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Chapter twenty five of The Eustace Diamonds. This is a
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LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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Recording by Catherine Millward. The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollop,
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Chapter twenty five. Mister Dove's opinion. Mister Thomas Dove familiarly
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known among clubmen, attorney's clerks, and perhaps even among judges,
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when very far from their seats of judgment. As Turtledove
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was a council learned in the law. He was a
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council so learned in the law that there was no
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question within the limits of an attorney's capability of putting
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to him that he could not answer with the aid
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of his books. And when he had once given an opinion,
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all Westminster could not move him from it, nor could
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Chancery Lane, and Lincoln's Inn, and the Temple added to Westminster.
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When mister Dove had once been positive, no man on
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earth was more positive. It behooved him therefore to be
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right when he was positive. And though whether wrong or right,
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he was equally stubborn. It must be acknowledged that he
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was seldom proved to be wrong. Consequently, the attorneys believed
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in him, and he prospered. He was a thin man,
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over fifty years of age, very full of scorn and wrath,
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impatient of a fool, and thinking most men to be fools.
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Afraid of nothing on earth, and so his enemy said,
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of nothing elsewhere, eaten up by conceit, Fond of law,
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but fonder perhaps of dominion. Soft as milk to those
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who acknowledged his power, but a tyrant to all who
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contested it. Conscientious, thoughtful, sarcastic, bright witted, and laborious. He
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was a man who never spared himself. If he had
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a case in hand, though the interest to himself in
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it was almost nothing, he would rob himself a rest
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for a week should appoint a rise which required such labor.
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It was the theory of mister Dove's life that he
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would never be beaten. Perhaps it was some fear in
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this respect that had kept him from Parliament and confined
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him to the courts and the company of attorneys. He was,
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in truth a married man with a family. But they
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who knew him as the terror of opponents, and as
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the divulger of legal opinions, heard nothing of his wife
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and children. He kept all such matters quite to himself,
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and was not given to much social intercourse with those
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among whom his work lay. Out of Stretham, where he lived.
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Missus Dove probably had her circle of acquaintances, but mister Dove,
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his domestic life and his forensic life were kept quite separate.
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At the present moment. Mister Dove is interesting to us
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solely as being the learned counsel in whom mister Camperdown trusted,
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to whom mister Camperdown was willing to trust for an
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opinion in so grave a matter as that of the
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Eustace diamonds. A case was made out and submitted to
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mister Dove immediately after that scene on the pavement in
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Mount Street, at which mister Camperdown had endeavored to induce
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Lizzie to give up the necklace, and the following is
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the opinion which mister Dove gave. There is much error
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about heirlooms. Many think that any chattel may be made
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an heirloom by any owner of it. This is not
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the case. The law, however, does recognize heirlooms as to
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which the exors or admoors are excluded in favor of
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the successor. And when there are such heirlooms, they go
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to the heir by special custom. Any devise of an
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heirloom is necessarily void, for the will takes place after death,
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and the heirloom is already vested in the air by custom.
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We have it from Littleton that law prefers custom to devise.
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Brooks says that the best thing of every sort may
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be an heirloom, such as the best bed, the best table,
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the best pot, or pan. Coke says that heirlooms are
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so by custom and not by law. Spelman says, in
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denning an heirloom that it may be um utensil rubustius,
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which would exclude a necklace in the Tremese de lay,
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as it is denned as ascun partsel de utensils. We
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are told in Coke upon Littleton that crown jewels are heirlooms,
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which decision, as far as as it goes, denies the
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right to other jewels. Certain chattels may undoubtedly be held
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and claimed as being in the nature of heirlooms, as swords,
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pennons of honor, garter, and collar of s s see
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case of the Earl of Northumberland and that of the
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Pewsy Horn Pewsey versus Pusey. The journals in the House
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of Lords delivered officially to peers may be so claimed
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see Upton versus Lord Prayers. A divisor may clearly devise
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or limit the possession of chattels, making them inalienable by
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device sees in succession, but in such cases they will
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become the absolute possession of the first person seized in tail,
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even though an infant and in case of death without will,
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would go to the exors. Such arrangement therefore can only
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hold good for lives in existence and for twenty one
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years afterwards. Chattels so secured would not be heirlooms see
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Carr versus Lord Errol fourteen v C. And Roland versus Morgan.
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Lord Eldon remarks that such chattels held in families are
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rather favorites of the court. This was in the Ormond case.
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Executors Therefore, even when setting aside any claim as for heirlooms,
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ought not to apply such property and payment of debts
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unless obliged. The law allows of claims for paraphernalia for widows,
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and having adjusted such claims, seems to show that the
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claim may be limited. If a man deliver cloth to
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his wife and die, she shall have it, though she
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has not fashioned it into the garment intended. Pearls and jewels,
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even though only worn on state occasions, may go to
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the widow as paraphernalia, but with a limit. In the
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case of Lady Douglas, she being the daughter of an
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Irish earl and widow of the King's sergeant tempe car I,
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it was held that three hundred seventy pounds was not
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too much, and she was allowed a diamond and a
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pearl chain to that value. In sixteen seventy four, Lord
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keeper Finch declared that he would never allow paraphernalia except
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to the widow of a nobleman, but in seventeen twenty
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one Lord Maclisfield gave Mistress Tipping paraphernalia to the value
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of two hundred pounds. Whether so persuaded by law and
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precedent or otherwise may be uncertain. Lord Talbot allowed a
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gold watch as paraphernalia. Lord Hardwick went much further and
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decided that missus Northey was entitled to wear jewels to
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the value of three thousand pounds, saying that value made
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no difference, but seems to have limited the nature of
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her possession in the jewels by declaring her to be
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entitled to wear them only when full dressed. It is,
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I think clear that the Eustace estate cannot claim the
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jewels as an heirloom. They are last mentioned, and so
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far as I know, only mentioned as an heirloom in
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the will of the great grandfather of the present baronet.
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If these be the diamonds then named by him as such,
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he could not have devised them to the present claimant,
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as he died in eighteen twenty, and the present claimant
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is not yet two years old. Whether the widow could
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claim them as paraphernalia is more doubtful. I do not
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know that Lord Hardwick's ruling would decide the case, but
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if so, she would I think be debarred from selling,
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as he limits the use of jewels of lesser value
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than these to the wearing of them when full dressed.
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The use being limited, possession with power of alienation cannot
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be intended. The ladies claim to them as a gift
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from her husband amounts to nothing if they are not
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hers By will, and it seems that they are not,
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so she can only hold them as paraphernalia belonging to
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her station. I presume it to be capable of proof
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that the diamonds were not in Scotland when Sir Florian
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made his will or when he died. The former fact
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might be used as tending to show his intention when
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the will was made. I understand that he did leave
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to his widow by will all the chattels in Portray
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Castle j d. Fifteen August eighteen. When mister Camperdown had
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twice read this opinion, he sat down in his chair
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an unhappy old man. It was undoubtedly the case that
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he had been a lawyer for upward of forty years,
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and had always believed that any gentleman could make any
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article of value an heirloom. In his family, the title
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deeds of vast Estates had been confided to his keeping,
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and he has had much to do with property of
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every kind. And now he was told that in reference
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to property of a certain description, property which by its
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nature could belong only to such as they who were
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his clients. He had been long, without any knowledge whatsoever
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he had called this necklace an heirloom to John Eustace
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above a score of times, and now he was told
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by mister Dove not only that the necklace was not
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an heirloom, but that it couldn't have been an heirloom.
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He was a man who trusted much in a barrister,
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and was natural with an attorney, But he was now
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almost inclined to doubt mister Dove, and he was hardly
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more at ease in regard to the other clauses of
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the opinion. Not only could not the estate claim the
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necklace as an heirloom, but that greedy siren, that heartless snake,
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that harpy of a widow. For it was thus that
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mister camperdown and his solitude spoke to himself of poor Lizzie,
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perhaps throwing in a harder word or two, that female
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swindler could claim it as paraphernalia. There was a crumb
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of comfort for him, and the thought that he could
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force her to claim that privilege from a decision of
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the Court of Queen's bench, and that her greed would
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be exposed should she do so, and she could be
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prevented from selling the diamonds. Mister Dove seemed to make
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that quite clear, but then came that other question as
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to the inheritance of the property under the husband's will,
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that Sir Florian had not intended that she should inherit
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the necklace. Mister Camperdown was quite certain on that point,
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he suffered no doubt. But would he be able to
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prove that the diamonds had never been in Scotland since
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Sir Florian's marriage. He had traced their his street from
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that date with all the diligence he could use, and
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he thought that he knew it, but it might be
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doubtful whether he could prove it. Lady Eustace had first stated,
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had so stated before she had learned the importance of
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any other statement, that Sir Florian had given her the
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diamonds in London as they passed through London from Scotland
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to Italy, and that she had carried them thence to Naples,
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where Sir Florian had died. If this were so, they
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could not have been at Portray Castle till she took
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them there as a widow, and they would undoubtedly be
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regarded as a portion of that property which Sir Florian
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habitually kept in London. That this was so, mister Camperdown
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entertained no doubt. But now the widow alleged that Sir
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Florian had given the necklace to her in Scotland, whither
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they had gone immediately after their marriage, and that she
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herself had brought them up to London. They had been
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married on the fifth September, and by the jeweler's books
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it was hard to tell whether the trinket had been
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given up to Sir Florian on the fourth or twenty
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fourth of September. On the twenty fourth, Sir Florian and
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his young bride had undoubtedly been in London. Mister camperdown
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anathematised the carelessness of everybody connected with the Messieurs Garnett establishment.
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Those sort of people have no more idea of accuracy
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than than than he had of heirlooms. His conscience whispered
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to him, filling up the blank. Nevertheless, he thought he
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could prove that the necklace was first put into Lizzie's
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hands in London. The middle aged and very discreet man
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at Messieurs Garnett's who had given up the jewel case
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to Sir Florian, was sure that he had known Sir
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Florian to be a married man when he did so.
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The lady's maid, who had been in Scotland with Lady Eustace,
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and who was now living in Turin, having married a courier,
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had given evidence before an Italian man of law stating
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that she had never seen the necklace till she came
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to London. There were moreover, the probabilities of the case.
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Was it likely that Sir Florian should take such a
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thing down in his pocket to Scotland. And there was
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the statement as first made by Lady Eustace herself to
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her cousin Frank, repeated by him to John Eustace, and
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not to be denied by any one. It was all
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very well for her now to say that she had forgotten,
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but would any one believe that on such a subject
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she could forget? But still the whole thing was very uncomfortable.
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Mister Dove's opinion, if seen by Lady Eustace and her friends,
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would rather fortify them than frighten them. Were she once
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to get hold of that word paraphernalia, it would be
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as a tower of strength to her. Mister Camperdown specially
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felt this that, whereas he had hitherto believed that no
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respectable attorney would take up such a case as that
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of Lady Eustace. He could not now but confess to
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himself that any lawyer, seeing mister Dove's opinion, would be
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justified in taking it up. And yet he was as
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certain as ever that the woman was robbing the estate
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which it was his duty to guard, and that should
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he cease to be active in the matter, the necklace
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would be broken up and the property sold and scattered
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before a year was out, and then the woman would
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have got the better of him. She shall find that
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we have not done with her yet, he said to himself,
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as he wrote a line to John Eustace. But John
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Eustace was out of town as a matter of course,
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and on the next day mister camperdown himself, went down
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and joined his wife and family at a little cottage
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which he had at Dowlish. The necklace, however, interfered much
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with his high holiday. End of chapter twenty five.
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Chapter twenty five of The Eustace Diamonds. This is a
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LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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Recording by Catherine Millward. The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollop,
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Chapter twenty five. Mister Dove's opinion. Mister Thomas Dove familiarly
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known among clubmen, attorney's clerks, and perhaps even among judges,
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when very far from their seats of judgment. As Turtledove
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was a council learned in the law. He was a
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council so learned in the law that there was no
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question within the limits of an attorney's capability of putting
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to him that he could not answer with the aid
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of his books. And when he had once given an opinion,
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all Westminster could not move him from it, nor could
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Chancery Lane, and Lincoln's Inn, and the Temple added to Westminster.
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When mister Dove had once been positive, no man on
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earth was more positive. It behooved him therefore to be
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right when he was positive. And though whether wrong or right,
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he was equally stubborn. It must be acknowledged that he
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was seldom proved to be wrong. Consequently, the attorneys believed
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in him, and he prospered. He was a thin man,
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over fifty years of age, very full of scorn and wrath,
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impatient of a fool, and thinking most men to be fools.
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Afraid of nothing on earth, and so his enemy said,
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of nothing elsewhere, eaten up by conceit, Fond of law,
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but fonder perhaps of dominion. Soft as milk to those
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who acknowledged his power, but a tyrant to all who
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contested it. Conscientious, thoughtful, sarcastic, bright witted, and laborious. He
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was a man who never spared himself. If he had
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a case in hand, though the interest to himself in
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it was almost nothing, he would rob himself a rest
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for a week should appoint a rise which required such labor.
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It was the theory of mister Dove's life that he
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would never be beaten. Perhaps it was some fear in
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this respect that had kept him from Parliament and confined
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him to the courts and the company of attorneys. He was,
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in truth a married man with a family. But they
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who knew him as the terror of opponents, and as
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the divulger of legal opinions, heard nothing of his wife
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and children. He kept all such matters quite to himself,
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and was not given to much social intercourse with those
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among whom his work lay. Out of Stretham, where he lived.
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Missus Dove probably had her circle of acquaintances, but mister Dove,
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his domestic life and his forensic life were kept quite separate.
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At the present moment. Mister Dove is interesting to us
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solely as being the learned counsel in whom mister Camperdown trusted,
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to whom mister Camperdown was willing to trust for an
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opinion in so grave a matter as that of the
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Eustace diamonds. A case was made out and submitted to
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mister Dove immediately after that scene on the pavement in
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Mount Street, at which mister Camperdown had endeavored to induce
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Lizzie to give up the necklace, and the following is
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the opinion which mister Dove gave. There is much error
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about heirlooms. Many think that any chattel may be made
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an heirloom by any owner of it. This is not
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the case. The law, however, does recognize heirlooms as to
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which the exors or admoors are excluded in favor of
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the successor. And when there are such heirlooms, they go
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to the heir by special custom. Any devise of an
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heirloom is necessarily void, for the will takes place after death,
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and the heirloom is already vested in the air by custom.
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We have it from Littleton that law prefers custom to devise.
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Brooks says that the best thing of every sort may
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be an heirloom, such as the best bed, the best table,
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the best pot, or pan. Coke says that heirlooms are
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so by custom and not by law. Spelman says, in
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denning an heirloom that it may be um utensil rubustius,
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which would exclude a necklace in the Tremese de lay,
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as it is denned as ascun partsel de utensils. We
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are told in Coke upon Littleton that crown jewels are heirlooms,
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which decision, as far as as it goes, denies the
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right to other jewels. Certain chattels may undoubtedly be held
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and claimed as being in the nature of heirlooms, as swords,
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pennons of honor, garter, and collar of s s see
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case of the Earl of Northumberland and that of the
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Pewsy Horn Pewsey versus Pusey. The journals in the House
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of Lords delivered officially to peers may be so claimed
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see Upton versus Lord Prayers. A divisor may clearly devise
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or limit the possession of chattels, making them inalienable by
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device sees in succession, but in such cases they will
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become the absolute possession of the first person seized in tail,
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even though an infant and in case of death without will,
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would go to the exors. Such arrangement therefore can only
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hold good for lives in existence and for twenty one
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years afterwards. Chattels so secured would not be heirlooms see
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Carr versus Lord Errol fourteen v C. And Roland versus Morgan.
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Lord Eldon remarks that such chattels held in families are
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rather favorites of the court. This was in the Ormond case.
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Executors Therefore, even when setting aside any claim as for heirlooms,
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ought not to apply such property and payment of debts
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unless obliged. The law allows of claims for paraphernalia for widows,
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and having adjusted such claims, seems to show that the
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claim may be limited. If a man deliver cloth to
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his wife and die, she shall have it, though she
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has not fashioned it into the garment intended. Pearls and jewels,
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even though only worn on state occasions, may go to
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the widow as paraphernalia, but with a limit. In the
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case of Lady Douglas, she being the daughter of an
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Irish earl and widow of the King's sergeant tempe car I,
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it was held that three hundred seventy pounds was not
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too much, and she was allowed a diamond and a
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pearl chain to that value. In sixteen seventy four, Lord
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keeper Finch declared that he would never allow paraphernalia except
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to the widow of a nobleman, but in seventeen twenty
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one Lord Maclisfield gave Mistress Tipping paraphernalia to the value
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of two hundred pounds. Whether so persuaded by law and
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precedent or otherwise may be uncertain. Lord Talbot allowed a
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gold watch as paraphernalia. Lord Hardwick went much further and
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decided that missus Northey was entitled to wear jewels to
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the value of three thousand pounds, saying that value made
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no difference, but seems to have limited the nature of
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her possession in the jewels by declaring her to be
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entitled to wear them only when full dressed. It is,
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I think clear that the Eustace estate cannot claim the
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jewels as an heirloom. They are last mentioned, and so
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far as I know, only mentioned as an heirloom in
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the will of the great grandfather of the present baronet.
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If these be the diamonds then named by him as such,
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he could not have devised them to the present claimant,
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as he died in eighteen twenty, and the present claimant
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is not yet two years old. Whether the widow could
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claim them as paraphernalia is more doubtful. I do not
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know that Lord Hardwick's ruling would decide the case, but
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if so, she would I think be debarred from selling,
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as he limits the use of jewels of lesser value
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than these to the wearing of them when full dressed.
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The use being limited, possession with power of alienation cannot
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be intended. The ladies claim to them as a gift
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from her husband amounts to nothing if they are not
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hers By will, and it seems that they are not,
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so she can only hold them as paraphernalia belonging to
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her station. I presume it to be capable of proof
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that the diamonds were not in Scotland when Sir Florian
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made his will or when he died. The former fact
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might be used as tending to show his intention when
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the will was made. I understand that he did leave
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to his widow by will all the chattels in Portray
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Castle j d. Fifteen August eighteen. When mister Camperdown had
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twice read this opinion, he sat down in his chair
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an unhappy old man. It was undoubtedly the case that
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he had been a lawyer for upward of forty years,
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and had always believed that any gentleman could make any
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article of value an heirloom. In his family, the title
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deeds of vast Estates had been confided to his keeping,
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and he has had much to do with property of
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every kind. And now he was told that in reference
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to property of a certain description, property which by its
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nature could belong only to such as they who were
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his clients. He had been long, without any knowledge whatsoever
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he had called this necklace an heirloom to John Eustace
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above a score of times, and now he was told
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by mister Dove not only that the necklace was not
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an heirloom, but that it couldn't have been an heirloom.
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He was a man who trusted much in a barrister,
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and was natural with an attorney, But he was now
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almost inclined to doubt mister Dove, and he was hardly
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more at ease in regard to the other clauses of
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the opinion. Not only could not the estate claim the
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necklace as an heirloom, but that greedy siren, that heartless snake,
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that harpy of a widow. For it was thus that
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mister camperdown and his solitude spoke to himself of poor Lizzie,
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perhaps throwing in a harder word or two, that female
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swindler could claim it as paraphernalia. There was a crumb
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of comfort for him, and the thought that he could
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force her to claim that privilege from a decision of
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the Court of Queen's bench, and that her greed would
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be exposed should she do so, and she could be
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prevented from selling the diamonds. Mister Dove seemed to make
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that quite clear, but then came that other question as
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to the inheritance of the property under the husband's will,
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that Sir Florian had not intended that she should inherit
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the necklace. Mister Camperdown was quite certain on that point,
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he suffered no doubt. But would he be able to
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prove that the diamonds had never been in Scotland since
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Sir Florian's marriage. He had traced their his street from
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that date with all the diligence he could use, and
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he thought that he knew it, but it might be
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doubtful whether he could prove it. Lady Eustace had first stated,
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had so stated before she had learned the importance of
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any other statement, that Sir Florian had given her the
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diamonds in London as they passed through London from Scotland
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to Italy, and that she had carried them thence to Naples,
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where Sir Florian had died. If this were so, they
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could not have been at Portray Castle till she took
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them there as a widow, and they would undoubtedly be
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regarded as a portion of that property which Sir Florian
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habitually kept in London. That this was so, mister Camperdown
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entertained no doubt. But now the widow alleged that Sir
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Florian had given the necklace to her in Scotland, whither
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they had gone immediately after their marriage, and that she
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herself had brought them up to London. They had been
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married on the fifth September, and by the jeweler's books
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it was hard to tell whether the trinket had been
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given up to Sir Florian on the fourth or twenty
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fourth of September. On the twenty fourth, Sir Florian and
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his young bride had undoubtedly been in London. Mister camperdown
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anathematised the carelessness of everybody connected with the Messieurs Garnett establishment.
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Those sort of people have no more idea of accuracy
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than than than he had of heirlooms. His conscience whispered
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to him, filling up the blank. Nevertheless, he thought he
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could prove that the necklace was first put into Lizzie's
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hands in London. The middle aged and very discreet man
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at Messieurs Garnett's who had given up the jewel case
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to Sir Florian, was sure that he had known Sir
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Florian to be a married man when he did so.
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The lady's maid, who had been in Scotland with Lady Eustace,
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and who was now living in Turin, having married a courier,
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had given evidence before an Italian man of law stating
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that she had never seen the necklace till she came
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to London. There were moreover, the probabilities of the case.
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Was it likely that Sir Florian should take such a
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thing down in his pocket to Scotland. And there was
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the statement as first made by Lady Eustace herself to
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her cousin Frank, repeated by him to John Eustace, and
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not to be denied by any one. It was all
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very well for her now to say that she had forgotten,
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but would any one believe that on such a subject
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she could forget? But still the whole thing was very uncomfortable.
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Mister Dove's opinion, if seen by Lady Eustace and her friends,
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would rather fortify them than frighten them. Were she once
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to get hold of that word paraphernalia, it would be
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as a tower of strength to her. Mister Camperdown specially
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felt this that, whereas he had hitherto believed that no
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respectable attorney would take up such a case as that
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of Lady Eustace. He could not now but confess to
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himself that any lawyer, seeing mister Dove's opinion, would be
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justified in taking it up. And yet he was as
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certain as ever that the woman was robbing the estate
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which it was his duty to guard, and that should
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he cease to be active in the matter, the necklace
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would be broken up and the property sold and scattered
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before a year was out, and then the woman would
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have got the better of him. She shall find that
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we have not done with her yet, he said to himself,
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as he wrote a line to John Eustace. But John
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Eustace was out of town as a matter of course,
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and on the next day mister camperdown himself, went down
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and joined his wife and family at a little cottage
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which he had at Dowlish. The necklace, however, interfered much
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with his high holiday. End of chapter twenty five.
