Star. — London, England, 1802-02-25 00:00:00

[ f i nned Ton is all that remains for me to do, utdefs you would will your letters to be returned." Af terwards, by Mils Swaines good offices, a perfea reconciliation was effefted, and the tendernefs of both parties was revived. Still, however, Mifs Tlrlli interpofed unneceffary delays, and now living at a confiderable diflance from Highgate, engrofred more of Mr. Fortter's time than a pro feffional man could porubly (pate. Vexed and impatient, he wrote to her, faying, that unable to , bear her difdain any longer, he - had refolved to fly to a foreign country, where her image might be lianithed from his bofom. On the 28th of Sep tember he reelned the following anfwer : " It is t e e m' s to lament, as it is impollible to recal any pot of my injurious condua. To diflrefs you was very far from any thoughts. I was kept back by the torturing certainty, that in becoming yours I (hall lore all my dear rela tions as completely as if they were feparated from me by the hand of death. You fay your happinefs is Rill in my power. The fincerity of this declaration will foon be put to the tea. I beg leave to inform you that if you do not agree to the fettlements as propofed by Mr. Swaine, I now write you for the laft time. But if you ( hall execute them agreeably to his diredions, it is my ' ,orifice and fixed refolution on Saturday, Dec. Z. to forfake my relations for the protedion which you offer me. If you are not aduated by honourable motives, may the ALMIGHTY take me to himfelf before I follow you to the altar. If you hoof me as yon 147,1 pray Heaven to prolong our lives, and to guide us in the path on which we are nl,out to cuter." On the fame day the wrote her frirnd Mr. Swaine, of the manner in which the wished her fortune to be fettled. The next letter read was to her friend Mifs Mary Swaim, whom the addretTes under her nick-name. "My dear Paul frizzle, (lays (he), I have had a delightful game at romps with Capt. William Lowther. If I am to marry a certain perfon I mug come to town immediately to buy the marriage things.— Is!rs. Lowther has anted me to go with her for a month to Brighton, but I have fcarcely time, tho' it is yet a month to the time of my marriage. Yon k a loy I was determined not to have a bed-fellow till the warm weather was gone, and you will allow I vis in the right." In another, dated Oft. a, (he " Fortier agrees to every thing I afk, and would content to the fettlements being Rill lets in V. favour it I were to defire it." In one to him. fell, dared Nov. to, " Yellerday your (errant brotight me your miniature. I with that Mifs Mary Swaine may he allowed to go with us to Bath ; I have fent you a ring the flue of mr finger." The nett was likewife to him, and here (he Pays—" Lail night we tat up romping till one. My bed room door was broke, and I was obliged to change my quarters for the night. Are you not afraid to take fetch a mad-cap into your houfe ? I mutt tell you how it was. I had fnatched a piece of paper the two Mifs —'s were reading, and putting it into my pocket, they infilled upon recovering it, and in the ttruggle, to my unfpeakable confuft.n, down &opt your pi,ture on the floor." Mr. File: ter was no doubt delighted to find her in loch fpi• nits on the ere of her nuptials. We little know what may befal us ! Without the. leaft fymptom of change, or notice of impending calamity, he was in a tcw days plunged into the depth of de fpair. He received the following letter, dated Fr?d.ly, Nov. z 7—" Sir, the treatment I have late ly expetienced has brought back all my former o%jeflit,tis with redoubled force. lam more than ever averfe to yriir offers, and it is my unequivo cal determination, unbiaffed by any one, to de cline the conneC - :ion. Your humble fervant, E. N." She does not, the dared not al:edge what the had treatment had been. She knew that his treat ment had ever been kind, his affedions warm, end his intentions bonouralf!e. It would appear that this letter had not been conveyed in the ordi nary way ; that it was intended as a legal notice, eld that the lade did not delay many hours to re 1-•.:n Conde]. Her ficklenefs was not without ex amples, but io few had the revolution been fo fud dfally effeded. She had been writing that the &aced on his miniature, that the looked upon it With in.:viable &fire ; that the gazed upon it till 1! was incapable of ditlinguithing different ob jests, and in four days the was in a lawyer's conful ta,ion-roorn. The manner in which the addreffed ter blend (hewed her fu;; /'roil. "Dear Mary," fites the, " having declined Mr. Forfter's propofals, I have to lc;; that you will nut proceed any farther .he preparations. lam forry to hear that your mother is ailing, but hope loon to hear good ac counts of her." As if nothing bad pallid but propofals ! Mr. Fortier was as certain of pellet hr her perfon as if he bad been married in the :Lamina. and eagerly expeded the hour of happi- Pi's- Although the man was unexceptionable, and had been univerfally efteemed, it mutt natu r'll7 11 , .a be furpaid that he had been guilty of time grange and myfterious wickednefs. The world mull believe that the lady had a wrong tho' a fecret caufe for her condua. Compenfation to. the Plaintiff was impotfible—but it was the duty of the Jury to fet him right in the eftimation r.:* the world, by !hewing that, after a aria fcrutiny, they were convinced he had tufted with honour, ar.d had Inffered undefervedly. Mifs Swain was the firft witnefs called. She Lad firft become acquainted with the defendant, whom Rte Rated to be of the age of three and' tw enty, at fchool, and their acquaintance bad re !+ mrnt:nced at Brighton about two years ago. She had Inen the confidante of Mifs Mellith through nearly the whole of the affair, and had ma ' :ori4_cl in promoting the withes of the p;st.,•s. She knew of the conflation about twelve r "nti.c a”' , when the defendant told her that the 1. , , " 7 cct.ved an offer from plaintiff, which the had in April lag, defendant told her he 7. '40( her another offer, but that the did not :• - I.c t. lice brothers would ever let her marry him. St a:^ here proved the hand writing of various ices from Nits Mellith to herfelf, and to the by which it appeared that the lovers had "::.t1 pri7ate meetings, and were on a perfeftly • I..ler.landing till the 7th of August, 'ht! , h-i•enclant wrote to the plaintiff, inform '-'ll that, in confequence of the different (tate. the not fe ,ey. :ca- Tows of his atairs,pretentect to herbrothersty Mr. Vali:, not being Each as the had reafon to expect, I the had made everything known to her friends, who had advifed her to drop the connection, which it was now her intention to do. The poilfcript of this contained a requeft for the plaintiff to return her letters. On the t Btla of Anglia the defendant wroteto Mifs Swain, inclofing an anonymous letter which the had received, requefting her to thew it to the plaintiff, and to acute him that that was the caufe of their feparation. She laid, if the fhould be able to bring him round again, the was deter mined to marry him without the knowledge of any of her family. It appeared that the defendant had fufpeded Mr. Fofter of writing this anony mous letter himfelf ; but, Mifs Swain hating induced her to believe the contrary, a reconciila lion took place ; and, on the 28th of September, the defendant wrote to the plaintiff, giving a folemn promife that the would put herfelf-un der his protection as 'a wife, on the lath of December following, he having declared, that if the did not fix a time for their marriage before Chriftmas, he thould quit the kingdom. On the 27th of November, however, Mifs Melia wrote to the plaintiff, faying the treatment which the had lately received from him had brought back, with redoubled force, all her former objections ; and, unbiaffed by any one, it was now her firm in tention more than ever finally to terminate their correfpnndence. On the day following the defen dant alfo wrote to Mifs Swain; and, among other fubjeds, mentioned this termination in very flight terms. In tome of the above-mentioned letters, it appeared that Mifs Mellith's propofals to the plain tiff, and to which he implicitly acceded, were, that the half of her property was to be fettled on her. felt and heirs, and, in default of heirs, the was to have the power of willing it as the pleated ; the other half to be funk, fo as to raife a mum of mo ney for the purpore of paying off fume debts of the plaintiff; Mr. Swain, the father of Mifs Swain, being intended as one of her truftees. On the crofs-examination of Mifs Swain it ap peared, that throughout the was acquainted with the violent averfion entertained by the brothers of the lady to the match ; that the afforded the par , ties frequent opportunities of meeting ; that, from time to time, the was in the habit of informing the plaintiff of the contents of certain paltages in the defendant's letters to her, which were not intended for his knowledge ; and that The was at very con fiderable pains in promoting Mr. Fortier's intereft. Mr. Price,•an attorney, aid, he had treated for the Plaintiff with Sands ; a premium of 16001. was given, the bufinets being worth between 8001. and 50301. and taken at two years purchafe. Potter is held in the firft eftimation in his prufellion, and has great and encreafing praCtice. He is received as a Gentleman into all the firft families in the dif trift, and is uncommonly agreeable and well-be haved. In witnefs's opinion he was an abundantly good match for Mils Mellifh. Mr. Price was going on to fay, that he had been very poorly of late, when this evidence was objefted to. Mr. GARROW afked, whether he had not been fo poorly as to be owing him (the witnels) !soot. ? —A. He does. Mr. Swain Rated, that Mifs Mellifh had 130001. in the 3 per cents. In November the gave him a warrant of attorney to fell out 3001. for the pur. pole of buying the marriage cloths. He was in trotted by her to fupei intend the drawing of the fettlemcnts, and the Plaintiff readily confented that one half of her fortune fliould be fettled upon her. felf. He law her brothers at Gray's Inn Coffee houfe, and communicated to them all the proceed. ing which had taken place. On the 25th Novem ber Mifs Mellish was at his houfe, when the teemed firmly refolved to carry the match into effal. Mr. Thornton gave an account of the Plaintiff's family, whole father had been one of his tenants in Yorkfhire ; and Mr. Sands declared his income, from the prailice to which he had introduced the Plaintiff, to be about goal. Mr. Easels s then began an able fpecch of three hours in behalf of the Defendant. The following is the fubilance :—He Paid there was no doubt that the unfortunate young Lady for whom he was Connie] had given a promife to marry the Plaintiff. The queftion was not, whether the pro exitted, but whether it was not more honour ed in the breach than the obfervance ? The Law of England was peculiarly delicate upon the tub jeft of marriage. All other contratls funk into in lignilicance, compared with this; and the Law therefore viewed it in a very different light. In tranfailions concerning property, parties arrived at the years of difcretion were always bound by their faits : but not only were marriage con tra:ls not only not uniformly binding, but to enter into them without the content of parents was often highly penal. Though there was a period fixed in this and every other country for maturity, yet it could not be Paid that the very moment children touched upon the age of 21, they fhould be entirely at their own difpola There was a magical opera tion in the occurrence of coming of age which ren dered it right to difcard friends, to fpurn the ad vice of the nearett relations, and too to confult with an Highgate Attorney. The Jury were to confider whether the Plaintiff had not entrapped a young creature into a void prom& by unmanly arts. They would fee if he had had no regard to there sniferable 3 per cents. ; if he had always burned with the conftant flame of a lover ; if, from the moment the dart was fixed in his heart, he had thought of no other objea, and turned 'his whole foul to the honourable fulfilment of his views.— When all there things appeared in money he muff be paid for his fufferings ; fine this was the confo lation his delicate mind required; line, failing to acquire his fortune at the altar by marriage, he longed for a flice of it in Weftminfler Hall. But how would they treat him if it appeared that, hav ing no affettion for her, he had feinted with her feelinis ; that he had tempted her into dangerous courres, not to (educe her, for that was not his pur pofe, but, preparatory to a ma diabolical fcheme, to alarm her for her reputation; that he atually carried this fcheme into dal; that he bafely fright enedher with the threat of leaving thecountry ; and that, in a moment of agitation, he bad furprifed her into this promife t Mr. Easzins then began a ma- fond detail of die different tranfaftions. His run objc was to !hew that the Plaintiff, after hav ing folemnly prnmifcd to theDefindant's relations to dikontinue his addreffes, had courted her clan- deflinely. He here chiefly relied upon the an Aver of the Plaintilf to a letter from Mr. Samuel Mellith wrote in the autumn of 1800; requiring him to give up all thoughts ()ibis fifer. Mr. For tier lays, that he would pay the requifition all due regard. Had he boldly avowed his intentions, and laid, that as the Lady had now reached the age of twenty-one, and was miftrefs ofh2r actions, he was determined to do every thing that he could, as a man of honour, to gain her hand, fill al lowing her the benefit of the advice ofher friends, the Learned Gentleman allowed his conduct would have been laudable. He fhould not find fault With a man, without a penny in his pocket, acting fo towards a child of his own. But for the plaintiff, after having laid the Lady's relations afleep, and deprived her of her natural guardians, fill to pro fecute his addreffes by flealth, was a degree of meannefs which language could fcarcely exprefs. However, Mr. Fortier imagining there was no. thong to be done here at prefent, again abufing the Sacred name of love, thought it right to be looking out for another good thing. During this interregnum of his pafF.on for Mifs Me llith, he went and paid his addretres to a Mifs Pull n, of whole father he borrowed 17001. He had been received in the family for fame time as the declared fuitor of the young lady, and the day for the nup tials was about to be fixed, when Mr. Pullen told him all the fortune he could give his daughter would be, to chalk off the debt which her future hufband owed him. Whetherthe Doctor had taken I any of own his cooling medicines, he knew not, but he intlantly grew cold , - and in a few days a rupture enfued. Being again at liberty, he thought that, as he owed Price 15001. and Pullen 17001 - . he would try his hand once morn at Mils Mc!Mb, who was then on a vilit to her fitter, Mrs. Gowland. He told her that all the while of his late courtfaip, his af feetions had been irrevocably fixed upon her. For this indelicacy, the had the good fenfe to rebuke him. She afked him, what tenuity the had fer his fincerity, when he avowed he had lately been hypocritically and difingenuoufly making the fame profeflions to another ? Mr. Erfkine read a letter from him, dated 3d April 18oz, in which he lays— " In open defiance of you and your relations, I am determined to renew my addreffes. I hope your fentiments are not altered ; mine are unalte rable. I feel for you the moll fincere and ardent affection. The firft moment I law you, you made an impreflion upon my heart, and, while my ' heart beats, never will that imprellion be oblite rated. However appearances may have been againft me, I have ever been truly yours."—What credit was to be given to the candour of this man ? What refpeCt was to be (hewn to wounded fentibi lity ? Mr. Erfkine now came to what he confidered one of the ftrongeft parts of his cafe ; that the plaintiff had fcduced Mifs Mellifh into improper fituations. He dwelt upon it long, and read an immenfe number of the plaintiff's love letters in fupport of his reafonings. In thefe he recommends " fecrecy" again and again; he calls Mrs. Cow land " the old Argus ;" he defires Mifs Mellifh to inclofe his letters to Mr. Wetherell, of New Bond (beet, a friend of `his; he anxioufly warns her againit premature difcovery ; he pray- that Mrs. Gowland were dumb as well as deaf, adding, that her filence would be of the molt effenti tl benefit to fociety. He preffes her to agree to an affigna tion, urging, that abfence was to him " purga tory ;" (Mr. E. laid this Nell of the fhop) ; he propofes Mr. Wetherell's, in Bond-greet, where the would be politely 'hewn up fairs by Mifs W. and fee no one elle, the corner of Bolton-greet, Oxford road, Kenfington Gardens, &c. he protefts every attempt to meet her to be, in his eyes, an aCt of virtue, which mull be highly pleafing in the fight of HsavEtt. Being furrounded by thole who were keenly in his intereil, and being without the advice of a tingle relative or real friend, the had fometimes met him imprudently, and though from interefted motives he refrained from all plans upon her virtne, as loon as he thought the was caught in his toils, he proceeded to make the molt unge nerous ufe of her ill placed partiality. On the 3d of Auguft The received this anonymous letter, which the read with indignation and horror:— " Dear Madam, from motives of friendfhip I am induced to inform you that attempts are making to dcftroy your diameter. As your fincere friend, I would advife you to put an end to them as loon as poflible. You have gone too far to retreat with honour. It is publicly known that you have had meetings during the night at Mrs. Gowland's, in Bond-ttreet, and in Lincoln's Inn. This is the talk of the whole Weil end of the town if it is in your power, infiantly Silence it by marrying Mr. F. Putting off longer will only enable your bro ther to counteract your fchemes, and to deprive you of all opportunity to retrieve your reputa tion. Hagen and have courage : thus concludes a friend who, for the prefent, conceals her name." In anfwer to a queftion if he could make this letter evidence ? yes, he fhould render it indifputable evidence; he fhould prove that it was not only tent by the plaintiff, but that it was in his own hand-writing. He had difguifed his hand to look in tome meafure like a woman's; hut not fo that it might not be eafily deteCted. The artifice was as clumfy as it was unprincipled. Witneffes of undoubted veracity would fwear to their belief, and if a doubt fhould be made, the law would al low a comparifon. The lady herfelt, it was al ready in evidence, infantly perceived the fraud, and with becoming fpirit relented it. He writes,' to be fare, " the anonymous letter I utterly deny and difclaim. If the author is a fnend of mine, fill 1 abhor and deteft him." But would not he who was capable of this trick be capable of denying it t And who should know what meet ings had taken place, except the only man who had been privy to them! If Mifs Mellith had petalled in her refolution of difmifling him now, the world would have applauded, and the law would have protetfted her. She had indeed renewed her promifes;but the original fraud would fill have its full effect in rendering them void, and he had afterwards added what of itfelf would be fufficicnt. Mr. Erlkine, la(! of ail, dwelt upori the Plaintiff's firatagem to terrify the lady, 1) perftiading her that he was .about to leave the kingdom. By one of his letters he fully proved, that the Plaintiff held out this threat ; he m.iin rained that this was the only caufe of the. Defen dant% rebietant compliance, and that as the Plain tiff was evidently infincere, the promifc he had thus extorted was null. Ile denied that Mr. For- iler was an adequate match for Mifs Every Chilling he hal raid to Mr. Sands lie had borrowed from his liit3ds, and execpt by :his la dy's fortune he had no hope of being able to repay them. Becaufe he lived in Mr. Sands' houfe, did it follow that he had Mr. Sands' bufinefs ? If the Attorney General were to 12avc his chambers, as _ . he loon might, on being railed to a higher dignity in the law, would the bag of his fucceffer be thus loaded with briefs ? How would he look to a young man coming to alk his daughter in marriage who thould fay, Sir, I have got Sir Edward Law's chambers, and confequently his praCtice? Having then fummed up his variotis arguments with great ability, Mr. E. entreated the Jury to confider a tueltion of what moment they were about to de cide. It was nothing lefs, than whether the fy (tun of fortune-hunting was to be legalifed and encou raged in Courts of Juttice ? whether rewards were to be held out to thole who ftirred up young wo men to difregard the advice of their relatives and the diaates of prudence ? whether marriage, the fource of all that is dignified in our nation, was to be erthed into an engine to promote the unprinci. pled fr.hemes of needy adventurers ? The firtl witncfs was Mr. Pullen. He laid, that the Plaintiff declared himfelf a fuitor to his daugh ter in Oltober 18-.:o. He protefted that he had fallen in love with her at firtt fight, and that the was the only woman with whom he could be hap py. His courtlbip was notorious to all the inhabi tants of Highgate. Ile owed the Nvitnefs t7col. and being reproved for his extravagance, a cold. nefs enfued, which ended in a rupture. Mr. Sarnod Mellith was then called, and was kept in the witnas box two hours. It is al. together impotlible for us at prefent to detail hii evidence, or that of the witneiles called after him. He gave a cireumitantial account of all that had happened in the family, with regard to this affair, from Auguft 'boo, till December 18ot ; of the. various meetings he had with the Plaintiff, and all the means they had ufed to counterwork his fchemes. He proved the hand-writing of an im menfe number of Forfter's letters, which were read, in order to thew that the Plaintiff with:el to perfuade Mifs Man to aa in oppofition to the in clination of her family, and to meet him clandef tinely.' Being !hewn the anonymous letter, he laid he had examined it with great care, and that he bad not the leafi particle of doubt that it was the hand-writing of the Plaintiff. The ATTORN Ey GEN ERA L afterwards called wit nelles to prove, in contradiaion to Mr. Mellith, that the anonymous letter was not the hand-writing of the Plaintiff. The witneffes for that purple were Mr. Swain, Mr. Sands, a Mr. Hodgfon, Mr. Michell, and Mr. Foulkes, the Attorney in the cattle. They all politively fwore, and espreffed theta:lves perfealy eravinced, that the letter was not the band-writing of the Plaintiff. To difprove iheir evidence, Mr. ERSKINE exa mined Mr. Coltb ick, the Infpeaor of Franks at the Pofl•office, the duties of whole fituation pecu liarly enabled him to decal forgeries, and diltin , guith a difguifed from an ordinary Sowing hand writing. He laid, that in comparing the anony mous letter with the'other letters proved to have been written by the Plaintiff, he had no doubt but it had been alfo written by him : he pointed out a fimilarity in a variety of letters. Mr. ERSKINE addreffed the Jury for the purpole i of obferving upon the evidence given by the Plain. tiff, to contra di ct the proof of the anonymous let- ter having been written by the Plaintiff. The A TTORN EY GENF RALrepliedat great lene;th, and defended the Plaintiff from the afperfions which had been calf on his character—juftified Mifs Swain for her endeavours to promote the marriage of her fehool-fellow with the objea of her love— contended that the Plaintiff's ftratagems to obtain interviews with the Defendant were neither ditho nourable, nor unufual with regard to a lever who was denied accefs to his miltrels by the vigilance of an old Duenna—that the evidence of the Plain tiff's having wrote the anonymous letter, was of too doubtful a nature to authorife a conclufion to his prejudice ; in fact, that thole who were his in timate acquaintance were more likely to form an accurate judgment upon the fubjeet than Mr. linedwhoMel was foe, yat or sn t h •t e re nfi r n c ofd I F ith ran ks, whofe ufual Ofer merely to the firperferiptions letters. He main tained that the D.-fendant baying folemnly pledg edo CrL'fP:oa° herfelf to die marriage, was no: juftified irons any treatment on the part of the Plaintiff to violate her contract. Mr. Jultice Ls &arm Raced to the Jury the na ture of the affion, obi - crying, though it was one which was feldom brought by a man againft a wo man, it was maintainable on the ground that the party complaining was deprived by the condo& of the Defendant of his profpeas of a future eltablith ment. The queflion was, firft, whether the Plain tiff was in a fituation to demand a compenfation and, fecondly, if he was, what thould be its amount? His Lordfltip defcribed the relative fitua tion of the parties, and took a review of all the circumftancts of the cafe down to that of the ano nymous letter. It the Jury were of opinion that letter was wrote by the Plaintiff, and that he thus fraudulently obtained the promife of marriage, they would have nothing more to confider, becaufe certainly a man who had had recourfe to fuch an artifice, was not entitled to recover. If they were fatisfied he had not written it, they would then de termine what damages he had a right to receive from the party by whole caprice he had fultained an injury. The Jury retired, and in about a quarter of an hour returned with a verdia for the Plaintif-. Damages 2001. The Court was crowded with Ladies. This Trial halted from Is o'oluck la the Morn. jag till paft to at Night. I be ex to vs