The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1869-08-03 00:00:00

Tll6 ABSENT HUSBAND RETURNED.

London is the only place in all Europe whir,. man
can had • lacers retreat, or remain, if be pleases, many
years unknown. If he pay. coastantly for his lodging.
for his provisioax and for whateover du he want., so.
body will ask • quratioa concerning his., or inquire
-bon he oomea, whither he goes, ite. Dr. King
relates the following oridenoe of this fact, in his
pleasant volume of "Anecdotes of his Own lime,"
published in 1819 :
" About thie year 1706 (mys the doctor), I knew sae
Mr. Howe, a erosible, wall-natured roan, poss.-red of
an estate of 1.700 or £BOO pa annum; he married a
young lady of good fanily In the west of England, her
maiden name was Hallett; she wee agreeable In her
;arson and manners, and proved a very good wife.
Seven or eight years after they had been married, he
roes one morning early, and told his wife he was obliged
to go the Tower to transact some particular business;
the same day, at noon, ha wife received. note from
him, in which he informed her that he was under •
*enmity of eolith to Holland, and should probably be
absent about three weeks or • month. He was absent
from her 17 years, during which time she neither heard
from him oar of him. The evening before he returned,
whilst she was at supper, and with some of her friend.
and relations, particularly one Dr. Hose, • physician,
who kiad married her sister, • billet, without any name
stibrisrlbed, was delivered to her, in which the writer
requested the favour of her to give him • meeting the
next evening, in the Birdrage Walk, in St. James's
Park. Whim she had raid the billet, she tooled it to
Dorset Hose, end laughing, 'You us, brother,' said she,
• old is I am, I have got n gallant.' Rose, who
persual the net* with more attention, disalated it to be
Hr. Howe's handwriting; this surprised all the ooro.
pony, and so much effected Mrs. Howe, that she (Muted
away ; however, she loon recovered, when it win
agreed that Dr. Rue and his wife, with the other
centigrams and ladies who were then at supper, should
attend Hrs. Howe the next everting to the Birdcage
Walk. They had not been there more than live or six
minutes, when Yr. Howe same to them, and after
saluting his fiends and embracing his .if., walked
home with her, and they lived together in great harmony
from that time to the day of his death.
"lint the most curious part of my tale remains ti be
related. When Howe left his wife they lived in a
house in Jermyeatreet, near St. James's Church; be
went no further than to • little street in Weetatinsur,
where he took • room, for which he paid 5.. or 6s. a
week, and changing his name sad dime himself by
by wearizur black (for he visa fair man), e remained
Is this habitation during the whole time of his thrones
He had had two children by his wife when he departed
from her ; but they both died young in a lew years
after. However, daring their lives, the sersund or
third year alter their father daappeared, Yrs. Howe
was obliged to apply for an act of parliament to procure
• proper settlement of her haaband's setae, and a pro-
vision for herself out of it during his thane., as it wu
uncertain whether he was alive or dead; this set he
suffered to be solicited and passed, and enjoyed the
pleasure of reading the program of it in the votes, in •
little coffee-hone. near hi. lodging, whisk be (requests?,
Upon his quitting his wife and family in the mane', g
have mention. i, Mrs. Howe at first imagined, au,
amid not conceive any other cause from such so pt
elopement, that he bad owstracted a large debt •ooknovn
to leer, owl by that means involved himself in ,girenitice
he ooald not easily surmount; and for a ahe days she
lived in continual apprehensions of r. from
ereditors, of eeiseres, executions, kw. lett aothiag of
Ora kind happened.
" lira Howe, after the death of 11,tebgigr., thought
proper to lemon her family of Dem the
of her hoaaskeeninE and, the.fteera removed from
her house in Jumps-street to algae
street, near Goideemquare. hat lived
one Balt_a eienaebasdle.. Abmt ten yeas sh.,
Howes thdieetlen, he or strived to make an esqnaint-
anoewltbBalt,sndwe, at leneth in each a degree al
letteteeTwilhihfielhe A be asually dined with Salt ones Or
lwhee o writ " Ass the room in yeah they set it
was not Mama leek into Mrs. Hews'e dinlaproom,
where she 80,erally asit and reerthed company; and
Bat, who bv,m,ed Howe to be a hesitator, frequemely
r.eommefl' his own wile te him as • suitable math.
/o- arlike 'As last wain year. of this gentlereaa's
he Sunday to St. • hablell 0.21112161 e=
tw wx in Mr. Salt's seat, where he had a mew of his
w.f.% but could not sully be seen by her. After he
retuned home be never would °oases, even to his
rust intimate frieads, what was the real cans* of math
singular soaduct ; apparently there we. none; bet
whatever it was, he was certainly ashamed to own it
[Jr. nese has often said to me that he believed his
'brother Howe would never have returned to his wife
If the money which he took with hiss, which was rap-
rued to have been £l,OOO or 0,000, had not been all
*pent ; and he mast have been • good eemoomist and
frugal in his mums, of tiring, otherwise his mosey
would scarce bare held out ; for I imagine he had his
whole fortune by him, I eau what be curried sway
with him in money or bankldlls, and daily took oat of
his beg like the Spnoinrcl In' Gill Mu," whst was
sufficient for his expenses."
Dr. King resolved this remarkable der/ from Dr.
Roes and Mr. Salt, whom he often met at Lag's toffee-
house, near Golden-square.

The SIMI* MID TUI LADY'S-11/11D.—fieer7 Wis.ter,
45, butler, warn brought up on a warrant from Ramedee.
near OnfOrdl, shamed with trending certain letters to
&len Hainlyn. threatening to kill sad murder her. Mr.
Jobeteett ePneneed to proureate. sad Mr. Pain Wended.
Complaisant said elm lady's-weld, at present *W-
ing with her miatreas at the Ovut Western Hotel. She
knew the defendant, and was engaged to be married he
him. The letter dated July 11th wss labia hand writhmt
in whtela it mays, if I did not marry him. ha 'NUM
hang for rue. She reosiveduoiliar ma July 19.11 which
he says be has derided an the deed he lusd seentiosed ;
but it weeld not happen till he bad mean bey the wife
of anotker.—Orees-eramlned Received • letter on the
'list of June, in which binned hp. his deereot wife, and
muted to make no appoinwent where ki meet and snake
arrangements for marrying in Riper. That wu in
answer to one in which SIM had told hint be did nothing
but talk. In another part he raid be bad all hie wedding
snit but his waistcoat. Ile sent her a sovereign. bus
not for her wedding dream, She declined to answer
what the sovereign was for. Mr. Pain said be would
not go into all ths letters, becomes there were scandal in
all of them. There was one sentence wherein she said
t• people thought it homy she wee going to get aullrnd
to a man whom she had not seen for a twelvemonth ;
and after a long absence she observed how her heart
yearned for lvin. How lonely she felt in wandering in
the wintry lane without her darling Harry, 4/It:I
lowers. She had poked a dog-ruse thu day, and
it for her darling Retry. Oh I that be area with her,
to pck this elimbing Isonqueble. Delightful f' Own-
pleasant kept calla' defendant • wretch and lend for
having the letters read. Mr. Pain continued, reading
ape or two more extracts " You seat me • br,lliens
sealant of the beauties of • woman n the
West of Haftlead wham you pee ep fair nie."
file afterwerds pales in leer warm elution, sod three
"mks Me &bantam ma straclumeit tolhe butler when
sbe is La service. Ills elitist had not the leen idea of
doing her may 120 T tad she 'night rad unwed she
mould go book to net° in safety. Mr. Mansfield said he
did not think she had any just Posed, for
anybody in the position of .lot would be glad to
id a a lady who was so cambium or volatile to
rim. ' At the soul' time lie ought not to have written
„ugh fisfork He Wed HAP Wind ewer to keep the
t"*"..