The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-18 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY AFFILIATION CASE,

A remarkable case came before the Brighton magistra`es
on Wednesday, in which the plaintiff, Mrs. Thatcher,
widow of an Indian officer, charged Colonel D'Aguilar, son
of Sis George D'Aguilar, with being the father of her ille-
gitimate ch Id, and with having neglected to contribute to
its support. Mr. Hetchineoe, solicitor, of Londoo, ap-
peared for the plaintiff, and Mr._ Roupell for the defendant
Mr.' Hutchinson than epened the
_case. The complaint
was alleged ag•inst Colonel D'Aguilar that he had not
supported his son by the c wriplainent. He proceeded
to say that Mrs. Thatcher was th widow of an officer.
In 1853 she was residing at Brighton with her
children, when Colonel D' Agaiiar, seeing her, was
attracted by her, and, after much perseverance, ob.,
tained an introduction to her. after ascertaining her
Sec., he made her an offer of mar-
riage, Mrs. Thatcher was not a lady
r()ifAfgoeL: positiontuw fortune, and hlw
ie'
aftsa athenciecle funnily,
eel told her that he did not wish
the marriage to take place daring his father's (Sir George
D'Aguilar's) lifetime, as he had other views f r biro.
Unfortunately the result of thser intimacy was the birth of
a child. Colonel D' Aguilar left Brighton to j rin his regi-
mentin London five months before the birth of the child. lie
came down at the thne—engeged a medical man—removed
Mrs. Thatcher, and agreed to allow her £3O a year being
as he expressed it, the same amount asif the child had
been born during her husband's lifetime, she would have
received from the East Itsdia Company. This money aas
. regularly paid by cheques. upon Meters. Hall and Co., from
the col mel, 'eh) now said he did not wish to be annoyed
by Mrs. Thatcher. After some time she wrote to him, and
he then refused to continue the allowance. Till that time
he had !fever asserted th :t, the child WAS not his own, nor
breathed a word against bee reputation. The colonel,
during his acquaintance, had done ell that wee consistent.
He had given Mrs. Thatcher his portrait, a lock of his hair,
and an engaged ring ; had written her many' letter s, and
she had worked him a pair of slippers. After this, he wrc4
her a leter, saying, if she would return all his letters, he
pro-
mise to marry her. Tois she did, when he turned round .
would act as an officer and a gentleman, axed faun his pro_
upon her, abused her, and insinuated that she was every-
thing that was bad. If she had done wrong with him, she
had done no wrong with others. She was anxious to
establish the parentage of the child, and he should rodnee
legal evidence to prove that ithe colonel was its father:
Mrs. Thatcher, examined by Mr.-Hutchinson' deposed ;
In 1852 I became acquainted. with' Colonel D'Aguilar.
Was then a widow, residing at 12, Montpelier street,
where my children were living wth me. The colonel was
then residing with his father, Sir George D'A gular, in
Brunswick-square. In Janeary, 1853, he first called' on
me. Had met him several times before. When the
colonel c tiled I thought he called in an honourable manner,
and he became daily more ardent. He called and brought
bouqutes every day. Gave me his likeness, also an
o gaged ring. It was a handsome ruby ring, worth 40 or
50 guineas. He gave me a lock of his hair. Had a chili
by defendant on December 24, 1853. Oar position in life
is quite equal to the colonel's. - When de -endant gave•
the ring he put it on my finger. (The child wa, here
produced by the mother, who said he was very like
his father, whose photograph was also produced) I
used to teach him (defendant) to sing and to play the
piano, and he offered to teach me drawing in return.
Unfortunately something of a private name took place
before he left Brighton. Before this he promised marriage,
which he said must be private, as Sir George and Lady
D'Agailar had prior views for him, and would never
consent to it. Dr. James Turner, of Regency-square,
attended me in my confinement. I 'neither engaged nor
paid Mr. Turner. I received many letters from the colonel.
Before the birth of the child Freceived a letter from de-
fendant, requesting these let:eter to be eent back, saying if
so he would be inclined to fulfil his promise I returned all
the letters, and after that, in consequence of a communi-
cation received from Mr. Turner, had been in the habit
of drawing cheques on Hall's Bank for £7 lOs a quarter.
In May, 1854, I received a letter from defendant (The
letter was produced and read. It offered an allowance,
refused to adopt the child, and desired to broek off the,
correspondence) He had never accused me of inip,opriety
of conduct before. This was of er I had returned the ring
and letters. He had always been very affectionate, and no
man could be more devoted or kied. I never received any
money from the colonel, except from these claques, the
proceeds of which were applied to the maintenance of the
child. Commenced an action for breach of promise of mar-
riage in Max, 1855. To support this child I have
parted with my own income, and taken a position
in a scho3l. Have called on Mr. Bellingham,
asking him, as Colonel D'Aguilar's agent, to use
his ineuence to induce the colonel to continue the allowance.
—Cross-examined by Mr. Roupell: Have brought two
actions against the colonel. The one for breach of promise
is still going on, and the othei was in the county court. Was
taken ill there, and fainted. Corroborative evidence
having been produced. the plaintiff underwent a long
cross-examination by Mr. Roupell, relative to her mode of
ie •Fc-i,
with slept
3tihrse.retenr Thatcher, a
life before she leastwise acqeainted with Colonel D'Aguilar,
the different lodgings at which she had resided, and her
conduct during that period. Ste was also questioned
~.lonely res,p c ing several gentlemen whom she was
aliet. el to have bean acquainted with, and with whom, the
deaveured ,o elicit, she had
en hoatdihnetinirmoprrha-lapnedr,nianttivitierrre:
counsel
eaint eatuhnTii
~thing
id(g),
on isnn
sought h e md oi snt to p
thebo
es tf.ei
ays 0
ate a meb
shed,
the course. The
the statements -Sir' • of
hadand acsyseerretaeltdlaekitehnat
Ann
jyrac,,,:aning, a
lodging-house
Roupell
Mr.e. Thatcher „„,,Le in the habit
1852, at No. 29,
William Firth, who
m,,s.ere-street, Chelsea,
as repre-
kaodea
esefno
nezart
ft:hes:nee:ie. ,aipatvtilswimadnhihgteniaosr,
during
plaintiff
cousin
t,aniistitndihefsiaei.
oont
nmtt;
meataahtmecah.Astr ;0 occasion
Witness said she was quite certain as to that fact. After
'he had left England to go to Australia, several gentlemen
were in the habit of visiting her, and one of them, named
Granville, witness said, appeared to be on the same terms
f intimacy as Mr. Firth, and the witness could swear that
he had slept with her once. In cross-examination, witness
admitted that plaintiff hid charged her with stealing a
£lO note, and that she had not mentioned any of the
circumstances until after that accusation. Charlotte Jane
Husband depoard that she lives at Gravesend, and
is the daughter of an officer killed in the Bur-
mese war. Mrs. Thatcher and she had lived together
in Albany-street. While there, Mrs. Thatcher had asked
her to call upon a Mr. Danbar for money. She (plaintiff)
was about to bring an action for breach of promise of mar-
riage against him. On one occasion, &gentleman followed
them and threw Mrs. Thatcher on the bed. The landlady
discovered them, and bundled them both out. This witness
than went on to affirm everything which the plaintiff had
denied in .her cross-exatninat,on. Mr. Hutchinson was
about to reply, when Mr. Bigge said, the magistrates
had unanimously came to the conclusion to make
an order on the defendant to pay 2s 6d a-week.
[Looking at all the circumstances of this singular case, it
cannot, we think, be said that the course taken-in opposi-
tion to the claim made by the plaintiff, reflects much
credit on the defendant, Colonel D'Aguilar. Whatever
the character of Mrs. Thatcher may have been, the
defendant thought fit to form a liaison with her, even
going Al far as to. pay her attentions which betokened
a resolve to make her his wife. The fact of his subse•
quently agreeing to allow her £3O a year, establishes his
belief that the child which was the result of the con-
nection was his own. Nothing in the evidence adduced be-
fore the magistrates discloses sufficient grounds for
withdriwing that allowance ; and even supposing he was
eppreheas:ve of subsequent annoyances, there roust have
been a better mode of meeting that emergency
than by taking front her the means of support for her
child. The method adopted, moreover, by the gallant
colonel for getting back his letters, which, as Mrs. Thatcher
alleges, W-as by a promise to fulfil his engagement of mar-
riage, can scarcely he reconciled with the rules of honour
and fair dealing. But what we are disposed especially to
condemn, is the raking-up of the circumstances of her
past life aed history prior to her acquaintance with the
defendant, with the view of destroying her reputation more
cenpletely than had been done in consequence of her
acquaintance with him. The case is one which should
never have been suffered to be brought into court, and had
the allowance which Colonel D'Aguiler originally made
been continued, the Brighton magistrates would have been
spared the necessity of entering upon what must be
characterised as a most repulsive investigation.]

SARDINIA.—The festival of the constitution was erle-
;rated at Turin on the 10th instant with great solemnity.
Th King, the royal family, UM' the diplomatic body
took part in it. An immense number of strangershad arrived at Turin on the occasion, and all the hotels
were full.

TVIEmcAL PROFESSION BrLL.—The bal introduced by
Mr. Beadlain, on Wedeesday, is another attempt to aban-
d4n th.):,e absurd distine,ious whieh prevail in the three
king orals. Mr. Ileadlain's present bill is substantially
throughout the whole kingdom is
uhinsirobrmillityofoflae,dttuyactaion Its main object is to insure
n
the case of medical men. It provides that persons who
have pastel the required examination in one portion of the
country, shall poses the right to practise 'their profess;on
in any other portion of it; and also, that there shall b 3 a
perfect system of registration, so that the public may be
enabled to ascertain, with as small an amount of trouble
as possible,whether any particular person is or is not a
legallyq ualifidd meclicl practitioner. These are the
three principal provisions of the bill. 'the machinery by
which it is proposed to carry them out, has received the
generally,
approval of the medical profession

THE LEAD LINE AGAIN.

TO THE EDITOR OF Tll,, NORTIIE,II TUI A?

Sir,—Your correspondent LS I- ii.'l.("O'V'•
again mounted his hobby horse to dese,lot ot, La.:
" Crying evil" of the non-use of the lead line.
No one can be more fully alive to the value of
the lead, as an aid to safe navigation, than myself ;
it cannot therefore be inferred from my com-
menting on your correspondent's letter, that I
advocate its neglect, or that such neglect is not
deserving of censure or punishment.
It has of late been the fashion with courts of
enquiry into maritime casualties in the merchant
service to attribute such, in many instances, to the
neglect of the lead, when such courts have been
unable to discover the true causes of the accident ;
but which a competent court would have had little
difficulty in doing. If the assessor, by whom these
enquiries are virtually conducted (and who is
pro-)scentor, judge, and jury), would, as is his duty,
work up the ship's courses and distances from the
last definite position, he would find that such
courses, should, in many cases, but for some
hidden cause, have taken the ship clear of all
danger, or that, when getting ashore, she might
reasonably have bean expected to be many miles
in a diff,n'ent direction; and it is only by ascertain-
ing the true causes of casualties, and making them
known, that the proper means can be adopted to
prevent their recurrence.

PI," mentions the loss of the steamer, Amelia,
which he says was " owing to the disregard of the
lead line;" whereas " the (nautical) justices were
of opinion that the accident arose in consequence
of the master either mistaking the land or misjudg-
ing his distance from it;" but as these skilful
navigators on the bench cannot find out which of
the two errors it was that occasioned the loss, they
cut the Gordian knot by jumping at the conclusion
that it was from disregard of the lead. The ex-
traordinary effect upon compasses by fogs and
snow-storms are not yet sufficiently known to put
masters on their guard against the vagaries of this
Instrument.

When bound to Liverpool in a dark night, with
no lights visible, no sane commander of a steamer
would do otherwise than use the lead, as " R " says
was done by tha captain of the Mona's Queen,
when steering directly towards miles of sand-banks,
and having to pass through a crooked channel be-
tween them of only a few hundred yards in width.
Your correspondent says—" in the many cases
of wreck that have taken place within the last
twelve months 90 per cent have been found to have
taken place in consequence of the non-useof the iead
line." Such random assertions may suit his purpose
very well; but let me remind him that although facts
may be unpalatable to him, they are " stubborn
things," and not to be shaken by his exaggerated
assertions. I must, therefore, in justice to your
readers and the officers of the merchant service,
show the enormous per centage which must be
taken off " It.'s" statements, before the truth is ar-
rived at, and his opinions and assertions can be
estimated at their proper value.
By the Board of Trade returns of wrecks and
casualties, On or near the coasts of the United
kingdom, during 1856, there were wholly wrecked
or seriously damaged 837 vessels—of these it is
stated that 38 cases were from the " neglect of the
lead ;" but of this number, I do not hesitate to stiy,
notwithstanding the dictum of magisterial navi-
gators, that some of them are clearly referable to
other causes. This number, however, gives 454
Per cent. of the whole casualties as the result of
neglect of the lead, instead of " R.'s" 90 per cent;
and weighing his opinions in the same balance, we
must take 85,1 per cent off them be'bre we arrive at
anything like an approximation to the truth.
"11,-" says that the captain of the Emperor being
deprived of his bread for six months is " no punish-
ment " tor violating no law, or being guilty of no
wilful or illegal act of omission or commission—he
N.ntsatfine and imprisonment, but who, I would ask
nun. would %vet their toes in salt water to be thus
treated for an error of judgment or accident arising
from •
a clicuinstance over which they had no con-
trol when they could earn an honest crust by any
other calling, and the persecution to which officers
of the merchant service are now subjected when
Meeting with an accident is quite sufficient to pre-
Vent that accession of talent to the service on
which its efficiency depends.
Humphrey Brown, Cameron, and Co., after hav,
ing fraudulently appropriated the monies of bank
shareholders, and of widow and orphan depositors,
May become bank directors and managers to
morrow.

Houses fall in Tottenham Court Road and else-
where, and souls are momentarily hurried into
eternity, by a wreck of bricks and rafters, but
neither landlords nor tenants, builders or survey-
ors, nor any body else, will be prevented from
following their ordinary avocations in consequence.
If a shipmaster, however, meets with an accident,
though no lives are lost, he must be sacrificed at
the shrine of the underwriters, and himself and
fainiiy sentenced to starvation.
As " It" wishes the Legislature to interpose and
Visit the non-use of the lead line with fine and
imprisonment, he would not, perhaps, object to the
legislature in its wisdom first telling shipmasters
When and under what circumstances the lead
should be. used. This information they might
obtain from stipendiary and.other magistrates who
are now so well posted up on the subject.
I notice that H.M. screw steam-ship Exmouth,
has lately struck three miles north of the Lizard,
in a dense fog, when running up channel, or sup-
posed to be. Fortunately she was a wooden ship,
and the wind being light she had not much way
°TI her, and so escaped with the loss of her false
keel, one of her boilers bulged, keel loosened, Se,!:
It is to be hoped that the government will avail
themselves of the magisterial knowledge and nauti-
eal skill which Liverpool possesses, for the investi-
gation of such cases, and send the officers here to
be tried and sentenced in merchant officer fashion,
in order that justice may be fairly and impartially
administered.
I do not suppose, however, that "R" will con,
cider an accident to an uninsured public ship a
crying evil," any more than he would the non-
arrival of the Oneida at Suez when due, by which
some underwriters pocketed a cool 35 per cent.—
I am, &0.,
May 15, 1857. FAIR PLAY.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE NORTZERN Timm.
Sir,—There appeared in your impression of to-
day an article upon the use of the lead, in which
your correspondent R" asserts that 99 out of 100
vessels lost, within the last twelve months, have
been owing to the non-use of the lead. " R." cites
as examples the loss of the Amelia, (S.S ,) and the
:Emperor ; and the damage done the Lady
Ehrington,—l was present at the trial of the
Master of the Emperor, and my opinion is, that
that vessel was not lost so much from the non-use
of the lead, as from too much confidence, placed
in the assertion of the Chief mate, that he had seen
Parcisey—if that had been the case, and the dis-
tance not exceeding (as stated) 12 miles, (a long
way in thick weather,) the vessel could not have
touched the Blackwater in three hours and-a-half,
even had they steered for it, and going fifteen
knots per hour. The Master believed his reck-
oning was right, and with a free wind saw no neces-
sity for the use of the lead, (an opinion in which
most nautical men will coincide) had he been
working down channel, and not using the lead,
then, he might have deserVed the heavy punish-
ment which has befallen bin].
Returning to " sweeping accusation, con-
cerning the non-use of the lead, I would ask, if there
4re no other causes of loss, but the non-use of the
lead, is there no such thing as aberrations of the
compass; are there no uncertain tides, no negligent
steering, no neglect of subordinate officers to affect
the course of the vessel—or is the bottom of St.
George's and the British channels so accurately
mapped out, as to be an universal remedy for all
erroi.s• If that be the case, we require no instru-
.ments, save the Loa and the compass, and ocuasion_
ally heaving the ship to ; the lead points out your
position,the rest is child's
play For my part, I do
net think the nayal officers such adepts in parallel
sailing, or so accurate in measuring depths, as
the lines on the Admiralty Chart of Soundings,
.'would lead one to suppose.
Your correspondent makes another • ssertion,

which, however, carries with it its own ref station,
. merchant Masters are tried by their
1 .0,1 have been condeinnel by both them and
ti..-

i I defy "R." to instance one case where a mer-
chant master was tried by his Peers. Were the two
Justices of the Peace, and captain in the Royal
Navy, who tried the captain of the Madras his
peers. The non-use of the lead was NOT the cause
of that accident—he struck upon a rock, not to be
found in the Admiralty Charts of the present day,
though found in those of 1812 ; and the Spanish
charts of 1787 !!! I fancy that the use of the lead
would have been of little service to the vicinity of
Cape Hombre.
Again, were the masters of the Lady Ebrington
and Emperor tried by their peers I I fancy our
worthy stipendiary magistrate and the naval as-
sessor will think themselves of higher rank. It is
no punishment that the above-named gentlemen
should be not only debarred from following their
profession, but perhaps themselves and families
deprived of the means of subsistence. I have
been told that not only the owners of the Lady
Ebrington, but the unlerwriters also were satisfied
with their master ; yet the Board of Trade suspend
that man's certificate, and did not return it until
last week ; and when that gentleman's vessel is
perhaps half way across the Atlantic. The case of
the Emperor is still worse ; his certificate is su:-
pended for six months, and twenty ships may offer
in that time, and he cannot take even a mate's
berth. I ask "R" if this is justice, or will he still
assert that these men have been tried and con
denaned by their peers ?
"R." calls the agitation now going on for the revi-
sion of the Mercantile Act of 1854 the pursuit of a
splendid phantom. If ho will call at the offices
of the Mercantile Marine Association, in Chapel- •
street, he will hear, from men high in their profes-
sion, reasons sufficient to convince him (that is, if
he can be convinced), that the object of that associa-
tion is net to pursue a phantom, but to establish a
reality, which, by elevating the character of the
shipmaster, shall give security to the owner and the
public for the safety of life and property, preserve
justice for, and raise to their proper place in society,
that much maligned body of men, the British
shipmasters; for, believe me, there are many other
causes of shiptcreek than the non-use of the lead —I
am, Mr. Editor, your obedient servant,
A SHIPMASTER OF SIXTEEN YEASS' STANDING.
Liverpool, May 14, 1857.

THE LADY AND HER SILK DRESS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES

SIII,—I thank you most sincerely for the very
excellent article which appeared in your valuable
paper on Thursday last, relative to the proceedings
in the Police Court at the Mansion House on
Monday last. T have been an assistant draper for
twenty-five years. and have served many hard
taskmasters, who, like the tyrant of Egypt of old,
expected me to make bricks without straw,—con-
sequently, am in a position to know to the very
letter how some drapers and silk mercers conduct
their business. If every dodge resarted to, and
every falsehood told in the course of a single day
in some drapery establishments could be gathered
together, seen, and handled, men and devils would
be astonished. I am not quite sure whether or
not the two guinea dress marked in the window
in London, was not of a greater value than the one
at three pounds, eight shillings aril sixpence. It
is a very common practice with drapers to mark
an article sometimes considerably less than cost
price, in windows, in order to induce persons to go
in ; this is one of their dodges. We will now sup-
pose a lady going to a certain drapery shopoind
asking to see a dress marked a certain price in the
window; most likely the assistant dare not show
the dress in the window, but is obliged to show
others in the shop less in value. The assistant in
question, perhaps, fails to effect a sale, and is
obliged to inform the whipper-in, commonly
called shop-walker, that he he is not able to sell.
The walker then calls another assistant, perhaps
one with a greater share of confidence, and a vast
amount of impudence.' Well, this man also some-
times fails to effect a sale. The shop-walker then
calls a third party, having a greater amount of im-
pudence than the second. This man often invites
his customer to another part of the premises, and
shows the same goods in different light at a higher
price—some drapery goods appear different in
different lights. If this third party succeeds, he
will be considered A I at Lloyds, because he has
told more falsehoods than the other two. I have
often felt sorry, for ladies because they are so tor-
mented in some drapery shops. lam sorry to say
that I have tormeated and frightened respectable
timid ladies, because I was compelled to sell. I
have seen seven young men dismissed without
having a moment's notice in a certain large drapery
est ablishmont, in th e course of a single day, because
they were not able to effect sales. I should recom-
mend parents who have real solid ieg,ird for the
temporal comfort and eternal salvation of
their children not to put them apprentices
to such drapers as I have described. Indeed I
should recommend them to have nothing whatever
to do with the drapery trade at all unless they have
means to put them iu • business on their own
account, because assistant drapers are rejected at
certain ages. I was asked a day or two ago by a
lady, what becomes of assistant drapers when they
get old ? I replied thus—" If you will search
the poor houses of England, you will find them
there in scores." If an assistant draper gets mar-
ried, he- is shelved as useless machinery. I have
known a few assistant drapers who thought proper
to obey the command of high Heaven and .take to
themselves a wife whilst in the employ of drapers.
The same men were considered valuable servants
before marriage, and doubtless really were so
afterwards; nevertheless every advantage was taken
of theircircnmstances, because the party employing
them was fully aware that it was not an easy
matter to procure situations as married rnem This
is what I call humbug. Now, sir, lam a lover of
fair play, and am not supposing that all drapers
are such as I have described. I should like to see
the premises of all drapers who conduct their
business with propriety crowded to excess. I have
known some ladies going from shop to shop not
intending to purchase at all ; I hope they will do
so no longer, for the babe of the unfortunate
assistants, whose duty it is to show the goods. It
a party came to my premises, and I had the article
asked for, and if the price suited, of course I would
expect that party to purchase. Pn the other hand,
if I had not the article asked for, I ought justly to
be considered a tyrant if I expected them to purr
chase.—l am, sir, your obedient servant,

A BRIToN NO LONGER A SLAVE.

THE BANK OF MESSRS. R. LAWE & CO.

The abrupt closing of the ban& known as Messrs. Lawe
and Co.'s will, no doubt, surprise many persons from the
country districts who visit the Preston market today.
The following notice was posted on the bank doors this
morning;_.
In consequence of the sudden death of Mr. Lawe, the sole pro-
prietor, ulthout having made arrangements for the carrying on of
the bank, the bank is for the Present closed.
We are happy to say, however, that there appears no
ground for supposing that the winding up of Mr. Lawe's
estate will entail loss upon any of the depositors ; this we
are informed on what we consider excellent authority.
We are further informed that a great portion of the estate
can be realised with ease, almost immediately, by the
representatives of the deceased gentleman.—Preston Guar-
dian of Saturday, second edition.
[we may state that, in addition to the establishment at
Preston, the bank had branches at Ormskirk and South-
port ; but we believe that the business of the firm did
not include many very heavy accounts, the largest portion
of the customers being respectable shopkeepers.]

BovS' CLOTHING MADE WITH GREAT TASTE
At LEWIS & COMPANY'S. Ranelazh street.

Sir Joseph Paxton, ALP , writes to the De,by Reporter to
the effect that the statement made by the Court Journal
relative to the Duke of Devonshire's health is " an entire
fabrication, his Grace being at present in quite as good a
state of health as he has been for some years past."
Another story started by the same journal, apropos of the
late Earl of Ellesmere's will, is declared on authority to be
utterly without foundation.

Exclusively for CLOTHING BOYS from 6 to 20 Years.
LEWIS & COMPANY. Ranelagh street.