The Mysteries of the Court of London Vol. 7 — page 340: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

er eK qe S Sines ee really turned her brain, and she resolved to speak to the local authorities in the morning. But the lady nover came back. Sowe time afterwards she read in an old newspaper that happoned to fall inte hor bands, a narrative of the tragio events which had occurred at Oaklands; and she was more than half inclined to fancy that the strangers whom she had seen at her house were none other than Ber- tram Vivian and ¢he Duchess Eliza: but afraid of getting into some trouble if it were known that she head held any communication with persons who were accused of such crimes, she held her oon. cerning them. When now asked to describe to the Committee of Privileges the lady who had thue remained @ few hours beneath her roof s0 many years ago, sho drew a portraiture which pre~ cisely corresponded with that of the unfortunate Duchees. The next witness was the proprietor of a lunatic asylum in Northumberland. This gentleman stated that in the fall of the year 1629 —and, €o far as he could recollect, about a fortnight or tree weeks after the dates mentioned by Mre. Hutton—he one morning found a lady wandering in a “wild statg in the fields near his establishmont. He conducted her to his house; and he found that she was com- pletely deprived of her intellect. Sho was no sooner located there than she sank into a deep silent brooding dejectiuon. He made inquirics throughout tho neighhourhood and advertised in several local newspapers—but could obtain not the slightest clue relative to who she was. As she was evidently a person of gentility, or at least had known better days, he and his wife took compassion on her: and when they found that she was in a way to become a mother they looked upon her as the victim of seduction who had moat probably been discarded by hor friends; and they therefore deemed it unnecessary—or rather, we should say, useless— to institute any additional research on her bebalf. She never spoke a word—but was docile as a lamb, save and except if any one endeavoured to examine the little bag which she kept in her bosom; and then she grew frantic. They therefure for huma- mity's sake desisted from their endeavours to see what i¢ contained; and still from motives of cha- rity they kept ber at their asylum. At the oxpi- ration of sume weeke, however, she grew, violent, and gave indications of approaching delirium. Her head was accordingly shaved: but during the nigat ‘hat followed, she escaped from the asylum, and was heard of by the witness no mere. The next witness produced before their lord- shipe was Jonathan Carnabie. He deposed that he was sexton and parish-clerk at the village of Woodbridge, in Westmoreland. He recollected that in the beginning of the year 1830,"he very early one morning bobeld a female lying over a grave in the churchyard. He hastened to raise her: he thought that she was dead—for sho was pale, cold, and rigid ag a corpse. She however proved to be merely in a deep swoon. He knew that sho was a lady by her appearance, though her dress was touch travel-soiled—holes were worn through her shoes and stockings—her foot were cut and bleeding. Jonathan bure her off to the parsonage, which wae close by the church: the clergyman and his family were absent at the time on a visit to some friends in Lanvashire; and these was no one but'a female-servant in the par- ] aa aaa eer en THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. sonage. Thie women however did her jest to rec cover the poor lady from her insensibility ; and in time she euceeeded. A medical man wae sent for; and he at once pronounced that she wes utterly bereft of her senses—that her reason was gone that her mind was « perfect void. Indeed, yr head had evidently been but very recently shaved; and it was therefore concluded she had escaped from some lunatic asylum. She had « little velvet bag attached tea ribbon round hes neck; and the only sign of vital consciousness which she displayed, was when auy one attempled to touch this bag. The surgeon sald it was use- lees to eneite the poor lady to frensy by taking the little bag from her in arder to open it; for that i¢ doubtless merely contained some trinkets which had been given to acrase her a6 the asylum whence she had that therefore those trinkets ‘themeelves could not be supposed to afford any clue as to whe she was or whence she had come. ‘The intelligence of the discovery of the poor lady im the churchyard speedily spread through the village, and seached the cars of a worthy gentleman of the name of Ashton, who was then residing at Woodbeidge. He folt interested in the casej;eand he gave the poor lady a home. He watehed the newspapers of Vest: moreland and the Surroundiag counties, in order to sec if any advertisement appeared describing who the lady might be: but no notiflcation of the kind was given. She therefore became domiciled at Mr. Ashton’s; and i¢ was in the month of May, 1830, that she beeame the mother of twine She never recovered her senses sufficiently to give the slightest account of herself: but she displayed the most affectionate tenderness towards he? poor babes. Mr. Ashton, who was the most benevolent of men, treated her with a kindness which could not have been greater were he ber father; and he bestowed hie own natw on the poor children. As they were twine, he resolved to give them Christian names which should have a kindrgd significancy, or rather similitude; and hesce thosh names of Christian and Obristma. In the month of Ooc- tober the pvor “lady died; and she was buried in the churchyard at Woodbridge,— Mr, Ashton causing the stone, with the simple inecription of “ Octobeszf830,” to be oreeted at the head of her grave. fery shortly afterwards he removed to me place about five-and-twenty miles distants © and Jonathan Carnabie heard no more of him nor of the children. In anawer to leading questions that were put, the old sexton drew a portraiture of the lady, which corresponded with that of the Duchess Elisa; and he produced the baptismal certificate of tho twins, their birthday bemg the one which, according to Christian's previous state- ment, they had always been wont to keep during the lifetime of Mr. Ashton. Lord Clandon ‘vas the next witness who at- tended to give hie evidence before the Committee of Privileges. He stated that immediately upon hie return to England from India, he set off tuto Cumberland, and called at the house of Mrs. Huttou, where he had bidden farewell to the Duchess Hliza eo many years back. Mrs. Hutton did not know him at first: but when he began in- Atituting inquiries, abe recognised him; and she grew frightened—for ehe had all-along believed that he was really Bertram Vivian to witom the ECOMRniclacae SS (CO)