The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-03-13 00:00:00

BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.

At Nottingham, the cause of " Symmingtun v. Ether-
ington " haa been tried, and was a special jury case.
Plaintiff is the daughter of Mr. Symmington, a surgeon,
residing at Dewsbury, in Yorkshire ; the defendant loan
independent gentleman. and resides on his own property, '
at Sneinton, near Nottinuham. Plaintiff was forty
years of age, and defendant about fifty-one.
Mr. Digby Seymour, for the plaintiff, said his client
had sacrificed the bloom of her early youth for the
defendant; and there had paosesll between them 134
letters, 34 of which were on his bief, from which the
learned counsel read copious extr ts, the court from
' time to time being convulsed wiW laughter. In one
of the defendantsi earliest letters ,dated 1858, he con-
cludes as followa :
" Make yourself happy and eonsfoijable, and proceed on
your way rejoicing, and accept the alasurance of the aural-
teeing love and affection of your devoted
"JOHN ETIIERINGTON, Jun."
In another letter, dated the same year, he said-
- --

,
I'll never leave, deceive, nor forsake you. Forty summers
have I wandered on this terrestrial scene, tossed by various
tempests I still feel at a loss to comprehend why you
should hesitate for one moment to lot me know your exact
age. Can ye think, my dearest, that I should allow my
feelings towards you to be intineneed or affected in the least
whether you were fifty or sixty? No !no Alice is engraven
upon my breast and there it must iemain. I cannot erase
it I desire a stromovinded, spirited, intelligent, and
sensible woman. I think I perceive these qualities in your
own dear self. Do not desert me.
" Oh, let no rival your affection share,
Long as my bosom beats, ye lovely fair.'
. . . I am becoining quite trail with anxiety and
trouble. Not so with you. You can spare me one of your
bright ringlets. I shall preserve it as a sacred token of
your affection and 10ve.....1 never cease thinking
of you, from the fisher to the reclining upon my lonely
conch: anti I watch with an anxiety I never before ex-
perienced for the reception of those loving and cheering
Hose reciprocating the sincere and heartfelt sentiments of
the unchangeable love anti affec:ion of your devoted and
ever attached, "Joey; NTHERINoTipg, Jun."
In another letter of the same year defendant wrote :
"Accept therefore the humble declaration of one who
reveres and adores you; for come what may, as long as I
have a head upon my shoulders and hands to work, I will
never desert that woman if she continues in the path of
rectitude, who has for so long a period fostered me iii her
thoughts anti devoted herself to me. Ido highly appreciate
your letters. They are short, but they are no less sweet and
lovely, and embrace in a few words what it takes me sheets
to disclose But what is this inclosed in an envelope?
It is not glass. No, it Is reality. It is a lock of my dear
Alice's hair. How comforting, how exhilarating, how beau-
tiful? Where shall? place it? Here, next to my heart—in
the interior of my inside waistcoat pocket. There shall I
preserve it as a precious token of unchangeable love. It
shall remain in the envelope ; neither gold nor silver shall
encircle it, they would debase it.
"' But you, oh, you, my Alice,
Si pert ect anti 80 peerless, are created
Of every creature best.'
" Will you permit these lines to this abrupt conclusion by
reiterating the sacred and warm expression whi..h closed
your last. lam sure you will accept the overflowing stream
of affection which has dictated these lines, and preserved me
in your bosom, where alone my happiness is centred, for I
am still. and ever shall be, your ever devoted and attached,
JOHN ETLIERINGTON, Jun.''
In a subsequent letter the defendant concludes as
follows :
.• Fatigue would be much more agreeable to me than re-
pose, and dangers than ease if endured in your service.
The idea does no solid pleasure give,
She must vrithin my sight as well as fancy live.'
And now, my dear creature, accept from your unworthy love I
the deep current of affection which has dictated these lines ;
and permit me to reciprocate those endearing lines which
closed your last. May God bless, protect, and direct you for
the best, tithe sincere prayer and wish of your ever devoted
and attached, "Jails ETHfiItINGToN, Jun."
In another letter, which occupied four sheets, defen-
dant said 1—
" not, oh ! my dear Alice, If I could again but see you,
how many proofs could I give you of those endearing senti-
ments which so completely overwhelm me ! Never mind,
my love: the time is not far distant when I trust we shall
again meet: and then, oh then my Alia, sunk sweet litres
and embraces, we should never forget them

With you at my aide, oh ! my amiable Alice, my long-
cherished love, cheering me on to happier days. I would
walk bare-footed a hundred miles to see you for a few

days."
In the course of a few years the defendant's letters
became cool, and he ceased to correspond with the
plaintiff in 186:1. She wrote to remonstrate with
him, but he never answered her letters. In 1868,
however, the defendant wrote to her as follows:
"I am surprised at your intolerable impudence and
audacity, and yet I need not be when I and, unfortunately,
women so imprudent as to he constantly following, pestering,
and boring ne,, with their insatiable, affected, and selfish
devotion and !minium, gratifying no doubt to those who
merely consult their own interests and other people's
pockets, but, be assured, command not the least sym-
pathy of men, who regard this sort of conduct with
pity mingled with contempt. I told you many veers
past that I declined all correspondence and all association
with you in terms sufficient to convince the most senseless,
and for reasons which I hadthen and now good cause to en-
tertain ; and yet, notwithstanding, by your note of yester-
day, you appear to have been following me with your
' pappish ' letters for years past, dogging my every step on,)
movement. What do you mem by this conduct? I don't
want you. I would not be bothered with you at any price.
I am not quite such a fool as that, although you may think
so, as you treat me otherwise, and beware if you still persist
In troubling and annoying me I shall take other steps of pro-
tecting myself, and prevent you being a source of any fur-
ther annoyance to me"
- - - • - -•

Several witnesses were examined to show that the
plaintiff had suffered from great prostration since the
engagement was broken off.
'l'he Jury found a verdict for the plaintiff—damages
1:&00.