No. X. SPECIMENS OF ECCLESIASTICAL PLEADINGS. 1.-TESTAMENTARY SUIT. LITIGATION OF A WILL, ON THE GROUND OF THE TESTATOR'S INSANITY. 1. Allegation propounding the Will, on the part of the Executrix. IN THE PREROGATIVE COURT OF CANTERBURY. C. Q. against On the Caveat day of Trinity Term, to wit, on the 20th day of June, 1845. A business of proving, in solemn form of law, by good and sufficient witnesses, the last will and testaM. W. ment of W. G., late of B. P., in the county of deceased; promoted and brought by M. W., the executrix therein named, against C. Q., the natural and lawful sister, and only next of kin, of the said deceased. On which day Y. Z., in the name and as the lawful proctor of the said M. W., party in this cause, exhibited the true and original last will and testament of the said W. G., deceased, now remaining in the registry of this Court, annexed to an affidavit of his said parties as to scripts, and marked with the letter A., the said will beginning thus, " "ending thus, " " and 66 thus subscribed, and by all better and more effectual ways and means, and methods, and to all intents and purposes in the law whatsoever, which may be most beneficial and effectual for his said parties said, alleged, and in law articulately propounded, as follows (to wit). First. That the said W. G., the party in this cause deceased, having a mind and intention to make and execute his last will and testament in writing, and thereby to settle and dispose of his estate and effects, did give directions and instructions for the making and drawing thereof; and pursuant and agreeably to such directions and instructions, the very will pleaded and propounded in this cause on the part and behalf of the said M. W., and marked with the letter A., beginning, ending, and subscribed as aforesaid, was drawn up and reduced into writing; and after it was drawn up and reduced into writing, the same was all read over audibly and distinctly to or by the said deceased, who well knew and understood the contents thereof, and liked and approved of the same; and in testimony of such his good liking and approbation, he the said deceased did, on or about the day of -, one thousand eight hundred and, being the day of the date of the said will, set and subscribe his name and affix his seal thereto, in manner and form as now appears thereon; and did publish and declare the same as and for his last will and testament, in the presence and hearing of divers credible witnesses, who, or at least three of whom, did in his presence, at his request, and in the presence of each other, severally set and subscribe their names as witnesses to the due execution thereof, in manner and form as now appears thereon; and he the said deceased did in and of his said will nominate and appoint the said M. W. sole executrix; and did give, will, bequeath, devise, dispose, and do in all things as in the said will is contained, and was at and during all and singular the premises of perfect, sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding, and well knew and understood what he said and did, and what was said and done in his presence, and talked and discoursed rationally and sensibly, and was fully capable of giving instructions for and of making and executing his will, or of doing any other serious or rational act of that or the like nature, requiring thought, judgment, and reflection; and this was and is true, public and notorious; and so much the said C. Q., the other party in this cause, doth know or hath heard, and in his conscience believes and hath confessed to be true; and the party proponent doth allege and propound everything in this and the subsequent articles of this allegation contained jointly and severally. Second. That all and singular the premises were and are true, and so forth. 2. Allegation of Next of Kin, impeaching the Validity of the Will. IN THE PREROGATIVE COURT OF CANTERBURY. On the first session of Michaelmas Term (to wit), Friday the 6th day of November, in the year of our Lord 1845. C. Q. against M. W. } On which day R., in the name and as the lawful proctor of C. Q. (wife of I. Q.), the natural and lawful sister and only next of kin of W. G., the party in this cause deceased, and under that denomination, and by all better and more effectual ways, means, and methods, which may be most beneficial for his said party, did say, allege, and in law articulately propound as follows, to wit: First. That the said W. G., the party in this cause deceased, died on the day of last, in consequence of having shot himself with a pistol, being then in an insane state of mind. That he died a widower, without child or parent, aged about forty-five years, leaving him surviving the said C. Q. (wife of I. Q.), his natural and lawful sister, and only next of kin, and a niece, the child of another sister, who died in his lifetime, the only persons who will be entitled to his personal estate and effects, in case he shall be pronounced to have died intestate. That the said deceased was at the time of his death possessed of and entitled to personal estate and effects of the value of £1200, or thereabouts, and of real estate of the value of £700, or thereabouts. And this was and is true, public and notorious, and the party proponent doth allege and propound everything in this and the subsequent articles of this allegation contained jointly and severally. Second. That the said deceased, at all times, whilst he retained the use of his mental faculties, had and expressed a regard and affection for his said sister, the said C. Q., party in this cause, who had a family of six children, and declared his intention to leave her a considerable portion of his property by his last will and testament, or to that effect. And this was and is true, public and notorious; and the party proponent doth allege and propound as before. Third. That the said deceased, who was always of very weak and slender capacity, and very eccentric in his manners and behaviour, but more particularly during the last ten or twelve years of his life, after the decease of his wife, became very inconsistent in his conduct, and laboured under an aberration of mind. That in consequence thereof, he, the deceased, was liable to be imposed upon by artful and designing persons, and that owing to impositions practised upon him by such during the said last ten or twelve years of his life, he lost and was deprived of considerable sums of money and other portions of his property; that he frequently forgot what he said and did, and directed to be done by others, shortly afterwards; talked in a wild, rambling, and incoherent manner; expressed great apprehension that he had or should become poor and distressed, and die in the workhouse; became very much altered in his person and appearance, neglected his dress, and did so many strange and extraordinary acts, that he was looked upon and considered by the different persons who saw and had transactions with him to be (as in fact he was) of unsound mind, memory, and understanding. And this was and is true, public and notorious, and the party proponent doth allege and propound as before. [After setting out at length in several articles, various acts of extravagance and absurdity on the part of the testator, showing his mental imbecility, and the executrix's knowledge of his condition, the allegation from which this specimen is taken, thus proceeded ;-] Tenth. That the making and writing of the pretended will of the said deceased, propounded in this cause on the part and behalf of the said M. W., was not the free and spontaneous act of the said deceased, but was procured to be made and written by him by the arts and contrivance of the said M. W. and I. W., her husband, who took advantage of the weak and unsound state of the deceased's mind for that purpose. That in the course of writing the same the deceased several times complained of the great inconvenience he felt from writing, and wished not to complete the said pretended will, but was compelled or induced to go on and finish the same by the threats and importunities of the said M. W., and I. W., and of Y., who is a relation of the said I. W., and steward to the Earl of M., all of whom were H present with the said deceased at such time, and urged him to write, and afterwards to execute the said pretended will. That from the conduct and behaviour of the said deceased on such occasion he appeared to be, as in fact he was, a person of unsound mind, and incapable of making his will or doing any act of that or the like nature, which required thought, judgment, and reflection. And this was and is true, public and notorious, and the party proponent doth allege and propound as before. Eleventh. That shortly after the said deceased had been compelled or induced to write and execute the said pretended will propounded in this cause, as pleaded in the eighth article of this allegation, he entertained an idea that the same was a deed of gift, and that he had thereby deprived himself of his property or of some considerable portion thereof, he became still more affected and distressed in his mind, and more frequently expressed his fears that he must go or should be taken to a workhouse, hoping in that event he should be taken to a workhouse at some distance, where he would not be known, and at length, under the influence of such ideas or apprehensions, he destroyed himself by shooting himself with a pistol as aforesaid. That a coroner's inquest was thereupon duly held upon the body of the said deceased, of which the said Y. was foreman; and the jury so impannelled by their verdict found that the said deceased at such time was in an unsound state of mind, or to that effect. And this was and is true, public and notorious, and the proponent party doth allege and propound as before. Twelfth. That all and singular the premises were and are true, and so forth. 3. Responsive Allegation insisting on the Testator's Sanity, and the Validity of the Will. IN THE PREROGAtive Court of Canterbury. On the first session of Term, to wit, the day of C. Q. against M. W. On which day Y. Z., in the name and as the lawful proctor of M. W. (wife of J. W.), and under that denomination, and by all better and more |