Star. — London, England, 1825-04-04 00:00:00

Fr' W I ~a of . LIPRLs Mr. WILLIAMS spoke in mitigation, contending thpt plaintiff was the seducer, from her age and experience; and that defendant was unable, from poverty, to meet heavy damage , . Mr. Justice BVRIIMIGH said, if a beggar made bia:o self amenable to the laws, he must pay - for it either in his purse or his person. Immoderate damages should be avoided, but they should always cover the injury sustained. The verdict has not reached us. GLOUCESTER, APRIL 2. GOODRICH 14 lICICIIIIL Mr. Caoss stated, that this was an action by Mary Goodrich against Samuel Ricketts, for a breach of pro. mise of marriage. Mr. Roassiz stated the case on behalf of the plain tiff. He should best discharge his duty by giving a plain sketch of the wrongs of which *she complained; for a tale of perfidy on the one hand, and of suffering on the oiler, would not find its way less surely to the heart because it was simply told. Miss Goodrich was about 27 years of age, one of seven children who had lost their mother, and whose father had seen better days, and now, on the verge of 80, was incapable of supporting or protecting his children. The plaintiff had honourably and virtuously exerted herself to con tribute to the support of her aged father and her sisters. The defendant was a man 88 years of ay, who filled for several years a respectable situation in the family of a Gentleman at Braintree, near Bristol, to whom he was steward, bailiff, and butler. The parties were un doubtedly of no very elevated condition; but the letters which would be read, would show that they were quite able to form a strong attachment, and to-un derstand and feel the miseries attendant on its dissolu tion. Miss Goodrich often visited her aunt, who lived near Braintree, and thus the defendant had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with her merits and her charms. He admired her; as well he might, for she was worthy to excite admiration in any mind; and in April, 1823, avowed his regard. He began his addresses as a poet, and sent her a copy of verses which, whether they were mitten by him or only selected by him, did honour to his feelings and taste.—(Here the Learned Counsel read a very decent sonnet, which we think we have seen in one of the Magazines, and which certainly was not original). The verses were favourably received, and he was encouraged to address her in prose. On the 11th of May, he addressed a letter containing a formal offer of his hand, and expressed in language which bore the stamp of sincerity, and exhibited no common feli city of expression. —(The Learned Counsel read the let ter, a hich luny justified the character which he gave to it. The writer assured the object of his affections, that the tame which had now burst forth had not arisen in a day, a month, cr a year, but had gradually increased from the first day he had the happiness to see her. He expressed his hope that she would not suffer any pre- judice at king from his situation to influence her, as he in tended to resign it as soon as possible; and stated, that he found himself possessed of 5341. which he had saved in the set vice). This proposal, expressed in terms calculated to win and subdue the female heart, was accepted; and a correspondence took place, which lasted above a year. Mr. Ricketts applied to the brother of the plaintiff, in consequence of the infirmities of the father, and received his entire approbation-of his views. In one of his let ters, he assured her that he had never any view to her fortune—he tt ought himself is happy in possessing so great a prize—and declared,tbather modesty,herbeauty, and her virtue, were a dowry far beyond his merits or hopes The Counsel for the defendant might say, and ptobably would say, that these letters were ill-spelled; they %ere so ; but essentially they were letters of which no man need be ashamed, and furnished an example of the truth, 'hat when any man feels deeply and sincerely, he will grow eloquent in his theme. In June, 1824, the poor father of the plaintiff, having become bound for one of his sons, was plunged yet deeper in misfor tune; and won after a marked difference appeared in the conduct of the defendant. The letters of Miss Good rich remained unanswered ; and in her suspense and sorrow, she begged her brother to se.k an explanation with her lover. He saw the defendant ; who disclaimed any change of sentiment, attributed his coldness to some harsh expression of Miss Goodrich ; and said that if she would write again all would be well. When a woman loved, she was willing to do and to suffer much.; and . Miss Goodrich did write in the most affectionate terms. —ln reply, the defendant sent her 'his last letter, dated Novensb:r 2, 1824, in which he dissolved the connexion. He complained that she would not now, write as once she would have written—though for four months she did not receive an answer—a very pretty notion for a lover to begin his matrimonial course with ! and declared that she was changed; that he was sorry for her; but that it was now absurd to think of mar. riage. Astonished and distressed at this letter, she begged her brother again to see the defendant, who coldly-told him, while he bore testimony to the purity of his iister's character, that he could not marry her, as h was advised by his friends to retain the lucrative si t tion which he filled. Thus were the fair hopes of 1 a plaintit utterly blasted. A *ember of a large fairoly;• she had no hope of obtaining a settlement in marts Ise ; she had no affections to bestow ; but having warted them on the defendant, was left by him to the pity and the worn of the world. To assail her chr , sac. ter was impossible—to palliate , the conduct of the de fendant on the score of youth or rashness, was out of the question; and as he bad acquired money she would have abated, and had deserted her in order to wain his situation, the Jury would, no doubt, feel that he ought now, out of those profits which he had preferred to her repose ' to give her such compensation as money could • afford for such au iuiury. One or two witnemesitning been examined for prosecutirs, several letters were put in, and read. The spelling was singularly bad, but the matter re markably sensible, and the diction uncommonly good for the station of the writer. All except the last were expressive of the most ardent yet honourable and re. spectful attachment to the plaintiff ; and throughout the whole, there were very few sentences which could jus tify a smile. Mr. LUDLOW shortly addressed the Jury in mitigation of damages, and urged the situation of the parties—not, as. a reason why the plaintiff shiuld not have fu ll a n d ample justice, but as indicating Am no very severe iuf feting had been endured, nor any lasting wrong inflicted. sta. Nem Guise, left the we le the Midi a the Jeer l llie Airy attuned a yield,* be the plaisdf--Deatages, 751. YORK. APRIL 1. • Ptts P., MairwmarLe V. VARDILL. • N c. *petty to the amount . 4 rts tried before a Spe ciel ftsimarfutitihe ikidirs 'else. This was . • 'a cause, be said, of great hafortaace to the pasilesp i from the amount of property involved, and also a nice question of the international law between England and Scotland. If, however, his view of the case was cot rem the second question would not came under the consideration of the Jury. The plaintiff, who was pro bably known to some of the Jurors, was John Burt whistle, Esq. a young Gentleman residing near Skipton, and the defendant was Mrs. Vardill, his aunt. The grandfather of the plaintiff- had three sons—William and Robert, who died without issue, and Alexander, the plaintiff's father ; and one daughter, the present de. fendant. Mr. Alexander Birtwhistle, when at the age of twentrtwo, quitted this country, and became do miciled in Scotland, where he carried on business ex tensively, held several estates, and lived till 1810, when he died, and was brought for burial to Skipton. Mary Purdy, the mother of the plaintiff, was the daughter of an Irish Gentleman, who, becoming involved in his cir cumstances, took his family to Scotland, where his son entered into the service of Mr. Alexander Birtwhistle, and became his overlooker. This Gentleman, seeing his overlooker's sister, who was a young Lady of great beauty, became enamoured of her; and as she steadily resisted his advances on any dishonourable terms, whilst he did not dare to marry her publicly, owing to the objections of his sister-in-law, Mrs. Thomas Birtwhistle, who kept his house, and intended to leave him her property, he married Miss Purdy privately.— This marriage took place in the presence of his chief clerk, Denison, and a friend named Thompson, on the 12th Nov. 1795. These witnesses were dead, but Mrs. Birtwhistle would be called, and would state to them the facts. Mrs.Thomasßirtahistle died in 1803 or 1801, and in 1805,Mr.AlexanderB. publicly mart ied her, and in the deed of marriage it was distinctly asserted that the psr- 1 ties had been 4 , privately and irregularly married on the lath N0v.1795." Mrs. B. lived at a separate esta'ilith ment kept by Mr. B. and as the mistress of the house. She afterwards lived at Balmay, in a style of splendour ' wholly inconsistent with the idea of her being a mistress.' It would be shew it that Mr. A. Birtwhistle had stated his marriage to many different persons. Now, if they should even fail in this proof, it was the fact that a sub sequent marriage in Scotland, accord.ng to the Scotch law, legitimatized children born previous to the mar riage ; and if this was the law of Scotland, a child thus legitimatized there would be held legitimate all over the world. He quoted Huber, who lays down the principle that the rights and qualities of persons are held the same in all countries as they are legally recogniz d in their own country. Evidence was called to support the plaintiff's case. Mr. SCARLZTT believed the question of law in this case to be, whether a man who is the lawful heir to an estate in another country will be heir to estates in England, if be should have been born under circum stances that would render him a bastard according to the English law ? But the question of fact, with which alone the Jury bad to do, was, whether a marriage had taken place prior to 1805 ? ie then commented on the evidence at considerable length, and contended that the evidence of the previous marriage was unsupported by any credible testimony. The circumstances they were called upon to believe were, that the daughter cf an Irish lab.nuer, who could not ether read or write, all the mtunbers of whose family looked for their subsist ence, worked for their subsistence, and who lived in a kitchen, with a single closet, resisted even the honour able advances of a young man of the most handsome for tube, and needed to be pressed to it by a respectable Magistrate; yet, when once the marriage had taken place, it was consummated after dinner in a room in the factory where there was no bed, and the intercourse carried on in a convenient room of Catharine Mageoch's dram-shop, unless there were some green fields around Gatehouse which served for the scene of their nuptial sites! Such a story was surely contemptible and ridi culous. He decl •red that the case made out was so miserably weak, that he wished the Jury, on looking at it, would stop him, and say it was unnecessary for him to enter into the body of evidence he bad to destroy it. Judge BAYLVI said, he certainly had a strong impres sion on the subject, but Mr. Scarlett must not, on that account, refrain from going on with h;s proofs. Mr. SCARLETT repeated his earnest wish, for the sake of the public, that he might be spared the production of his witnesses, and concluded, after several pauses, by saying, that he would take it u; on himself to re,t the defendant's cause upon the pla;nt ff's own evidence. I The Jury consulted a shot t time, when they found a special verdict for the plaintiff, that there had been a marriage celebrated on the 6th May, 1805. On this verdict, the novel question will be raised and decided in the Courts above, whether persons considered legitimate in the Scotch Law, being born prior to a marriage, and legitimatised by , the subsequent act, can inherit property in England ? The property in this case is estimated to be nearly 2,0001. per ann. in this county, and the interest attached to it, caused the Court to be crowded to excess, by a number of Ladies of rank and fashion ; who, notwithstanding Mr. Scarlett's warm and close examination, with his subsequent comments, were constrained by the pressure, to keep their seats. Oa the Crown side, at these Assizes, Stuannts4 Turpin Win tried on Friday, for poisoning her mother-in-law. I :The principal evidence was Mary Ann Saunderson, grand-daughter to the deceased, and niece to the pri soner. She stated that on a Saturday, in March, 1826, the daughter of the prisoner brought a cake to the deceased's house ; it was shewn to the witness and the deceased, and then put away for tea ; at that time the deceased and the witness ate a portion of it, toasted, and with the witness's grandfather they drank tea out of the same pot. Shortly after eating the cake, the witness and the deceased were taken very sick, and the deceased's husband, who had been advised by Jane Turpin, an other of his daughters in law, not to be too venturesome in tasting it, took it fcr examination to a medical man, through whose advice medicines were administered to the deceased and the witness ; the former, however,who had eaten a greater portion of the cake, died in the even ing. It further appeared from the girl's evidence, th t on the 2Sd November previous, she went with the pri soner to a druggist's shop in Hull, and by the prisoner's desire, purchased some poison, and said it was to de , stroy mice. The prisoner had frequently visited the deceased, and bad seat her provisions when she com plained of being distressed ; but they did not quarrel. Several other witnesses were examined ; but they failed in supporting the charge, and the prisoner was ulti• mately acquitted. The Morning Paper from which we copied the ac count, says, 41 We have reason to believe that the Ask between the Ben' Nero and six mastiffs did not take place on Tuesday Yet at Warwick, at stated in our Paper et Saturday. We received the MOM OMR I COCrofpoS4Onti on when accuracy we have always WOWS! correctly relied." .11AV&I.Nra•v•00P — Abor vb, • • WM Alabildalpinblem Mom fleme's " Every-Bay Book.") Formerly " hot-cross-buns" were commonly eaten in London by families at breakfast, and some families s ill retain the usage. They are of the usual form of buns; though they are distinguished from them inwardly by a sweeter taste, and the flavour of al-spice, and out wardly by the mark or sign of the cross. The 66 hot ,erou-bun" is the most popular symbol of the Roman Catholic religion in England that the Reformation has left. Of the use of the Cross, as a mark or sign in Papal worship and devotion, most Readers are aware; for it has been insisted on by Roman Catholic writers ' from the days of Constantine to Alban Butler himself, who, giving example of its great virtue on Good Fri day, says, " to add one more instance, out of many, St. Teresa assures us, in her own life, that one day the devil, by a phantom, appeared to sit oft the letters of her book, to disturb her at her devotions ; but she drove him away thrice by the sign of the Cross, and at last sprinkled the book with holy water ; after which he returned no snore."" In the houses of some ignorant people, a Good Friday bun is still kept " for luck ;" and sometimes there hangs from the ceiling a hard bis cuit-like cake of open cross-work, baked on a Good Friday, to remain there till displaced ors the next Good Friday by one of similar make; and of this the Editor of the Avery-Day Book has heard affirmed " that it preserves the house from tire ;" "no fire ever happened in a house that had one." This, undoubtedly, is a relic of the old superstition; as is also a vulgar notion in the West of England, that the straight stripe down the shoulders of the ass, intersected by the long one from the neck to the tail, is a cross of honour conferred upon him by Crirtisr, and that.before CHRIST rode upon the ass, that animal was not so distinguished. Hot-cross buns are the ecclesiastical Esdogle, or consecrated loaves, bestows:d in the Church as alms, and to those who, from any impediment, could not receive the Hos. They are made from the dough from whence the Host itself is taken, and are given by the Bien to the people after Mass, just before the congregation is dismissed, and are kissed before they are eaten. They are (harked with the Cross as our Good Friday buns are. Winckel man relates this remarkable fact, that at Her culaneum were found two entire loaves of the same size, a palm and a half, or five inches in diameter.— They were marked by a cross, which were four other lines; and so the bread of the Greeks was marked from the earliest periods. S metimes it had only four lines, and then it was called quadra. This bread had rarely any other mark than a Cross, which was on purpose to divide and break it more easily.t • Butler's Moveable Feasts, 1774, svo. p. 379. Fosbroke's Brit. Moose& Hereoloneons, it will be remem bered, was overwhelmed and destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius, A.D. 79. THE FIRST OF APRIL. The boundless hilarity and jocunJ sports prevalent on the Ist of April in England, appear to have their origin in the ancient practice of celebrating with festive rites the period of the vernal Equinox. But De Bel lingen, in his etymology of French Proverbs, gives the following explanation of a similar practice. The French call the person imposed on Poisson d'Avril, who we term an Apia fool, and he contends that the word poison is derived from passion, and that length of I time has almost totally defaced the original intention, 'which was as follows :—That as the Passion rf our SAVIOUR took place about this time of t! e year, and as the Jews sent CHRIST backwards and forwards to mock and torment him, i. e. from Ananias to Caiphas, from Caiphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate ; this ridiculous or impious cuttom took its rise from thence. There is also a Jewish tradition, that the custom arose from a mistake of Noah, in sending the dove out of the Ark before the waters had abated, on the first day of that month amongst the Hebrews, which answers to our first of April. In Poor Robin's Almanack for 1760, is the following metrical detct iption of the modern fooleries : -- The first of Aprii, some do say, Is set apart fur MI Fools' Day; But why the people call it so, Nor 1, nor they themselves do know. But on this day are people mot On purpose for pure merriment ; And though the day is known before, Yet frequently there is great store Of these forgetfuls to be found, Who're sent to dance Moll Dixon's round; And hiving tried each ship and stall, And disappointed as them all, At last some tells them of the cheat; Then they return front the pursuit, And straightway hew with shame they run, And others laugh at what is dose. But 'tis a thing to be disputed, Which is the greatest fool reputed, The man that innocently weal, Or he that him designedly sent. A short time since, Mr. Edward Rayner, of Stanford Rivers, near Ongar, was robbed of a valuable riding hackney, which, although it had not been accustomed to harness, the thieves affixed to a cart, and being as ex pert in horse-breaking as they are impudent in horse stealing, made a prize of the horse, the cart, and the harness, which no tidings have been obtained to this day; indeed, the little stir made on that occasion, was the subject of remark at the time, and no doubt gave the thieves so much encouragement as to induce them to pay a second visit to Mr. Rayner, which they did on Tuesday night, the fieth ult. so early as eleven o'clock ; about which hour, Mr. Rayner's stables, although locked and barred in as secure a manner as human ingenuity could invent, were forced open, and of five cart-horsey, the thieves selected three of the best, and from another stable they took a clever hackney ; they then harnessed the three cart-horses with Mr. Rayner's best set, and put them to a nearly new hay -cart, painted yellow ; thus complete, they tied the hackney behind, and pro ceeded towards the universal mart for stolen goods.—. The booty obtained on this occasion is much under rated at £2OO, as two of the horses are valued at half the money. CROOKED Cotsminzweas.—A pamphlet published in the year 170 has the following strange title :—" The Deformity of Sin Cured, a Sermon, preached at St. Mi chael's, Crooked-lane, before the Prince of Orange ; by the Rev. James Crookshanks. Sold by Matthew Den.' ton, at the Crooked Billet, near Cripplegate, and by all other Booksellers." The worth of the text are, " Every crooked path shall be made straight." The Prince be fore whom it was preached was deformed in his person. One of the ancients said, that he found a worthy son-in-law had seined a son, and that he who met with Aa worthless one; had lost a daughter. ImPoRrAWr AMArOMICAL trinwilom • PARIS, MARCH 27.—M. Corms, a physician, hat Presented to the Acaderily of 'Sciences, a perm of mai. ficial anatomy, representing th body of a man accord. ing to its natural dimensions. !'he'solidity of the 'Da. terial employed permit, the taking to pieces and putting together again, all the various pieces'of mec . anisns It their very fullest details, and With such scientific accu racy, that a student may, with a book of anatomy is his hand, find out say trace into its m-.st minute parti. culars, and on every portion of the human frame. !ma mediately under the skin are 'exhibited the veinous ST I 4 tern, and the superficial coat of muscles. Rich Muscle may be separately detached, and with it the vessels Ind nerves that run along its surface or go through Its The succeeding coats of muscles, &c. may, in like Manner; be detached and studied separately, or in-selection with the other organs of the system, until the stud nt at length arrives at the bare skeleton. A portion of the last coat of muscles, and of the vascular and nervous system, the separation of which offered no advantage, remain attached to the bones. In the cavities are found all the organs proper to them. The cranium may be opened, and the brain taken out. In this, by means of a cut through its entire mass, may be seen the nainutit of its organisation. The eye, detached from its orbit, may be studied apart. The muscles, the yes els, the nerves, and the membranes of this delicate organ are represented with scrupulous accuracy ; the transparent parts are imitated in glass. The organization of the ' throat may be examined by means of this piece of Me chanism with great-r precision V•an on a natural sub ject. In the thoracic cavity is seen the heart, and ves sels that branch off from it, and which may be followed to their remotest ramifications. One portion of the lungs is divided into two, in order ti, ex:iibit the pulmo nary circulation. In the abdoinin 11 cavity, separated from the preceding by the diaphtagm, are found an exact representation of the viscera. On removing the intestinal mass, the veins, the spleen, the liver, &c. are. disclosed to view. The preparation of the cirgans con tained in the cavity of the pelvis is p irticularly worthy of attention. The removal of all these parts leaves open to inspection the azigos, the thoracic canal, and the grand lymphatic nerve attached to the tenets' al column. This piece of mechanic al anatomy h is, over 2'l other representations of the human system, great advantages. From the solidity of its materials, it can be take's to pieces, and handled and examined in its .uinu est de tails, without suffering any injury ;I. is n 'table to be influenced by the: variations in th • te...p , :ature of the atmospfere; besides its offering the studeit the greatest possible facility for the examtnatio of even the remotest part of the tardy, not only in relation • it.. the whole, but separately, it is the least execusive succe daneum for the human subject that ha, y. t beet. disco vered. The price set upon this very ingeni us and eminently useful piece of mechanism is 3,000 francs. Now it is wtll known that tie war figu e of a in •n, in the natural proportions, exhibiting me. ely t'le outward coat of muscles (the skin bcinz taken • IF), cannot be had for a less sum than between thirty and t rty thou-- sand francs. The Academy of Sciences .as named a commission to draw up a Report upon CI-is i . .vention of M. Ouroux. The Royal Academy of M-dicine, and the Society of Emulatinn, have already roc* such favourable reports upon M. Oat oux's first essays in this way, as to secure to him the counen :ace and encuu tagement of Government. ti A new bridge :lochs the Ltgan, at Belfast, to con- Act the counties of Doi% n and AlMil% has been de. terminal upon, the old bridge rseing so a dangerous and shattered staSe. The estimated expense i f the new bridge is 40,0001. It has been apprehended that our cotton produce to the northward must have suffered severely from the drought; but notwithstanding the scarcity of rain, we learn that the crops this year are very rich, and :'y the last accounts, only required a few showers of rain to bring them to perfection, in which case they are ex pected to yield 25 per cent. above last year's produce. But should no rain fall, our informant confidently assumes that sufficient cotton will be produced to :apply the wants of the market on this side or Wits, though at a rate of 25 per cent. less than that of last year. Prom the seine source we learn that Bownaghur, Dhollera, Broach, Jumbosseer, Porebunder, Handevee, and Kattywar, have not less than 70,000 bales in the markets of the last year's crop, 50,000 of which have been purchased by the merchants of Bombay, and on account of the Honourable Company—and which may be expected to arrive at the Presidency next month. LANOVAGEL—From the work of the learned Ade lung, we find that there exists not less than 3,064 diffe rent languages,einployed in various parts of the earth There are of these : European *dude African American • . MT kii us 1,154 BIRTHS. Tuesday, at Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight, the Lady of the Vet Richard Bracken, of a daughter. The 29th ult. at 'radiant Hail, Unreinahlre, dr seat et the Right Hoe. Lord Clifford, the Hot. Mrs. Clifford, of a daushtor. March 29, in Canterbury, the wife of Captain W. F. Davies, of a son, still-bore. March 24, the Lady of Major Somerville, of the Ent bills Company's D stant, epot, Chat ßithens, ham, of a th daughter. The din at e Lady of Captain Ord, EX. of a son. MARRIED. Tbnrsday, at Sandos, Mr. Iknianda Harlarkk, od Lawman. lane, London. Solicitor. to Susanna, eldest Aluslitsr of as Irv. Gao. Bonney, Vicar of the former Toe. _ DIED. Saturday se'anight, at the Parsonage, Little Thurlow, ti Caroline second daughter of the late May. Timmons Crick, BMW of that place. Tuesday, et Plymouth, Emily Limes, widow of Vite4indind Samuel Hood lame; aged 45 pat% The r/tk ult. at Bath, in the 46th year of hlii age. die Hon. sad lev. George Herbert, brother to the •Barl of Commis, sad him Chairman .1 the Hensphits Quartet Soniens. Soddenly, on the swain of Friday gemlike, aged 115, Idr. Wm Bunter Willis., for 50 years Governor of Hertleed Gaol sad Howe et Correction. MAILS-THIS DAT. A 11114 NM II 0 3 0 Dubai Waterford evidirle, sad Jere* 0 0 laill., 111. 1 0 Usbus Getteabergh Males o 1 O . 1 O 1 itionbursb 11 1 Pbunious I 0 Holland 1. 0 Buenos Ayres 0 1 Jamaica 0 1 HIGH-WATZR at LOMDON-BRIDG2 TO-f►IOIIOW. Morning • • 8 minutes dim 4 Afternoon - • to minutes atter 4 Loam : Prollo and Pals Med by J. Ir. ILEALT,4I w Ikaa o►nee, N) I, Piebett•Plece, 11PurbAr. A 1 1 , 5 Ai I 1 - . . t I , r~ -~ i 1 D di S