The Express.
London, England, 1863-02-11 00:00:00

HIT, WATS& AT LONDON ZILIDGB.

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.1..-Nomow-Ilindag. 7h. 111m......Aftems. 7h. /in.

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11.

Fos the last three days the Court of Exche-
quer at Westminster has been crowded, to hear
the story of • domestic comedy, in which Mr.
ADANN an eminent surgeon, and Mrs. Emmett,
a clever Irish lady, and her daughter played the
principal parts. The surgeon, though a married
man with a family, wu charged with having pro-
mised Mies Rumeatt marriage, and having refused
to perform that promise. The young lady claimed
large damages for her disappointment. The rules
of English law, still retaining the old spirit of
exceeding delicacy, forbid the plaintiff or the de-
fendant in cases of breach of promise of marriage
being examined, so that the jury who are called
upon to decide are systematically excluded from
having before them the very witnesses whose evi-
dence would be most useful. Surely, Mims
Ruseut might have been allowed to determine
for herself whether she would come
forward in open court to tell her own
dory. She certainly must have told it
to her attorney and her counsel, and therefore it
does seem a little bard that she should not have
been permitted to tell it to the jury. But even if
the reluctance of this young lady to denounce her
deceiver had been much greater than the reluc-
tance usually felt by others of her countrywomen,
it is cruel that the unfortunate surgeon should
not have been allowed to give his version of what
took place. There are such things sa scheming
widows and unscrupulous spinsters ; foolish
middle-aged mu have been made the victims of
a matrimonial conspiracy; and to refuse persons in
the position of Mr. ADAMS the privilege of publicly
denying the fun alleged against them, is unjustly
to deny them a privilege essential to their safety
and to the defence of their character. In ordinary
life, if any man's friend is accused of a dishonour-
able act, or of having trifled with the affections of
an innocent woman, obviously the first thing to be
done is to obtain his denial of the charge. Juries
compoood of men, and to withdraw from them
the evidence of the person charged with the delin-
quency is unjust not only to them but to the per-
son whose character is at stake.

As both Mr. ADA= and Miss RIIIIIIIILL were ex-
cluded from the witness-box, it devolved chiefly
on Mrs. Maxim, the mother of the young lady,
to prove the promise of marriage alleged to have
been made by the surgeon. The task was by no
Means easy ; but Mrs. Itusesix, who is evidently
a lady endowed with the vigour and vivacity for
which Irishwomen are so justly distinguished, did
her very best. Mr. Arians is a gentleman well
known in the medical profession, living with his
wife and family at Hampstead, and having • pro-
lusions," residence near Cavendish-square. It is
difficult to believe that Mrs. Rceszu could have
been ignorant of these notorious facts even without
inquiry ; but, on the other hand, if she had the
passionate love for her child reflected in her
statement to Mr. ADAM that she was "her
" only treasure, and the daughter of a member
" of his own profession," it becomes perhaps more
difficult to believe that she made no inquiry as to
Kr. ADIJII4 or did not ascertain his circumstances.
The truth probably is that this zealous mother was
so entirely absorbed in the charitable design of
getting • comfortable home for her daughter that
she did not care to make very elaborate inquiries
as to the circumstances of any possible husband.
Statesmen, lawyers, and even bishops, in their
eagerness to grasp the objects of their ambition,
sometimes overreach themselves, and so poor Mrs.
RMIIIILLL in her maternal zeal may have overlooked
the penalties of bigamy which would have crowned
her most successful efforts.

Mrs. Russell. is evidently • typical Irish
mother. She has all the tenderness, the effer-
vescing eloquence, the ostentatious virtue, the genial
shrewdness, and the gushing heroism of that lively
people. Her home is, or was, Dublin ; she is of an
ancient family, of course. " I am," she said in
a letter addressed to Mr. ADA/11, which apparently
never reached him, "I am the niece of Admiral
" Noels ; the Rev. Tnaornn.us Bummer, the
" Dean of Down, is also my uncle ; I have is
" brother and three nephews rectors in the Church, II
" and slao several nephews in her Ma.iserv's ser-
" vice." Fortunately her very name suggested noble
blood, and accordingly it appears that she claims
to be " second cousin to Lord Russzu., and • clip-
" tent relation to the Duke of Wxuanoroe." Her
father was on the staff of the Loan Lisures•rer.
Her husband, who died twenty-three years ago,
was also a medical man, and the young lady who
ought to have been Mrs. ADLIIIB was the sole fruit
of this union. The family estates, wheresoever
they existed, have long disappeared ; indeed Mrs.
Romssm. candidly told Mr. ADAM that she had no
money, and the fact that she was obliged to work
for her living confirms this view. She seems to
be an accomplished person, for that knowledge of
music which she acquired in " early and happy
" days, under the patronage of the Hon. and Rev.
" Barrier Now.," enabled her to derive • living
by teaching in some distinguished families.