A Special Jury was assembled at the Freemason's Tavern, on
Tues- day, under the direction of the Lord Chancellor, to inquire into the state of mind of Viscountess Kirkwall, mother of Lord Orkney and Captain Fitzmaurice, who instituted the proceedings against her Lady- ship, on the ground that she was a prey to designing persons, owing to infirmity of intellect. Lady Kirkwall is daughter of Lord De Bla- quiere, and is entitled by her marriage settlement to 2000/. a year ; which, it would seem, rendered her an object of plunder. Many wit- nesses were examined to prove that she was under strange delusions. She denies that her husband is dead, though the fact is undoubted ; and she persists in asserting that her children were changed at nurse, and that Lord Orkney and Captain Fitzmaurice are not her sons. The Marquis of Lansdowne, the Marquis of Thomond, Lord James O'Brien, and others, have given evidence as to the identity of her chil- dren. The habits of Lady Kirkwall betoken aberration of intellect. Among other things, it is stated that she will have a number of cats in her bed. She had sometimes dinner prepared for twenty-five cats ; and it was with the greatest difficulty that her room, which was conse- quently in a filthy state, could be cleaned. When humoured, she was tractable; but at other times unmanageable. She has a good knowledge of drawing, and taste for the fine arts generally. She used to say that Lord Kirkwall had been in the mercantile line ; and that his Lordship employed himself in puffing ;poisonous gases through the walls of her room, to injure her health. She expected to have all her wrongs redressed when the Stuarts were restored to the throne of England. The inquiry is not yet completed.
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