyond all doubt, Temple had said he was frying sausages "in the green-room," and there was a flue from the chimney of that room right across the house, and a beam in it. It might be that the fire had originated there, and that the beam had smouldered all night and burst out about three o'clock in the morning. The learned counsel then went on to advert to the correspondence on the subject of the