§88 



ANNUAL REGISTER, ISU 



said he would enter a little into 

 the historj' of the late Mr. Blun- 

 dell, of Ince. This gentleman, 

 with an ample patrimony, had 

 from tally life an ardent passion for 

 ihe cultivation of the fine arts. 

 He had travelled the continent, 

 and had resided at Rome, occa- 

 sionally visiting- other places most 

 deserving notice, as containing the 

 valuable and classical remains of 

 antiquity. In collecting these mo- 

 numents of ancient grandeur, he 

 spared neither pains nor cost ; and 

 it was his pride and ambition to 

 have it said that the finest collec- 

 tion of antique statues was in the 

 possession of a private English 

 gentleman. Having imported these 

 valuable remains of the Grecian 

 and Roman artists, he erected a 

 superb pantheon at Ince, tlie place 

 of his residence in this country, 

 and directed that it should be con- 

 stantly open for the gratuitous 

 inspection of men of taste and 

 learning. This pantheon was his 

 chief delight, and the chief ob- 

 ject of his expenditure ; but not- 

 withstanding all its cost, he in- 

 creased the value of his estates 

 sixfold, and the whole of his im- 

 mense property he certainly at 

 one time proposed to leave to his 

 son, the present defendant. He 

 had besides that son, two daugh- 

 ters, who were married, the one to 

 a Mr. Tempest, and the other to 

 a Mr. Stoner, both men of fortune, 

 but they had large families. Mr. 

 Blundell, the father, though desir- 

 ous his son should inherit his pro- 

 perty, yet wished, in the event of 

 his son not marrying, or not hav- 

 ing issue, that his daughters' chil- 

 dren should have tne property set- 

 tled upon them. This, thd learned 

 counsel said, was the subject of 



remonstrance on the part of the 

 defendant, who conceived that the 

 intention his father had manifest- 

 ed would have the effect of disin- 

 heriting him. He contended with 

 his father, that he had a right to 

 the whole of his property, his sis- 

 ters being provided for. The tes- 

 tator, considering that if he left his 

 daughters and their children to the 

 future liberality of their brother, 

 the defendant, they would not de- 

 rive the ultimate benefit he intend- 

 ed them, resolved to settle upon 

 them a considerable portion of his 

 property, and by his will there- 

 upon he left the defendant about 

 15,0001. a-year, including the 

 Ince estate, and as much more he 

 left to his daughters. By a codi- 

 cil he provided, that if his son dis- 

 puted his will, he should defray 

 all the expense of the litigation. 

 After his death, the defendant in- 

 sisted that his father was not in 

 a capacity to make either the will 

 or the codicil, and he accordingly 

 contested both. It was true, that 

 when Mr. Blundell executed his 

 testamentary dispositions, he was 

 in an advanced stage of life, near- 

 ly 90 years of age : his sight was 

 greatly impaired, and he was ex- 

 tremely deaf; but it would be 

 shown that he was in full posses- 

 sion of all his intellectual faculties. 

 The learned attorney-general as- 

 sured the jury, he should make 

 out such a strong and irresistible 

 case, as would not leave a particle 

 of doubt on the minds of the jury 

 as to the sanity of the deceased 

 testator. He first read the depo- 

 sitions of the solicitor who made 

 the will and codicil. It showed 

 that Mr. Blundell was perfectly 

 aware of the contents, that he 

 had the draughts read over to 



