Having brought his case thus far, the counsel for the petitioners was about to read some documents, purporting to be signed by the Duke of Kent, as declarations of the legitimacy of Mrs. Ryves, but it was pointed out by the court that he was not entitled to do so, as, according to his own contention, the Duke of Kent was not a legitimate member of the royal family.  Therefore, resigning this part of his case, he went on to say that Mrs. Serres, up to the time of her death in 1834, and the petitioners subsequently, had made every effort to have the documents on which they founded their claim examined by some competent tribunal.  They now relied upon the documents, upon oral evidence, and upon the extraordinary likeness of Olive Wilmot to the royal family, to prove their allegations.

As far as the portraits of Mrs. Serres were concerned, the court intimated that they could not possibly be evidence of legitimacy, and refused to allow them to be shown to the jury.  The documents were declared admissible, and an expert was called to pronounce upon their authenticity.  He expressed a very decided belief that they were genuine, but, when cross-examined, stammered and ended by throwing doubts on the signatures of “J.  Dunning” and “Chatham,” who frequently appeared as attesting witnesses.  The documents themselves were exceedingly numerous, and contained forty-three so-called signatures of Dr. Wilmot, sixteen of Lord Chatham, twelve of Mr. Dunning, twelve of George III., thirty-two of Lord Warwick, and eighteen of the Duke of Kent.

The following are some of the most remarkable papers:—­

“I solemnly certify that I privately was married to the
princess of Poland, the sister of the King of Poland.  But an
unhappy family difference induced us to keep our union
secret.  One dear child bless’d myself, who married the Duke
of Cumberland, March 4th, 1767, and died in the prime of
life of a broken heart, December 5th, 1774, in France. 
J. WILMOT.”
“January 1, 1780.”

There were two other certificates to the same effect, and the fourth was in the following terms:—­

“I solemnly certify that I married the Princess of Poland,
and had legitimate issue Olive, my dear daughter, married
March 4th, 1767, to Henry F., Duke of Cumberland, brother of
His Majesty George the Third, who have issue Olive, my
supposed niece, born at Warwick, April 3d, 1772. 
G.R.  J. WILMOT. 
ROBT.  WILMOT. 
CHATHAM.”

“May 23, 1775.

“As a testimony that my daughter was not at all unworthy of
Her Royal Consort the Duke of Cumberland, Lord Warwick
solemnly declares that he returned privately from the
continent to offer her marriage; but seeing how greatly she
was attached to the Duke of Cumberland, he witnessed her
union with His Royal Highness, March 4th, 1767. 
Witness,         J. WILMOT. 
WARWICK                                 ROBT.  WILMOT.”