The Statesman. — London, England, 1809-12-11 00:00:00

4 LAI 13LLIGEN G'E. -.Ns. COURT OF 'LIFO 'S BENCH. Die. 9. Sittin;• Infora Lord ELLExaoanunff and a 6pocial Jury, in Westminster-!lal l. CRIM. CON. sovn V. WIIITE. The ATToRNET-GENERAL opened the case fur the P 1461611. He was sorry to have to present to toe Jury soother case of this description, which althongh it was not marked with all the black stains of guilt that the other, which he had the paha ful duty of stating ')esterday to a Jury, had, yet it wig one which deserved the very serious consi deration of the Jury ; because, although the mis coodu.l of the Dcleudalit had not been so great as that of the case to which he had alluded, yet the injury to the Plaintiff was the same. Mr. Boyd, who brought this action, was a descendant of the noble timily of Kilmarnock, a Scotch Earldom, which became forfeited and the estate e.niGsseted in the Rabellion of 1743; so that to at the branches of that noble family, frugality be.....ineindispetisable. Mr. Boyd had, therefore, utuderiete establishment, living with his grand mother, he bul k lio l i under Guiretniumat the ire spectable uttce of Searcher in the Customs. In the year 1806, the Pliintiff being iu the habit ut visiting in the respectabk family of Mr. Hyde, a surgeon, at Lambeth, became enamoured of the lady whom it was now bis inisfortiiiie to be obliged to call his s ire. Situ Was taco of the age uf sixteen, and he about twenty-ditto; be ho nourably solicited bar in marriage, and the pa tents of butb cause:sting, the mutton took place. They lived together its 'scarce barniossy for souse time, and the graudinother proposed to separate! frunt the family, lest Mrs. Boyd shutild feel ti:tpleasently, on a ectautst of the superiority or the graudinother, by reason of leer age, tile, and eJallettiOUS, :Old to afford the young lady every opportunity to be the perfect mistress of her household; bet Mrs. Boyd desired,bet to stay, to wind), after much intreaty, she consent. ed, upon condition that, at the end of three months, she should retire to a lodging of her own, unless a pi oposal (runt them shutil.i be in tile to her to cop. tutee, and so it was agreed that they should all lire together, and they did so with perfect hat. !nutty. At the end of three mun hs, how ever, the elderly lady fitillin4 herself as it were bound to propose to go an ay, notwithstand. ing the heppiiitat which subsisted in the family, made the request must eareestly, lest it should Ira falt, althoe4ll not expressed, by Mrs. B oyd, that she war not properly mistress of her own hour ; but Mrs. Boyd was so far from assent. ittg to the separation, that she was almost of. fruited with the proposal of it, mid the elderly I.ldy was prevailed tipion to continue in the fa. may. He stated this t., show that there ails Ile reason fur complaint on the part uf Mrs. Boyd, on account of her nut being the inisticts of her house, any more than there was iu the li tteutious ia-hat-ftnishavni, 6Tftu nos feared most affectionate and kind, who, if he had any fault, it was that ho was somewhat too indulgent. In this state of un interrupted happiness they continued until within the last sit months, whets Mrs. Boyd's affection fur her husband was visibly alienated, so that he %tag led to suspect that she had forfeited her ho. nour ; he determined to watch her, mid fur that purpose hit upon a scheme to conceal from her his intentions. tic said he bad oc. casion to go to Oxford, and in order to do so, without impropriety as a public uticer, he pro cured leave of the Board at the Customs, to be absent for a given number of days, and he prepared for his journey. His site's hype. erisy on that occasion was eunsnmate. She wept, and pretended to be inconsulable at the thought of losing her husband only fur a few days. lie went away, believer, on thetsretended ; jourityy ; but instead of going to Oxford, he went to the house of a fiietill, and watched his' wife ; in the mean time he hail directed his ser. vant-maid, and two men, to dodge her as she mesa out, and to follow her until she should enter some house, and then to come to him with ! information where she was; they did su the ful qp‘t lug day, and observed that a gentleman Mee opposite to the window, and site carne down stairs, went out and joined him ; they walked a t tittle wit) , together, then welt into a hackney_ coach, which drove to a notorious house of ill. fame its Chantlos-street, called The ti.ey, into which they entered, and information was given to i the Plaintiff, who ruse with a Constable and de manded his wife. The people at the house said there n as no suet' couple there ; but he persisted. Au attempt was made by her and her paramour to escape at the haek-duor, fur it was part of the conveniencies of these abodes, to facilitate an es cape when parties were pursued—lt failed how. ever, the Plaintiff saw her in the back-paclonr, attempt to go off, but be immediately criml out, " That's my wife." Upun which she cried out, "I" 0 Charles ! Charles! forgive me; the man has not istjured ine, hlm, he has not."--This was tie case lie had to lay lo..,fure the Jury, and the only question would be upon the amronnt of the.damages. lt was true that there was no right of hospitality invaded—no friendship betrayed, nor was any thing like the black catelope of the case yester day. and therefore the Case of the present Defeo dart was very different from that of the other, but still the loss of the Plaintif f was the same in tins case as in that ; and therefore lie was entitled t.i a (tit. compensation ; arid in measuring the damages reference should be had to the coeilitiuts of the party. The Defendaut here was a merchant. Mr. ranee said—" Clerk to a merchant." Mr. ATTORIIItIi•GEMERat. Slid- 44 Be it 114). Clerk to a merchant;'' he certainly had the means of becoming a merchant, for he had a groom ful buying hi:n as he rode out for pleasure; and in tines like the present, up man could dote, who was nut in affittent circumstances, and consequent ly to ri aLe a reasonable compensation to the Plaits. till. against whom it would be impossible to im pute any thing ; and yet, if so happened in eases 61 this kind, that a Plaintiff mast come prepared with a history of hi. MN, to defend himself, being put, as it wore, upon his trial—fur it was now be. COMO a mailer of course for the adulterer to pick up every little squabble which might happen it: a family, every little pouting or trifling that might accidentally arise between husband and wife, still to swell it up into great domestic strife, to sliew that the husband had lost nothing by the loss of his wife; but 'these attempts generally in large.l the reckoning between the Plaintiff and the Defendant, as it did in the case of yesterday ; not shat he knew such a course would be taken here; if it should, he should have an opportunity of ob serving on it ; at present, he should he content with °Decrying, that the Defendant had, by his act, deprived the Plaintiff of the affectitsit of his wife, which was the greatest affliction one nt.in can cause to another in this life. The marriage being proved, Mr. Alexander Lnekart swore, that he had been acquainted with Mr. Boyd and his wife since their marriage ; he was intiniste with the family, and had an up. portunity of knowing_ how they lived together; they appeared to be happy and in mutual affec tion. Major Elms, of the Tower Veteran Battalion, Mr. Ingrain Ryder, of (he Custoni.house, and Mr, A tkinaum, gate eriJossmi to Ilse sewer client : Mrs. 14;” land was called for the same purpose, but she said, that although she never saw any thing in the conduct of Nit-. Boyd that was nut strictly right, at the same time she said she had known Mrs. Boyd to be an unhappy woman. She had heard her say so, aithou4h she stated nothing in the conduct of Mr. Boyd that should hire given her the least uneasiness. Nor did the witness observe any thing in the conduct of Mr. Boyd that was not consistent with the character of the oust affectionate husband. She used to dine in the fa. roily, visiting, it often, and was visaed by the fa. unity, played at cards, and enjoyed amusements with the family, never saw any thing in the con. duct of Mr. 1349 d that led her to suspect that he was not an attentive and affectionate husband. She never saw any thin. , to the contrary of Mrs. Boyd's appearing to b e ' an affectionate wife. Mr. GA WM.—Two ingredients are here found —That Mr. Lloyd was au attentive mud an arc. (innate husband, and that of ;sirs. Boyd hying an affectionate wife, and that should seem to me to make up the compound of what we generally es. timate as the happiness of marriage.—A. True; but very few married couple appear to disagree before third persons. Q. Then, according to our etperienee of the world, all men and women arc happy who appear to ligree; that has hie n hitherto a generally re. ceived opinion ; but you think otherwise2—A. To oohs ard appearance only they were; but -she was not happy. Q. Pray, Nimbus, may I take the liberty of arki!iq yipit, whether you are married or single ? —A. I a.n married, Sir. Mr. GARROW, I am sorry for it. AlFeeder Westaravil t the 'errant, gnve an ac count of her mailer having given her directions to dodge her mistress, and of her doing so, after she went out of the bouse.—The house of the Plaintiff is in the aew buildings at the end of Gray's Inn. lane, commanding a view of the fields ; that, as a gentleman canio opposite to the window, her mistress came down and went out. Saw her walking under his arm. She spoke to two other persons to follow, and they did so. George Millet gave an account of his going with another person, Issue Watts, to dodge Mrs. Boyd, at a signal giwcts, and seeing her and a gentleman going into a coach, which he followed to the Key, in Chandus.street, the gateway of which lie de. scribed to have a dour under it, at which the par_ tics entered ; there was another back door, as well as a door in front. That the message being sent to the husband, lie came w ith u constable and de manded his wife, *lto, he said, came there with a gentleman in a c ;ach. They denied there were any such persons in the hnu , r, or that any such roach came there, hut the Plaintiff persistetl,•and he saw something like preparation (or an escape, by the people of the house going from one room into another, and Mts. Boyd appeared, upon which Mr. Boyd cried out " That's my wife ;" upon which she exclaimed, "0 ! Charles, Charbs, for:;ive me, forgive me ; the rt►an has nut iajured he has not injured me !" Isaac Matthews went from the Key, to the Plaintiff, in the very coach in which these parties came there, to give the Plaintiff infornsation. Lord E f t..Lxuaolionein asked if any question was intended to be made on the identity of the Defendant; for yesterday two or three hours were wasted upou that point, which might base been spared, by admitting a fact which must have been within the parties knowledge, a thing which coet3 nut be ultimately concealed. Mr. Paiute. said, certainly there was to be ne question madrupu►t tho identity of the Defend. set ; he certainly was the person As his was at this brothel, fur which lie was extremely sorry. The ATTORMIT-GENYRAL said, that was the Plaintiff's case. Mr. PA NIL thun addressed the Jury for the De. fendant. He lamented it had fallen to his lot t& defend ceases of this kind, but he d►J su in ilis. charge of the duty which his profession cast upon hint; and he hoped he should be able to discharge that duty, without appearing an advocate for centiousness, for he felt as much disposed as any man to censure all kinds of lewilness and inconti. ROOM lie did not, however, take so gloomy a view se so►ne people did, of the present general state of morals in the society iu which we live. lie admitted there was much licentiousness in separable from the wealth with which some parts of our society abounded, and he lamented that evil, although it was, perhaps, in some measure unavoidable; but taking the whole moss colic: - lively, his opinion was, that there is, at this mo ment, as much virtue among us as there ever was at any period of our history ; and, therefore, there was nu nece.t►ity to visit with 'enmity the conduct of the present Defendant, fur tho sake of suppurt.4 general muralitr. He admitted the' 'Ffig WATESMAN. rondeet •of the 'Defendant was reprehensible. It was an act ntft to he justified, going to this intuit of lewdness, tills -brothel. Ile detested such abodes ; wished them rased to the foundation, and their occupiers publicly whipt, for keep. ing them; but still, although :. he could nor es( use, %d 'night bu allowed to palliate t!, conduct of the Defendant. in . this unfurtii .„ te .. ,,case. here was no hospitality invaded —no confidence abused—no friendship he_ frayed—no seduction even, for upon this evi dence it did not appear that the Defendant ever saw the Plaintiff, certainly never spoke to him; had no disposition to say any thing against him ; was sorry fur the injury he bad done him ; but! o far was he from intending to du him that in jury, that he did nut so much as know that this Lady was married ; and he was so far tr i m hav ing si:duced her, that he did not use any art whatever. From her boldness and her forward ness, he bad every reason to believe that she was one of those loose females vihu are commonly called kept women, of whom the number in this luxurious capital wai too great. That, upon the evidence, it sas fair to infer that she seduced him, instead of his seducing her ; for it was rid,- cultists to talk of the seduction of a woman who floes lute a cowrie with any watt - eht - May hien in the street fur the first tune (for there was too evi dence he ever saw 11.. r before), and hurries away with him to a brothel. The fact was, that this young man happened to be extremely handsome Rod engaging, and as he belongs to the City Light Hone, he used to exercise in the field op. posits► to the Plaintiff's bottle, n here this wautun won►siss ghosted her lewd inclination at him, which he tsar towable to resist, and fell into the snare. He Wee sot a man of largo but moderate income of 'shoot 4001. a-year, which his father, a respectable stereos in Scotland, allowed to him for his support s labile he received commercial in struction by itteedit!g a merchant's counting. house is the city. Under those circumstances lie hoped he had not offended either my Lord or the Jury, by %%hat he had said in defence of this young man ; he recommended the Defendant to lite u ► both as a person who deserved compas sion, rather than severe punishment by heavy da. usages in such a case as this. The Jury were p o ssess e d of"stretogth to crush thlt' young Wien. der, a n d his Lordship with the rube of authority to recommend it, if they should be so disposed ; but he was confident they would administer jus. rice in mercy, and correct him for his error with a lenient hand, who was now so sorry for his fault. Lard ELLE`4IIOTIOUGII observed to the Jury, that no action that was brought into a Court of Justice had a greater variety than that which wits now before the Court ; that of yesterday, nas of the deepest dye they ever was exhibited. This was of a very different complexion, and should, therefore, be much more leniently handled ; fur. tunately fur the lilendant he had th e go .el 5:116c to leave his whim:ego to his own ntscrelion in de, feuding him, iusteaJ of foolishly slid statical, Instructing him to attack the character of the Plaintiff, which generally bad the effect of en hancing the damagei. It - appeared that the Plaintiff had married this lady when himself %sic of 23 and his wife 16 ; that she was of a re. speetable family, and that the ueion was a happy one, for a while at least : but it seemed, that for some reason which did not appear, whether from the perverseness of, her dispositiOti, or some vi. dewiness of habit and corrnption of taste., wan. tininess of inclination, or any other cause, which could not be discovered in this trial, certain it n as, thin the Plaintiff was nut in possession of a' wife whose affection was what the affection of a wife should be 'fee a fond and indulgent hits. hand, such as this Plaintiff *ax proved to he. If her affection had been lost, it was a cause for which the husband was not to blame ; but, however, if the husband did not in fact evjoy great comfort in the society of his wife, but possessed a n ife of ali. (mated affection ; if her bad habits or corrupt dis posioun had misled her, the Jury would not be so severe in their 'verdict as they would be if she had been the bait of women, for the amount of a tean's loss must be collected from the value of what was gone, and that was the only way in is Itch to consider this case, for here was no friendship be trayed, or hospitality invaded ; here the fau't of the Defendant was the bare art of adultery; for would be trifling with Or: understanslin4 to say that the adultery was not proved, after these par. ties had been at thi.; house, a house, on which it was no slander to call it a brothel ; the adultery under such circumstances must he inferred, and then the question was a mere question of darat,ges ; the probability was that this wo man lied within her a wantonness of dispesi. thin, and might have met this gentlemen in the street, as she might be plying for a paramour, and consented at once to the last act of degradation to the nuptial bed, for it did not appear that they had ever s:;eti each other until the day this nth itc.: was committed ; but, however, the Defendant bail committed adultery, whether lie knew it or tint, and *Lett he saw a women well dressed come out of a respectable bowie, the probability was that she was a wife, and if he took tip with her, and committed an act of chambering and wantonness, he did it at his own risk autl peril ; if she was a married woman, it was his misfortette, amid lanai be at his expellee, for there was no fault in the huts. band : he was, at all esents, intitic , l to complain in a Court of Justice, and must have compensation. As to the exclamation of the wife, of " U ! Charles ! Charles ! forgive int., forgive tee d the man has nut injured site!" it was no Sittituwilufl to the husband, mar ',Oas it very clear what she meant by such an expression. The Defendatat certainly had not aggravated his case by his sub. segment conduct, nor had the Plaintiff forfcited his right to claim a compensation. The most cti. mina) persoe was the Wife. Taking the whole case into view, he must recommend it to the good sense and moderation ef the 3tir) to give what damages they oilevitt think tit fur the purpose of justtee. The Jury deliberated a few mittens., and found a Verdict for the Pleiatiff, Desa i ica 2.00!. -•-• • .".•411•Apit.r_ Fisom !MOM CIISETTg, DAL 4. t=ll --•Xt t ie Cuurt.-geitt* Qffliares Palace, the eth of Dee...Aber, IliOtios ' P EYT , Furs 1.1 . The Ji LNG'S Most &wheat Maj•sty le Cesar% • - His Majesty haring•besc pleased td &mita the most Noble Richars Marquis Wellesley, .P. to be one of his 61:4:41's principal Secretares of State, ho was this day, by his Majesty's command, ,aorta one of hil Slajesty's principal Secretaries of State accordsagly. Damning-street, Dec. 8, 1809. A dispatch, of which the following is a copy, wa., this morniag received it Lord Liverpool's of. lice, addressed to Lord Viscount Castlereagh, by Lisoitenint-4eweral Sir Jul►o Stuart, K. Q. dated Messina, 20th Oct. last. Ale Loan—A dispatch, which I had the ho. pour to address to your Lordship on the _kith ult. apprise.' you of the represeatations that had been made to Vice-Admiral Lord Cullingwuod, and to myself, of the solicitude of the inhabitants of &lite, Cephalonia, awl other dependencies of the lonian Government, to receive the assistance of a British force, to libetaW aem from French op. pretislott. The consequimi equipment of an Expedition, antler Brigadier-General Oswald, to act co.ope. mart:ly with a sqnadron under Captain Spranger, of Iris Alajestj's ship Warrior, was at the same time detailed to your Lordship, and stated to have sailed in the pro►ecution of this object, ou the43d of last month, from Messina. The reports, nith which Captain Oswald, of the 33th legimerit, yeslei day arrived from Zaote, and which I have 110 W the satisfaction of transmit. ting to your Lordship, will mark the able manner in which this service has been carried into effect, by the 'officers by whom it was conducted ; and 1 hope his Alajesty will graciously deign to approve the adoption of a project, the success of whirls opens such means of opposing future ob'taeles to the probable views of the enemy, as well as dies)). pointing them in the hoped utility of their present usurpation in that quirt*. 1 have the isosiosir to be, dm J. STUART, Coutu of Ala Lin, ?*-.'" • I .• Bay of Moir, Oct. 3, 1809. a ovis,-•-s consequenee of .y COlir cum. municatiou to Rear.Adinintl Sir Alexander Ball, at Malta, we were fortunate coooglo to had the Spartan frigate off the islands, having on board Mr. Foreati, his klajesti's Moister to the Sepals. sular Berinblit. Chasiderations arising from the advance in the season, and• the precarious state of the %reedier, Induced Captain Sprenger to point out 2ltoote as the primary object of attack. from Mr. Foresti obtained the dust am. pie and correct information respecting that the tapedition stood in and came loan anchor in its roadsted, towards the close of the day on the lit at October. Capt. Serener and meet( fisysirowar to Jrbfd Involving the inhabitante in fin othfortutteit which a direct attack upon the town nom have occasioned. It %Cls therefore determined, that early on the day following the tr.lops should be landed at a convenient bay, three miles distant, protected by the frigates and gun-boats. The first division a the troops (as per mary.in 4l ) l under the immediate orders of Liielenatat-Colonel Lowe, effected a most regular debatiatiOn at the point proposed, mod ita two columns proceeded immediately towards a po. sition turning the defence of the town, and euttiog off its.oemmunieation ofth file castles Lieutenant.Cul.met Li(t i o.lnd his column to the left, clearing an eminence upon which the enemy was said to be posted, moil by this movement a de '(ached battery was turned, some pvisoners made, , and a more direct intereoorse with the shipping established. The corps e hie!, I accompanied marched by a valley till it esreedrd the height con. I tignous to the eastle,which the light troops pushed 1 forward to invest. Upon our approach the enemy had quitted the tot►n, retreating Nino the naturally strong, but most unaccountably neglected fortress, endeavour. log to c.tery Stith hint two six-inch howitaers, which the rapid advance of our ilaukers forced bite to abaft/tun. The tecompailying terms + were then proffer. ed ; and, after some hesitation on the part of the French Commandant, by him agreed to that even. ing. They will, I trust, meet with your Excel. Itney's epprebation, and I beg leave further tsts offer my congratulations upon _the enemy being ellw , pelted from this beautiful aid fertile island, witiK, nhich for a long period, there existed the most beneficial commercial relati,ms, eitil whose tuba. !mann. sn anxiously desired the advantages arising !ruin British connection and protection. I have the honour to be, tise. .1. OSWALD, Brig.-Gee. emernaidirm true is the Imre May. To his Excellency Lieut.-rho. Slr d.Read, K. B. arc. Cephattirila,oa. 5, IWO. • SIR—In my letter to your Kscsrfleary of the 3d instant, 1 had the honour to report, that the es. peililion was preparing immediately to proceed foe Cephalonia, and I hare now the pleasure to ac. quaint you with the hand's being actually in oar pusseemon. The illsprosition made by Captain Springer, of the furfnidable force under his orders, reiiikted vain the feeble etrorts of the enemy to oppose wee eistraner into its capacious and secure ha rbuu r. fore the ships came to an ahrhor, a flag anniinneed the submission of the loin Wildrgostnli, and the retreat of the perrison to the eltstlfor St. George, about six meter distant from thenef. A division of troops, tinder bleitenant-Colonel Lowe, Width; to preserve trtltigtftlllt'y ► and ati ccr proceeded to sOITIIIIOII the Cattle ► which capi. tulated upon the acc►►mpanying term,. Here, as nell as at Z.inte, the inhabitants Gni. versally hailed the British as their welcome• deli. verers frolu that cite! yoke which French opines. awn every where itupost.s. • Itosal Art , .liery, two 4-posaders, atousaing 140115. 1.1 4 bt lirtanar%. Bata Ret I Co „ e Aar. Royal (;orsiestrettangers, (Grenadiers) mai t•anipaniet krgersestl. Ca.-Ijssel:l lAth Regimen.—Ainassting to 60.1 awn. + T.. r.11:14 nere publiobed to The Gutettc 01 Timsday .^.7.1.. •