Star. — London, England, 1802-01-11 00:00:00

hiPEDitiON TO BCiPf. irrieCi Or A LETTER FROM AN OFFICER tit TNt 61ST REGIMENT OF TOOT, IN EGTFT. " In the Mozambique Channel we had frequent Urns, with heavy fwells ; and sometimes hard fqualls of wind,accompanied by thunder and light n;ng, which gave us confiderable alarm on account of the quantity of gunpowder on board. One of thefe fqualls came on fo fuddenly in the middle of a fine night, when every fail was let, as to throw our fhip on her beam ends. Her malts went over her fide, and the luckily righted. I never beheld a fight fo awful. The night was very dark ; bat the livid flathes of lightning, which appeared to fet the heavens on fire, rendered it at times fo light, as to make a nail upon deck as vilible as at noi•n-day. The Chip went at the rate of nine knots apt hour, lying down on one fide, and letting the lea in a foam with the rapidity of her courfe, till the malls all went, and we expeeed every mo ment to fill with water, or to be dallied in pieces againft the furrounding fboals. Such was the ge neral tenor of our voyage. g At g•aka, we were given to underhand, that we thanld be only eight or ten days reaching Coat., as the Inuth weft monfoon was then blowing, and expelled t nrevail a fortnight longer. We laid in our tea 'cock accordingly. Judge, therefore, what our fituation was At the end of thirty days! Short allowance of water, and fait provifions, with a :ttle rice, formed our whole fubfiftence. Our bc'ettits and flour were all exhavhd fourteen days before our arrival atColir. I frequently went to bed in a !late of excruciating hunger, not daring to eat fat meat for Scar of exciting third, which fdread ed Rill more. We had only a glafs of bad rum each a day, to keep nineteen honed fellows, cram med together in the ward-room of a French fri gate, in good humour with one another. We fometimesloft eight or ten miles a day, the (hip being fo light as to be totally unable to Rem the inalhenfe waves; which rulhed to her bows, and knocked her about in an unmerciful manner. " At length we arrived atenfir, on the tzth of June, difembarl.ed, and encamped about half a mile from the town, on a randy &fat t. After be in; fo long at Tea, we' flattered our imaginations with the hopes of being amply rewarded for all our privations by a plentiful fupply of necefraries and comforts at Colir, and bad already in fancy devoured frefh bread at.d meat, milk and vegeta bles. But no fuch good fortune attended its there. )Blot a tree, or a blade of grafs is to be feen within at hundred miles of Cofir. The fiat thing we did Was to dig a well; and loon came to water in fla vour more unpleafant than Tea-water; but rather prefer.tble becattfe it quenched our thirft. We were molt painfully incommoded by a continual hot vim!, which blew acrofs the defart, dried up the pores of the tkin, and, in fpite of the intenfe heat, prevented all perfpiration. Add to there circum fiances thore of the infeas, which fwarmect about us, and drove us almoft to madnefs, by flying up our nofes and down our throats ; a conliant tor menting thirft, which parched our mouths in a manner of which the mon feverifh patient in Eng land can ICarcelv form an idea. " We rem.,ined at Cofir five weeks. We got a little Madeira from General BA I RD'S army, which alone, 1 believe, kept molt of us alive. The hor rors of our march acrofs the defart I referve to en tertain you with at a future period. Sore eyes, blinduefs, and fevers, were the phyfical evils which attended our journey. But the greateft evil of all, in the opinion of men, whole loyal fpirit braved every difficulty, was that which terminated our expedition t—the circumilpee of our arrival at Rofetta, on the 31ft of Auguft, uhcn we received the intelligence that Ale x andt ;A was fur renderinii. All the retieffiments, which we feand very plenti fully in this land of Canaan, 'did not prevent us from regretting the opportunity, for which we had fo ardently longed, of letting down our fatigues and hardfhips to the honourable (core of our Coun try's caufe, after a fignal difplay of the valour which animated our little army. We hope to gierry this deficiency at the Manilas, or at Tome valuable pofiellion of the enemy, to which the Indian army is deftined. _ . , g In leaving Egypt, we naturally (peculate on its future fate. We have heard enough to con vince us th:it the French will leave no (lone un turned in order to regain the poffefGon of it. To prevent this, we know not whether we should re tain Alexandria, or Come other footing in the country r but, however this may be, we ate per fuaded that our Government will never give up Malta, which glut& the pairage to the Levant, and confequently to Egypt.,, The firfl battalion of the 85th regiment has failed from Madeira for Jamaica. The fecond battalion is waiting in Portfea barracks fur trait ports, under like dettination. Moft of the militia regiments not already arriv ed at their difoanding quarters, are undcr orders to proceed thither. The firll divilion of the Edinburgh Militia par fed through that city on Tuefday, and the fecond on Wcdritiday, on their route to Muffelburgli.— They are replaced at Glafgow by the Ayr and Rtnfrewthire. CHALLVNGF.—A mefrage, amounting to a chal lenge, was fall week fent by an officer lately re turned from India, to —MILLS, Efq. the Chair man of the EaR India Company. The circuits fiance has given rife to much,converfittion at both ends of the. town. We underßand, that the offi cer, Mr. J. complained of cert ain language ufed by the Chairman refpeding his father, who had been a Governor in India. He therefore fent Capt. G. a relation of his, to wait upon Mr. MILLS, not as Chairman of the Court of Direslors, but as a gen tleman and a foldieri for Mr. MI sss is Lieutenant- Colonel of one of the India Company Volunteer Regiments. The Chairman, however, conceiving that the matter regarded his official condu&, fub mitted it td the Court of Diredors, who were of opinion thatMr.Mtsss fhould not accept the chal lenge, and they have direded their Solicitor to take legal Reps agaittli Mr. J. We fuppofe a cri ri:nal information will be moved in the Court of T. klg's Bench. LA INTiiuditiEt GRIM. CON. JACKSON V. LORI) VISCOUNT MILSINCTOWN. . - A Jury was impannelled on Saturday lane by the Sheriffs, in order to affefs the damages in the above caufe, where judgment was fuffered to go by default. The damages were laid at to,oool. Mr. Serjeant Best addreffed the Jury on the part of the plaintiff, informing them that it was an action to recover compenfation in damages from the defendant, for 'having alienated the al feßions of the plaintiff's wife, deprived him of the comforts of her fociety, and induced her to elope and live with him in adultery, which the (till continued to do. The elopement took place on the 4th of Augult laft. Unfortunately, in thele corrupt and profligate days, cafes of this kind oc• curled fo frequently, that he fhould be going over a very hackneyed fubjed , were he to attempt pref: Ping a due fenfe of the heinous nature of fuch a trefpafs upon the peace of a hufband, or to aggra vate it by reprefenting the difgrace which fuch refleßed on the children, and the unea finds which it could not fail of fpreading through all the branches of a family. Thefe circunittances came home to the breath of all men of every de fcription, for which reafon, and confidering the very refpeCtable Gentlemen I have now the honour of addreffing, I may, with the greaten fafety, leave that part of the fubjeß to their own feelings. He was prepared to lay before them, and fupport by evidence, a cafe, than which none was ever brought before a Court of Janice more entitled to at lean pecuniary damages; for as to compentli tion, taking that word in its true import, it was evident that nothing could compenfate a man for fuch an injury to his happinefs. It was true, in deed, that the crime, for fuch offences were really crimes, did not come aggravated by thole circum ilances which fontetimes occurred, fuch as betray ing the confidence of a friend, and making that a conveyance to the affeeions of his wife; hut there were tome aggravating circumaances which would merit the attention of the Jury. His client did not call upon them for thole exemplary and yin didive damages meant to operate as a punifhmentl on the offending party ; but he fhould look to them for a retribution at lean for the loffes he had fuftained.—The learned Counfel then proceeded to explain the nature of the cafe. The plaintiff, l i Mr. Henry Jackfon, was a Gentleman in the pro fenion of the law, very eminent in that line, and nephew to a late diftinguithed Baronet (Sir Wm. Middleton), and of mon refpeetable family con neCtions. The defendant, Lord Vircount Milling town, was the eldett fon of the wealthy Earl of, Portmore. The unfortunate Lady, the ohjal of 1 his &dot:Hon, was grand-daughter to a moil re fpc4table Baronet in Kent (Sir C. Bifhop), and. niece to Sir George Warren ; her father was at this time a Colonel in the army. They would have in evidence, that this Lady was by blood conneßed with many of the fire and molt refpec table families in the kingdom. At the age of 22, when married to Mr. Jackfon, on the 26th of Sep tember 1791, the was alining in beauty and ac complithments, and adorned with every virtue ; the was, in fad, a perfon of that defcription that the feleCtion of fuch a woman for a wife mull do honour to the prudence and tale of any ;Ilan.' The hatband and wife, it would be (hewn, lived togc:her in the moil perked love and harmony. In the year 1793, Mr. Jackfon had the misfortune to be afflieted with a paralytic Rinke, which made it neceittry for him to fufpend all application to bufinefs, and retire to the country, for th 2 pur pole of ftrengthening his health. He took apart ments in Sunbury, where Mrs. Jackfon attended on him with all that care, attention, and anxi.ty, that could have been 'hewn by the moll aniduous and affetionate of wives. Their mutual harmony continued down to July 1799, when Mrs. Jackfon went to Sporrengton, in Suffer, on a vifit to her father (Colonel Bifhop), and mother. Sir George and Lady Warren being then at Brighton, invited Major and Mrs. Vince (liner to Mrs. Jackfon) and three other unmarried fitters, to pats the race-week with them ; and thortly afterwards they were joined by Colonel Bithop ; and Mrs. Jackfon and her lifters were invited by Lady Charles So merfet to a ball and (upper, which commenced the acquaintance between Mrs. Jackfon and Lord Milfingtown, who was introduced to her by Sir G. Warren. His Lordniip feleßed Mrs. J ackfon for his partner , and it was remarked thate paid her very particular attention ; but The came up to London a few days afterwards. In the &miner following the fame Ladies were on a vifit to Mrs. Middleton, filler to Sir Wm. Middle ton, and uncle to the plaintiff, at Eton, and it hap pening that the Afcot Races took place ft that time, they made a party to it, and were joined by Lord M. who was afterwards introduced to Mrs. Middleton, at her houfe, both by Mrs. Jackfon and Mifs Bifhop, as a fuitor of the latter young Lady. Mr. Jackfon golng down, in a day or two after wards, a fimilar introdußion took place between him and Lord M. There enfued feveral water parties on the river, and things fccmed fo far draw ing to a conclufion, that Mr. J.willing to promote fo advantageous a match with a nobleman of Lord M.'s rank and fortune, (which confederation was frequently preffed upon him by his Lady) and be ing folicited to do fo by Mifs Bifhop herfelf, gave his Lordthip an invitation to his hoofe, which the latter accepted, and continued his vifits there all the fununer of itioo, Rill appearing to dire& his attentions to Mifs Bifhop. In confiquence of the frequent reports of the intended marriage, Lord Milfingtown, with Mr. and Mrs. J. and Mifs BAN), were invited, and paid virus to Colonel Bifhop, their father, and feveral other perfons. At length Mr. J. finding that his Lordfhip made no propo fals, and having fufpicions of his illicit intentions, communicated to his wife his deign to break off with, and inform him that his vifits mutt be dif continued. The Lady wilhed to ditfuade him from doing fo under different pretences, and even guar. relied with him on the fubjeß ; but he perlilted in his determination, and left it to Mrs. J. to inform Lord Milfingtown of it in whatmanner the pleafed. The communication being made, the Plaintiff's cyca were fOOll opened, to hie [uprise and mord-. • • • ficatibn, by the elopenknt of his wife in a few days after yards. In one of Mrs. J.'s drawers he found, upon fearch, a letter, which left no further doubt csf what had taken place. The letter, as well as we can recoiled, in words, Was very nearly as folloWs hope molt edmeftl y very loon to fee that my beloved Harriet was not the worfe for the expedition of yetterday. I wiled very much to have called this morning, to have inquired after her, but thought if I did, I lout(' not have the pleafitre of pairing the evening with the only woman • in the world that I have the fmallett attachment to, an attachment fo ftrong and fixed, that nothing in the world can alter. I never can be happy till we Rye together, with that dear little angel that In !Trembles the figure of its &arca mother; it makes me quite mifcrable, the thoughts of leaving town, I cannot bear to he feparated from you, my love ; I hope It will not be the cafe ; I ant fare we could be happy together, and my only Ru•.ly the happinefs of you, my adored Harriet, and the welfare of your children. Pray, my love, let me fee you tomorrow if it is in your power. I with very, very much that we may meet to fix when we Hall meet not to . part again. Perhaps you will not have an opportunity of reading this before I am obliged to leave you, therefore I will be in Hart.ttreet, at the ulual place, at twelve o'clock to-morrow : pray cone as loon after as you can; and believe me molt fincerely, affedlionately, and faithfully, your's ever, M." Thus then did it appear that Mr. J. had only an ticipated the deign which Lord M. was meditat ing, while he difplayed the greateft art and dcepeit knowledge of the human heart, by m a ki ng hi s , court to themother, by a difplay of fondncfs , whe ther real or affeEted, for her darling infant. The Jury would theref“re judge of the nature of the injury, when they confider the fond attachment of . the unfortunate Lady to her hulband, previous to her acquaintance with a Noble Lord, whole fupe rior advantages of title, rank, wealth, and un common accomplifhments, could alone have fuc. ceeded in alienating her act:lions. The Gentle men on the other fide may afk why he did not bring Mifs Bifhop forward to prove any part of the cafe ? His reply was, that fhe being the fitter bf the fallen Lady, and having been the pretend ed objeet of Lord M's addreffes, his client uould fooner forego all the advantage he could derive from her evidence, or even forego all damages whatever, than commit fuch an outrage upon the delicacy of the young Lady, and the feelings of her family. _ _ _ Mrs. Olborne proved, that in 1794 the Plaintiff and his wife took lodgings at her houfe at Sun bury, kept one maid-fervant, refidcd there four months. She never obfcrvcd in any wife a greater degree of afredionate attention, or a more corral deportment. In feveral vifits which the fince made at their houfe in London the could obferre n , thing between them but mutual love and happinefs. On her, crofs.exarnination fhe fad fbe knew of no other vititor Mrs. J. had at Suilvary, but a Lady of the name of Brooke, with whom She ap• peared to be very intimate. Mr. Lawbert Middleton fiti,i he was nephew to I Sir William Middleton, an.l &ft coufin to the, Plaintiff, between whom and his wife he always faw the molt perfet harmony and affection pre vail He was a frequent vifitor at their houfe ever !ince their marriage, and of late was accultomed to meet the Defendant there, whom he confidered as a fuitor to Mifs Bithop, to whom he always paid molt particular attention. On his crofs-examination he faid, he obferved there attentions when there were younger Ladies in company, as for inftance, the witncfs's fit cr. He acknowledged, however, that he never heard Lord M. make any declaration of that kind, nor did he fay a word to him nn the fabizet one night that they went home together in a coach from Mr. J.'s houfe. He was prefent when Mis. J. was vi fired by Sir G. Warren and feveral other of her relations, and never before heard of any thing blameable in her conduit. Mrs. Middleton, mother of the above witnefs, depofcd that the was aunt to the Plaintiff ; the fel dom came .to town, but when fhe did fh~ called at his houfe three or four times. In the twn laft fummers, Jackfon, and her filter Mifs Bifhop, vitited at her houfe at Eton, and in the firs} of there vifits, in going• to the Atiot Heath Races, were accofted by Lnrd M. with equal politenefs to all. She faw nothing particular in his addrcfs, and if it was more direeted towards Mifs Bifhop than any other, it might be afcribcd to her being the youngctt prefent, and a tingle Lady. His Lordfhip was polite and attentive to them all, fupplying them with Sandwiches, and fuch refrefh menu as they wanted, in confequ.:nce of which the invited him to fup at her hotik, which invita tion he accepted. She however fuppored him to be a fnitor to Mils Bifhop, or the would not have asked him, and on tinting that Lady whether it was fo or not, the fmiled, and nzither affirmed nor denied it. There was nothing particular in this lady's evidence refpeaing the vifit lafl (urn mer, when Mr. Jackfon himfelf was of the party. She was not pref . = when Mrs. J. introduced her hufband to Lord M. or if the was, had taken no notice of it. On the queftion being asked, the Paid that Mrs. Jackfon was a very pretty, fafcinating woman. A Daughter of the foregoing Lady laid, that the had been upon frequent vifits at Mr. Jackfon's, fometimes for a week, and fometimes for a month together. She never obferved any thing impro per in the conduit of Mrs. Jackfon, or the iliould not have (laid there. During her laft vifit the faw Lord M. frequently at the houfe, and oh ferved that he paid particular attention to Mils Bilhop, but never heard of him making any decla ration, though the always underftood him t' be that Lady's fuitor. They kept two maid 111 \rants and a footman, were vifited by Mrs. Vince, filter to Mrs. J. and alfo by feveral other female rela tions.—She had dined at Sir G. and Lady War ren's, in company with Mr. and Mrs. Jackfon. The Letter from Lord M. found in one of Mrs. Jackfon's drawers, was then put in and read. The Infpeaor of franks at the Poll Office was then called to prove the letter to be Lord Milling. town's hand writing, but Mr. Dallas took an ob. jeition that the witnefs having never Peen his Lord (hip write, nor held any correfpondence with him, was incompetent to the proof ; the oblation was admitted. His Lordlhip's Solicitor was next called upon, and here again it was objected that the wiuicfs never law Lord M. write, that his conflcier:- tial communications with his ..gents thould not be luffered to operate againit lora. But the ohjec don was overruled, on the ground that this evi dence could betray no part of the confidence re poled in their correfpondencc. Ile dcpofed that hr. believed the tette:- to be in his Lordship's writing. . Here the evidence was el iced. Mr. Daesits then addreiTed the Jury, and raid, it was not in return frr any compliment paid him by his learned friend, that he now drained that Gentleman to have exerted the utmost ability in the condat of this cattle. By ability he did not mean merely that difplay of eloquence which may be defcribed as painting in words, but a nicenefs of difcrimination, and a dexterity of judgment in feleCting thofe points of evidence which might make moll for his purpofe, and withholding others that would operate unfavourably, thereby making the cafe appear quite different from what it really was. But notwithllanding all this; he would un dertake, in a very few obfervations, to prove that this, of all the cafes that ever came before any tribunal, was that in which the fmalleff damages ought to be given. In the firft place, he mutt °Verve, that if the law gave a hutband certain rights, it alto impofed upon him certain duties, which if he neglected to perform, his rights were forfeited. This fobjeft was to be confidered in two points of view-1 a, Whether the hufband was privy and confenting to the feduetion of his wife ? in which cafe he quoted, amongft others, the authority of Lcrd Kenyon, to thew that fuels a man was not capable even to maintain an ad - ion, for the law allowed him none. The ad point was, where the hufband was wanting in his duty, either by being defeitive in precaution in guarding his wife from danger, and .affording her protection, or by treating her with fuch neglect as might ex. pole her to temptation in either of which cafes, though the plaintiff might be entitled to damages, yet they would be diminifhed in proportion to the circumflances which may be difclofed in evidence to a Jury : for the man who applies for redrefs to a Court of Jake, mull come before it with clean hands. He did not excuf nor palliate the offence of Lord M. but handing as he did with the guilt of adultery upon his head, he might, in the cafe firs alluded to, have pleaded not guilty, and have put upon the record that which in law would amount to a cempleat defence. It could not therefore be fuppofed that in any obfervations he fhould make, he meant to impute to Mr. Jackfon that he connived at or knew of this illicit condua; and Lord Milfingtoum hinifelf admitted it in fuf fering judgment to go by default ; but, on the other hand, if he was guilty of negligence er inat tention, that cireundtance more weigh materially in mitigation of damages. The ntieft;(.n therefore whether he has contlaCted himfelf a.. a difcrcet, prudent, and attentive hufband ? and whether by your veraliCt, after hearing all the circumttances, your own charafters and - confciences will allow you to proclaim inch an opinion to the world ? The Learned Serjeant has endeav, tired it-ongly to imprefs you with the deep artifices and diffimu. lation of my client. But I fancy h.: • will find fome difficulty to perfuade you, that with all Inch knowledge of the world which is afcribed to him, he would venture to praelice fuch artifices on an attorney, or that an attorne ,, was likely to become the dupe of fo young a Nobleman. He could not well be accufed of meaning any thing difrelpeet ful of the 'profefflon to which he had the honour to belong, when he obfcrvcd that the occupation of an attorney was peculiarly calculated to tender men cenverfant with the manners of life, clear lighted, obferving and fulpiciotts, If how art we to imagine that this affair fhould be going on fo long a time, and that Mr. Jackfon, with all the guarded caution of at, attentive hufband about him, thould be fo totally unfulpicious as to take no no tice whatever, nor reel the leafl alarm at the Noble Lord's never having made any propofals to Mils Bithop ? Law and reafon itfclf required in fuch a procefs as this, even beyond all others, that the bell evidence thould be brought forward, which the nature of the cafe would admit of. Why then was not Mifs Bithop brought forward, who might have fully ettablithed the principal point which the plaintiff aimed at, and which alone could entitle him to confiderable damages? The plea of inde licacy again(' her appearing to prove the infidelity of her filler, could have but little etre& upon the minds of the Jury. On the contrary, nothing could be more honourable than for that Lad - to appear, and in vindicating the clianocter of the plaintiff, effablith at the lime time the purity of her own honour. Her testimony might juilify them both for fuffering reales of this kind to pals for fo long A time under their own eyes. But if this delicacy was to be ohferved towards Mifs Bithop, why not produce the Colonel, their fa ther, and Sir G. and Lady Warren, to corrobo a rate what has been flitted of the duplicity of the defendant'? Surely it could not be contended that there parties were not to be found. There were al tlb the fervant maids retained latterly in the fami ly, and fervants were known by fome means or other always to gain fame information on lubje&s of this kind. It was extremely remarkable th;:t none of thefe had been produced, nor indeed any other pertim who could pofitively alTert that Mifs B. had heifelf ever declared the Noble Lord to he her fitizor ; and what was molt extraordinary of all, Mr. Jackfon hinifelf, throughout the whole very lufpicious proceedings, never once thought it lie ceffary to alk Lo r d Milfingtoun o hat were his objeCts, or whether they we re honourable? It has been effablithed in evidence, that the frail Mrs. Jackfon was beautiful and fafcinating. It was aliened allh, as it never failed to be on al, loch occafions, that before the prefent affair the was virtuous and honourable. It might be fo indeed, but it was hard trufting to filch affertions of Coun fel. There was feareelv any married woman who could not obtain filch a chargter. Experience, however, proved to us that frequently women, who arc faints here, are tanners inßond-Greet. it n b e y re at7 y as meansonly one nec e to allude, namely, the inference drawn from a letter, the manufcript of to ir p d i r c y more to which he found which, in his op inion, had not been fuffici:w4y