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A60878 The Arguments of the Lord-keeper, the two Lords Chief Justices, and Mr. Baron Powell, when they gave judgement for the Earl of Bath Somers, John Somers, Baron, 1651-1716.; Treby, George, Sir, 1644?-1700.; Holt, John, Sir, 1642-1710.; Powell, John, Sir, 1645-1713. 1693 (1693) Wing S4637; Wing A3646_CANCELLED; ESTC R17706 80,573 63

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therefore might in these Particulars vary in the Deed from the Will of 75. But I would still have this observed that in substance they do agree he doth preserve the same Favour and good Intention for my Lord of Bath to give him his Estate as his nearest Kinsman If then these Limitations in the Deed were pursuant and agreeable to the Duke 's then Mind it is no matter if there be any such Variations or Alterations from what was in the Will and that it was agreeable to his Mind then I shall by and by take notice of some things that occur in this Case and which seem to satisfy me in it that this was his Intent For I did observe that one thing they insisted upon to shew it was by Surprize was that this was contrary to the Intentions of both the Duke of Albemarle and the constant Series of Purposes in the Family and they undertake to give Instances of it The Defendants Counsel say that his Intention was to give his Estate to the Earl of Bath who was his near Kinsman to whom he had very great Obligations that my Lord of Bath was concerned in that great Action of Restoring the Royal Family which was the Raising of his own that he was a constant Friend of Duke George and his and his Sons chief Counsellor and Adviser and that the Family were under great Obligations is and must be admitted both from what is in the Deed expressed and what is otherwise proved But the Plaintiffs say no they had no such Intention neither one or other of them and particularly Duke Christopher had none neither before the making of this Deed nor after Duke George he makes his Will in June 1665 wherein he gives all his real and personal Estate to his Son and nothing at all to my Lord of Bath I did look into the Will which is very short and there is nothing given to any Body but his Son That is the whole of the Will Then in the Year 1669 is the Settlement made by Duke George upon his Son's Marriage and there is nothing settled upon my Lord of Bath not so much as a remote Remainder In 73 Duke Christopher makes his Will and therein gives great Legacies to the Dutchess but none to the Earl of Bath These are Instances before this Will and Deed but the Answers given them are these which make me not satisfied with the Plaintiffs Objection or Proofs of his never Intending to give my Lord of Bath his Estate First as I said Duke George's Will is very short and takes notice of no Body but his Son and as he gives nothing in it to my Lord of Bath so neither doth he to any Body else and that very Devise is void because it was to the Son and Heir to whom it would without that have descended and it signifies very little to their purpose being in the same Year with King Charles's Sign-Manual at his Request to promise the Earl the Dukedom upon failure of Issue-Male As to the Marriage-Settlement in 1669 there is indeed nothing settled on the Earl of Bath so much as in remainder but in such Settlements Men usually do provide only for the Issue of that Marriage and so leave the Disposition of Remainders to Subsequent-Settlements As to the Will of Duke Christopher in 1673 at that time they say he was but a Minor of 20 Years of Age and it was only to dispose of his Personal Estate for as to his Lands if he had made any Devise of them it had been void and the personal Estate was at that time about 60000l But within a Year or two after that when he came of Age is the Will of 75 made and there is a mighty liberal Gift made to my Lord of Bath and pursuant to his Father's Desire and King Charles's Privy-Seal doth he make that Request for the Dukedom for my Lord of Bath And it must be observed upon all these things that as there is nothing given to my Lord of Bath in Duke George's Will and Settlement nor in Duke Christopher's Will in 1673 so nor is there any Lands in either of them nor in the Will of 1675 or Deed of 1681 given to Thomas Monk the Father of the now Plaintiffs so that that Objection is much stronger against them than against my Lord of Bath Now I do not find any Proof of a Provocation or Cause given by my Lord of Bath to make the Duke totally change from this Intention to give him the greatest part of his Estate and 〈…〉 put him quite out of his Favour nor doth it appear he was so here were several Letters read there have been Copies of them brought us and I have look'd upon them against these Letters it has been observed that there is no notice taken in any of them of this Deed but there is some of the Will of 1687 while the Duke was in Jamaica about the Death of Colonel Monk I confess I cannot say there is any one Letter that speaks of this Deed by the Name of a Deed but there is one or two that hath an Aspect upon it and very near respect to it and cannot refer to any thing else particularly that which was written relating to my Lord Lansdown when he was going to travel and another about his Marriage wherein he takes notice how much he was concerned in him even next to his Father himself as he very well knew and that he wrote so much about him for Reasons best known to the Earl himself this seems to point at some Conveyance and aims at this Deed to my thinking directly They have made another Objection That the Duke never intended to leave any part of his Estate to Sir Thomas Clarges because he was under the Duke's Displeasure upon account of something he took ill from him but that receives an easy Answer What is limited to him is but a Remainder and that of no great Estate neither Besides that the Evidence of the Duke's being displeased with Sir Thomas is but a hearing by a third Hand but I find no Displeasure proved at all that was conceived by the Duke against my Lord of Bath to the last Come we then to the time of making this Deed and let us see whether the Duke did really intend what the words of this Deed do import and that I think is made evident by Proofs that have not been answered or contradicted The Deed takes notice of the very great and many Acts of Friendship and Kindness received by him and his Family from my Lord of Bath and it is proved the Duke declared it ought never to be forgotten nor could he ever make him sufficient Amends It should seem he had procured his Father's Garter for him when he might have had it himself he thereupon tells Mr. Prideaux that he was setling or had setled his Estate upon my Lord of Bath which must be much about the same time that this Deed was made One of the
would put the Case upon a like bottom of Presumption the other way and then see what we shall make of it Duke George prevails with King Charles II. to promise to make the Earl of Bath Duke of Albemarle upon his failure of Issue-Male Duke Christopher when he comes of Age doth make a Settlement of his Estate upon the Earl of Bath upon failure of Issue of his Body The Earl of Bath is a Person that doth heap Obligations upon both Dukes and their Family is Assistant to the Duke both in the Purchase and Sale of Albemarle-House is continually the Chief Person concerned in all his Affairs nothing almost is done without him There is no proof of any Misunderstanding or Ground for any between them Nay it was the Report in the Family That if the Duke died without Issue the Earl of Bath was to have the Estate He and Sir Walter Clarges are the Duke's nearest Relations whereas Mr. Monk that I find is not in the Case proved to be at all of Kin to him and so we must not take him to be related without proof but only that the Duke called him Cousin Now after all this that the Duke should make this last Will and give all this Estate to a Stranger for so as to any thing appears in proof and give nothing to the Earl of Bath when by the former Settlement he had given him such hopes of so great a Share this I think is a very Unaccountable thing and I confess I know not how to extricate my self out of the Confusion it causeth in me But I must set the one against the other as to that Objection and leave the Matter in the dark as to the Duke's Honour as I found it though I think I may give a further Answer to this Objection under the Second Head But I must speak something more under this for I would omit nothing that I conceive to be material in the Case There is another thing objected that seems dark in this Case and that is What was the meaning of some Parchments that were ingrossed by Thompson the Summer before the Duke went to Jamaica The Jury have found that this Deed was executed in 81. And if then the other Side would make use of this as insinuating that they were the same Deeds then that is not to be admitted as being expresly against the Verdict But to me it seems That these Deeds in 87. were made upon some design to have them executed then perhaps to settle the Estate upon a firmer foot than it was thought before The Earl of Bath perhaps might be Jealous that the Dutchess might prevail upon the Duke to revoke the former Deed in due form and therefore these Deeds might be prepared absolutely without any power of Revocation and thought he might procure the Duke to seal them so before he went to Jamaica I say that might be the Intention though what was the Design I cannot really tell But admitting that such Writings were prepared with such a design to get the Duke to execute them I know not that all this put together will be a sufficient Ground in Equity to set aside the Deed of 81. For all Designs in gaining of Deeds will not avoid Deeds actually made And that is plain from the Case of Bodmin and Roberts that was one of the Precedents used in this Case which was in short thus Mr. Roberts Son to the late Earl of Radnor married the only Daughter and Child of Bodmin who was so passionately fond of his Daughter that whenever she was in his presence he would break out into great Fits of Passion and weep for Joy to see her Notwithstanding this great fondness of his Daughter one Mr. Wynne took an Opportunity when Mr. Bodmin was under an Arrest and officiously came to Bail him and insinuates into him that his Son-in-Law was the occasion of his being Arrested and thereupon wrought so far upon him as to get him into a private place where he was removed out of his Son and Daughters Knowledge and where he went by a strange Name No one of his Friends had any access to him but Wynne himself and such as he would permit Mr. Roberts made frequent Application to be admitted to him but was refused which was all in proof While he was under this Concealment Wynne tampers with one Barry that had Mr. Bodmin's Will in his Custody and would have had him suppressed that Will whereby he gave his Estate to his Daughter It happens during his being thus secured he falls sick then there is a Will prepared for him to give this Estate away to Wynne from his only Daughter they get three Witnesses to the Execution of it This Will was never read over to him this appears in the proof but they get him to execute it And he dies Hereupon Mr. Roberts exhibits his Bill in this Court to set aside this Will There was proof made of all this Matter that I have opened and this Point of Surprize in obtaining this Will was insisted upon strongly The Lord Chancellor at the Hearing of the Cause was assisted by the Chief Justice Bridgman the Chief Baron Hales and Justice Rainsford But notwithstanding all this proof they could not prevail to set aside this Will in this Court and afterwards when they came into the House of Lords they were of the same Opinion and it ended at last in Relief by the Legislative Power an Act of Parliament This now I take to be much stronger for Relief if any could be than the Case now in Question and if then upon such apparent Surprize and Practice it could not be set aside in Equity sure this cannot where there doth appear no proof at all of any such thing I come then to consider the Second Head of Argument against this Deed that it was a concealed and forgotten Deed. Now that it was concealed from the Dutchess and those that were thought her Agents I agree it so and it is plain it was always intended it should be so But that it was concealed from the Duke I think has no Ground at all The thing they would infer it from is the Evidence of Aleman whose Testimony was read once and again and he says This Deed at the time of the Execution of it was delivered to the Earl of Bath whence they infer he carried it away and kept it concealed from the Duke who forgot it But upon reviewing Aleman's Deposition it can be understood to mean no other but only delivered to that effect as a Deed to his Use but not that it was delivered to him for Custody and carried away by him No truly it seems plain to me from all the Proofs and Circumstances of the Case That this Deed did remain in the Custody of the Duke of Albemarle For that Sir Thomas Stringer a little before the Duke went into Jamaica doth draw an Abstract of it in which the very date is mentioned which could not be drawn from
As to this Case I would observe first this is not a Case upon a Power of Revocation to devest an Estate nor a Performance of a Condition But further here are Instructions prepared and it went as far towards the Execution of the Power as could be till an Impediment came in the way by the Act of God in the Death of the Party Now I agree where there is an Impediment by the Act of God or Fraud or Default of the Party who claims by the Deed Equity may interpose But that doth no way come up to the Case in Question Then there is the Case of Dey and Thwaites which was lately in this Court Thwaites makes a Settlement to the use of himself for Life and afterwards to such Child and Children and for such Estate and Estates as he should by any Writing under his Hand and Seal testified by two credible Witnesses limit and appoint He afterwards makes a Will and has but two Witnesses to it so that they did not cite the Case right that said there were not two Witnesses but two Witnesses are not enough by the Statute to make it a good Will and thereby he giveth a Rent of 100 l. a Year to such a Child and dies Now one great Question was Whether the Power being to limit Estate or Estates he might limit a Rent out of those Lands It was held in Equity he might and truly I think that he might at Law There is I confess an Opinion against it in the Case of Brown and Taylor where there were three Judges against one But really I think it is good at Law A second Question was Whether this being void as a Will by the Statute should be yet a good Declaration of the Trust and an Execution of the Power And I think the Court of Equity did very well in decreeing it to be Good For tho it were not effectual in all Points as it was intended as a Will yet it was a Writing which had all the Circumstances required by the Power and therefore I see no reason to question whether it were Good The next Case is the Case of Ward and Booth and that stands thus Sir Thomas Brereton made a Settlement with a Power of Revocation by a Writing under Hand and Seal before two Witnesses and he in a Passion one day tore off the Label with the Seal but afterwards repented Delivered it to the Trustees to be preserved to the Uses And enquiring whether what he had done amounted to a Revocation and being advised it did not he was very well satisfied This Cause came to be heard before my Lord Nottingham and adjudged no Revocation it appearing there was a continued Intention not to revoke But I desire to read part of the Ground that Decrce went upon for that justifies what I said in case where there is a Disability or an Impediment by Fraud this Court may relieve though there be a formal Revocation There is but one Precedent more that I shall mention and that I take to be directly for the Earl of Bath It is the Case of Arundell and Philpott Mary Philpott being a Widow seized of Lands made a Settlement upon the Defendant with a Power of Revocation upon the tender of a Guiney She afterwards makes another Settlement upon the Plaintiff but without any proof of the tender of the Guiney Upon a Bill suggesting her Intention to revoke the Plaintiff could not prevail in this Court to set aside the first Settlement but was dismist to Law and ordered to try the Title within a Twelve-month whether Revoked or not Revoked And there were afterwards a Trial and the Tender of the Guiney did happen to be proved and so the Power was well executed at Law But this Court would not interpose to set it aside as a Revocation in Equity upon the Intention only without a proof of the due Execution And upon the whole Matter I conclude that in a Court of Equity there cannot be a Revocation of a Deed to which a Power to revoke is annex'd but what is pursuant to that Power unless there be either an Impediment from the Party that claims by the Deed or a real disability to execute according to the Circumstances And I think neither of these are in this Case nor are any of those Matters alledged of Surprize Circumvention Concealment or the like any good grounds to set aside this Deed if they were proved which I think there is no pretence of Lord Chief Justice TREBY I Am of the same Opinion with my Brother Powell I shall state the Case as it stands upon this Deed and Will The Will was made in 1675 the Deed in 1681 and shall take notice as I find there was much use made of it on one side of what the Expressions are in the Will and somewhat of what Deficiencies there were of Expression in this Deed. In 1675 the Duke of Albemarle made his Will and by that Will he declares That in respect of my Lord of Bath's being one of his nearest Kindred and out of Gratitude due to him for many Acts of Friendship and good Offices done to him and his Family his Will was that he should inherit all the Parts of his Real Estate not therein otherwise disposed of and therein he desires the King to grant to the Earl of Bath and the Issue Male of his Body the Title of Duke of Albemarle and that his eldest Son might bear the Title of Lord Monk And this was intended in Trust to pay all his Debts and certain Legacies in the Will He therein gives a Legacy of 1000 l. to Henry Monk not the Father of the Plaintiffs the Monks who it doth not appear was any ways related to him Six Years after in 1681 this Duke Christopher makes a Deed and in that Deed recites this Will true as to the Date but mistakes it in several Particulars This Deed settles the main part of the Estate after the Duke and Dutchess their death without Issue by the Duke upon my Lord of Bath part of it immemiately after his own death without Issue other parts upon Sir Walter Clarges and Mr. Greenville And it has been observed that almost all the Limitations of the Estates in the Deed differ from those in the Will at least in express Terms if not in very Substance This Deed also sets forth the Grounds why the Duke made it and it is to this Effect He doth declare he was so unfortunate that his next Heir at Law was descended from a Regicide and therefore I would observe it was not only to confirm the Will as they would have it but for preventing so dishonourable a Descent of the Estate which he owed to the Bounty of the Crown and for conveying and settling and assuring the Lands to the Uses thereinafter declared and confirming and corroborating that Will which he did not intend to revoke and to prevent any Claim either by the Heir or any pretended surreptitious Will which
Respect for him than to dispute such trivial Matters and for any Leases or Contracts they come within the Rule of Purchases and so the Consideration would preserve them Then they say Here is no Monument for the Duke a Person of so great Quality but that may be made good out of the personal Estate I am sure it is no Objection in point of Law But the last Thing they urge is If there be no Relief in this Case you put the greatest Indignity and Reproach upon the Duke that can be imagined That he should call Mr. Monk Cousin send for him out of Holland to leave his Will with him in the Will give him so great a Share of his Estate desire the King to make him a Baron and appoint his Son to be educated as one that was to make no small Figure in the World that he should send for my Lord Chief-Justice Pollexfen to draw this Will make three parts of it deliver one to the Dutchess of Newcastle another to Colonel Monk and carry a third with him into Jamaica and there take publick notice of it and after all this Expectation raised in Mr. Monk of a Fortune run himself into the Charges of an expensive but what he knew would be a fruitless Suit This say they is an unconceivable Dishonour to the Duke to be represented as one that would prevaricate so with the King and the World and play with the Misfortunes of his Kinsman and the rather because the Duke was a plain sincere hearted Man and in all this did but pursue his real Intentions of Kindness to Mr. Monk and his Children Truly methinks they have just as much to say on the other side What shall those many Declarations of Kindness to the Earl before this Deed in this Deed and after this Deed by Letters and other things signify his Care of my Lord Lansdown as one he was most concerned next to my Lord of Bath himself his Petitioning the King to confer on him the Title of Duke of Albemarle in case of his failing of Issue-Male and all this to signify nothing besides the known Kindred the apparent Obligations and Merit of my Lord of Bath sure if all this be considered the Duke's Honour is as much concerned on this side as on the other to approve himself sincere in all these Solemn Transactions Would he own him as his nearest Kinsman and the most deserving of his Blood and all the while have a secret purpose in the last Act of his Life to make a Will by which he would set aside all he had profess'd to do for him and by leaving this Deed and Will with him leave only so much in his hands as should put him into a chargeable Suit for nothing Therefore upon the whole I think there is greater reason to conclude that the Duke did not certainly mean to do this last Act as what he would have to stand against so much formerly done the other way But I rather think the Evidence is strong to perswade any one that the making of this last Will was to satisfie another purpose and make his own Condition easie at home But my Opinion as to the Judicial part of this Case which I thus happen to be of is the stronger in me because of the Authority of two Cases which I take to be express in Point and those are the Cases of Wynne and Roberts and Fry and Porter In the Case of Wynne and Roberts there was Proof of a very great surprize upon the Man whereby he was induced to make a Will and to disinherit his Child of whom he was before very fond and who was married into a very Honorable Family and to break a Settlement solemnly made before all this Matter was Charged in the Bill and proved But not withstanding this the Court declared they would give no Relief but if they could expect any they must go to Law and at last it was ended only by a Bill in Parliament The Court said Try it at Law a Will or no Will and do not expect the Chancery should make Mens Wills or set them aside if legally made especially then not upon bare Conjectures and Suppositions concerning a Man's intentions to relieve against a Solemn Act and Title found at Law In Fry and Porter's Case one of the great Reasons why the Court denied Relief there was that it was a Controversy between two voluntary Conveyances and there that Side that had the Advantage at Law ought to keep it and it was without Precedent to relieve in any such Case So say I in this Case we have no Precedent of Relief in any such as this now before Us We must not say this Court is unlimited unbounded by any Rules it is no doubt limited by Precedents and Practices of former times and it is dangerous to extend its Authority further If therefore I err in my Opinion in this Case I err with these Precedents on my Side and because I have never an one to guide me the other way the Desendants are in Possession of a Verdict Judgment and Title at Law and I can see no ground of Equity to relieve the Plaintiffs against them Then it being very late the Court put off the delivering of the Lord Chief Justice Holt's Opinion and the Lord Keeper's Decree till another Day Die Veneris 23 Decemb. 1693. In the Court of Chancery in Westminster-Hall Com. Mountague al. adv Com. Bathon al. e contra Lord-Chief-Justice HOLT IN this Case wherein the Earl of Mountague and the Dutchess of Albemarle and others are Plaintiffs and my Lord of Bath and others Defendants I shall open the Case very shortly as it stands upon the two Wills and upon the Deeds There was a Will made in the Year 1675 by Christopher Duke of Albemarle wherein there is a Disposition of several parts of his Estate upon his dying without Issue to several Persons but the main Part and Bulk of it is given to my Lord of Bath And in that Will there is mention made of a particular Esteem and Affection which the Duke bare to my Lord of Bath that he was the nearest of his Kinsmen by his Father's side and that he also was indebted to him for many great Acts of Friendship and Offices of Kindness performed to him and his Father Then there is in that Will also an express Desire that the Title of Duke of Albemarle by the King's Favour might be conferred upon the Earl of Bath and that the eldest Son of the Earl of Bath and so the eldest Son of the Family successively should be called Lord Monk so that the Names of Albemarle and Monk may with the King's Favour remain with his Estate in the Posterity and Family of my Lord of Bath in memory of the late Duke his Father and himself The Estate being so disposed of by the Will of 75 there are two Deeds made in the Year 1681 a Lease and a Release The Release doth recite
so you cannot imagine that the Duke was at all surprized therein but that when it was executed it was according to that design and purpose Next Sir Thomas Stringer who was the Duke's Counsel to Peruse and amend the Draught as appears by his own Hand sworn by his Son and his Man To imagine then that a Man should be surprized into the making of a Deed when his own constant Counsel doth Peruse and Amend the Draught and the Counsel he used particularly to advise with is by at the Execution and a Witness to it is to say a Man was surprized when he had the Advice of Counsel about it and they were at his Elbow at the Executing of it Now I must confess I am to seek and do not well know what is a Fraud in Equity that shall avoid a Deed which is a good Deed at Law The Case of Bodmin and Wynne and Roberts mentioned by my Lord Chief Justice and my Bother Powell that spake the last day this Cause came on is I think a Case of great Authority in a Court of Equity because it had a great Transaction both in this Court and in the House of Lords before it came to a Resolution and Result I shall put the Case in short as it was here in Court Mr. Roberts Son to the late Earl of Radnor married the Daughter of Mr. Bodmin Bodmin had made a Will and given his Lands to the Children of his Daughter in Tail and after this he makes another Will whereby he gave one part of that Estate to Mr. Wynne and another part to a remote Kinsman It did most plainly appear in the Depositions of this Case that this Will was obtained by great Fraud and Circumvention that is Wynne got into his Acquaintance by pretences of some little Offices of Friendship and Kindness he got him away from his Friends and Relations and during his Sickness he did by false Stories withdraw his Affection from his Daughter kept him in secret Places that no Friend might come at him and while he was so secreted and wrought upon was this last Will made whereby he gave his Estate away from his Child to a Stranger All these pieces of Practice were Apparent before the Court at the Hearing of this Cause which was heard by my Lord Clarendon Assisted by who all Unanimously Declared that this was a VVill obtained by Fraud and by Practice and that there was great Reason if they could to relieve against it But they searched Precedents and could find none that would come up to the Case Thereupon for difficulty there was Advice taken about it in the House of Lords and there upon Consideration was an Order made by way of Advice to the Lord Chancellor that he should proceed to do Justice to either Party though there were no Precedent found to govern the Judgment Afterwards this Cause came to be heard again 12 June 1666 when my Lord Chancellor being assisted by my Lord Chief Justice Bridgman my Lord Chief Baron Hales and Mr. Justice Raynsford did declare That there could be no Relief though it was said before it was apparently a VVill obtained by Fraud and this to the Prejudice of the Heir at Law who had never Offended or given him any Cause to Disinherit her So the VVill was dismissed but the Parties complaining in Parliament were Relieved by the Legislative Power by an Act of Parliament Now besides that there was Evidence of ill practice in that Case but in this I say I find none this is so great an Authority and does shew the wariness of a Court of Equity that I think none can be greater Equity would not relieve them but they were put to seek their Relief by a Law made on purpose But I will suppose now in this Case that when my Lord of Bath did understand the Kindness of Duke Christopher and knew of the Will of 75. and knowing the Incoastancy of the Duke's Temper and other Circumstances in the Family and the Revocableness of a Will should have applied himself to the Duke and told him ' It is true you have been so kind as by your Will to bequeath me a great part of your Estate but you may be prevailed with on a sudden or by some Artifice or other to alter this Will of yours and you may be surpriz'd into the doing of it pray will you make a more solemn Settlement to confirm this Kindness by a Deed And had prevailed to get him to do it Suppose I say he had done so tho I find no Evidence in this Case of any such thing suppose he had been employed in the whole transaction of such a Deed is this unlawful or is it any harm No it is very innocent he might lawfully do it and if he had opportunity he might prudently do it But I say I find not so much as that in this Case but this Deed was fairly obtained from the Duke whether it was by the advice desire or interposition of my Lord of Bath doth not appear or whether it were the Duke 's own voluntary Act though I think it is not material whether it was the one or the other But it hath been said That when Duke Christopher did design to alter his Will and for that purpose sent to my Lord of Bath to bring the Will of 75. which he had in his Custody my Lord of Bath should have told him of this Deed too And therefore the concealing of the Deed of 81. from D. Christopher is a kind of fraud and not making a discovery of it then he shall not now take advantage of this Slip and have the Estate by this Deed because if the Duke had considered the Proviso in the Deed he would have taken eftectual care to have had a good Revocation in all the Circumstances And that he did not so revoke it must be imputed to the concealment of this Deed from the Duke by the E. of Bath So was the Case of Mr. Clare at the Suit of the E. of Bedford which was opened the last Term. A Man that stands by and sees a Cheat which might have been prevented by his discovery shall not take advantage of his own wrong and profit by such concealment But doth it appear in this Case that my Lord of Bath knew to what purpose the Duke sent for his Will or how or in what manner he would alter the Settlement of his Estate Why must he be bound to take more notice of this Deed to the Duke than the Duke himself It was the Duke's own Act and not my Lord of Bath's and why should he give him notice of his own Act The Rule of Law when one is obliged to give notice to another is this When the thing lieth more in the Knowledg of the one than the other and he cannot come to the Knowledg but by his means But when one Man hath reason to know and doth as much as the other he is not bound to give notice
of my Lord of Bath It doth plainly appear there was a most particular Friendship and mutual Confidence between them in Matters of the Highest Nature and Chiefest Concern Nay that this proceeded so far on my Lord of Bath's side in Duke George's time that he prevailed with King Charles the II. to promise under the Sign Manual and recommend it to his Successors to Create my Lord of Bath Duke of Albemarle if here were a failure of Issue by the Duke Then that this Friendship did continue between Duke Christopher and my Lord of Bath is plain beyond all Controversy for it began upon a very good Foundation That is Whereas the Garter should have been given to the Earl of Bath he prevailed to have it returned to the Young Duke and it continued so much all along that there was nothing of Moment relating to the Duke's Affairs in which the Earl was not mainly concerned And all this is proved by a Series of Letters continuing down from the Death of Duke George to the Death of Duke Christopher In 74 he sends him Word he had pursued his Advice and his Advice should always be very prevalent with him In 75 he tells him he expected to see him with great Impatience because he was not able to go on in the Regulation of his Family without his Assistance and Advice that he had finished his Will and would make all more Perfect when he came to him It should seem his former Will was trusted in my Lord's Hands and when that was returned or brought up in a few Days after this Will of 75 is made and by that all the Estate or the main of it is given to my Lord of Bath and it was the first Will I think that he made after he came of Age and had any Power to dispose of his Estate in Land and thereby as I said he Deviseth the bulk of it to my Lord of Bath He always desired as the Will declares That in case he had no Issue the Earl might succeed him in his Honours and Estate as well out of true Affection to him as his nearest Kinsman on his Father's side as out of due Gratitude for the many Acts of Kindness and Service done by the Earl beyond all the rest of his Kindred and Friends upon which he humbly desires his Majesty to confer the Dukedom upon him and that the Eldest Son of the Earl and so successively the Eldest Son of the Family should be called Lord Monk to preserve his Name and Honour in Memory of his Father and of himself There cannot be Words that express more Kindness and Respect and intention of Advantage than are here used There was an Attempt by Proofs in this Cause to shake the Credit even of this very Will but when the Counsel on that side came to speak to it they could produce no proofs that would at all come near it It is plain then that at this time no Man could have more Kindness for another than the Duke had for the Earl In the Year 78 there appears the same sense in the Duke of the Earl's Friendship by his Letters and the Obligations of Gratitude he had to him That he had no Friend in whom he could confide but himself and desiring him to come to assist him in the Management of his Affairs That his Kindness and Friendship was never to be forgotten without the Highest Ingratitude All this is a sort of Evidence against which there is no opposition to be made so it also continued to the Year 80. when he sent him word of a Servant's death and desired him to secure his Papers and Accounts Thus it stood to the time of making that Settlement and while the Duke and he were upon such Terms with one another it was no strange thing that he should make such a Deed as this and the manner both of preparing and executing it seems far from having anything of surprize in it Then the next thing that hath beeen urged was that this being a Settlement under a power of Revocation which he intended to make use of it was Secreted and Concealed from him so that he could not know what his Power was and several Cases were put where a Man in such Circumstances knowingly suffers a Purchaser to go on with his Bargain he shall not have any Advantage by such a Concealed Settlement Those Cases were all admitted to be good and particularly that mentioned by Mr. Baron Powell and my Lord Ch. Just Treby the Case of Mr. Clare And I think truly I need go no further than to say That there is no Resemblance between that Case and this That is where a Purchaser is concerned and the Person that conceals the Deed suffers the Purchaser to proceed without giving him any notice If indeed there had been a full and clear Proof that the Duke had a real intention to Revoke this Deed if he could have known what he was to do in order to it and had been hindred by the Fraud an● Contrivance of any Person concerned in it in point of Advantage and if by such Concealment it was impossible for him to know the true Circumstances of his Power that would have made a different Consideration in a Court of Equity but there is no Proof that these Deeds were ever in the hands of my Lord of Bath till some little time before the Duke went beyond Sea when the Duke delivered them to him For as to Aleman's Deposition that was but a delivery upon the Execution and not a delivery for Custody And my Lord of Bath in his Answer says He had not them till then expressly so that as far as that goeth it is all the Evidence you have where the Deed lay all the while And his Answer is fortified in this by what Mr. Courtney says that my Lord told him when he came to him that the Deed it self was in the Hands of the Duke and he had received the Draught from the Duke to advise upon And it is further verified by two Material Facts by the Abstract that was taken about some two Years before by Sir Thomas Stringer and by what is admitted on all hands was by my Lord of Bath delivered up when the Will of 87 was preparing and that the Will of 75 and Deed being produced together under the Duke's Seal after his death it is to be taken that both together were put under the Cover and Sealed up by the Duke and delivered to my Lord of Bath as he himself says in his Answer There being then so much ground to believe that the Deed was in the Duke 's own hands what Obligation should there be supposed to lie upon my Lord of Bath to make any mention of it to him It was always intended to be a private thing that is plain There is no Proof what the purposes of the Duke were in making the Will the Purport and Effect of the thing speaks it self But my Lord of Bath says That