Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-03-11 00:00:00

BREACH OF PRO3LisE CAst.
At Chelmsford, on Tuesd%v, the folbswing case was
tried, before Mr. Baron art in and a common jury:—

"'LIN V. HOWN.II.I).
This was an ae+-:
ton to recover damages for a breach
of promise of me i.ria„.
The defentl:aut, by his pleas, denied the promise, and also
alleged 6-at the woman was of unchaste and intemperate
habit, and that he therefore declined to marry her,
Mr. Hawkins, Q.C., and 111 r. Pierce were for the plaintiff;
Serjeant Parry and Mr. I, Martin were for the defendant.
The lear'aed counsel, in opening the case to the jury, said
the plaintiff was the widow of a person in the coast-gaard
service, who had a pets-ion of £l5 a year from the govern-
nictl!6,,and resided at Great Clacton, in the neighboarhood
of. Harwich, and the defendant was what was called a
general dealer, and a person possessed tf sonic property,
living in the same neighbourhood. They first became
acquainted in July, 1857, and the defendant wrote a great
many letters to the plaintiff; and from the conttnts of these
idtters the jury 'would not entertain any doubt that the
defendant hadengaged to marry the -plaintiff. The learned
counsel read 'the letters, which 'caused a . good deal of
i amusement from the bad spelling, andthe - extravagant
1 terms in which the defendant eirpressed himself
towards the plaintiff. The last letter received by
the eAttititiff was on the 12th of October, 1858,
and itt was to the following ottect :---:" Mrs. Quinn,—l beg
to inform yen that last night Z heard from young Howard
talking 'of an action coming =eff 'between you to him, and
tint he hid got witnesses le Inove'you a , and that
it will'corne to the hearing'of the-government, and you are
. sure to lose your income. lile stated that he had witnesses
from Harwich, Clacton, 'ditto Dovrrcourt; and he would
cxpese you the most thaVany woman ever was in anycourt.,
rif you'ean clear your paints 'on honesty, you are safe; it
not, vial are in the wrong. However, you please Teurself.,
Time ,will tell the truth about' the matter.—l am, yours, J. `
C. S'OTANS." The learned'counsel said he shouldle able to
prove that this anonymous lett& was in the handwriting of
'the 'defendant, and he,said he believed that there was,not
'the •stighhtest foundation for the plea that had been. put
upon the record as 'to the -habits and character of =the
:plaintiff.
Joseph Howard, the 'brother of the defendant, was called
to prove that the letters referred to by the learned eaursel
were his handwritikg. 'He also expressed a belief that the
letter signed "J. 'C. Symons" was also written, try his
'tftiher.
In cross-exatnination the witness said be :had :had 'dis-
putes with his brother 'about money matters, and .he con-
sidered him a most 'disgraceful character. He tad. been
'ease sentenced tote tra:isported for fourteen years.
Mr. Mynheer, :apemen employed in the Scout -revenue
.41-Ater, deposed that he was brother-in-law to •the plaintiff,
vend he had frequentlrseen her and the defendant together,
and the latter expreseed his intention to 'marry her. The
defendant told hint that he had been sentenced' to fourteen
' years' transportation, and asked him if 'he should object to
''his making him hik brother-in-law; and he -Totaled that if
-he and the plaintiff those to get married he could not help
his doing so. (A-laugh.)
Sergeant Parry, in his address to the Jury,siteid that it
appeared to hint that, even as the case stood, the jury would
hardly be inclined to give the plaintiff any damages, for her
loss in not marrying a man who was reported to be a
returned convict, particularly when the .resulttif such a mar-
riage would be'the loss of her pension. He"cvas instructed,
however, that; he should be able to make out the plea of the
defendant that the plaintiff was an 'unchaste woman, and
addicted to intemperate habits; and, if :he did this, the
defendant would be entitled to their verdict.
A'man named Henry Wilson, who described himself as a
carpenter living at Cambridge, was then r called as a wit-
ness for the defendant, and he deposed toecartain proceed-
ings which he alleged to have -taken place between
himself and' the plaintiff, with a 'view to support the
plea pat forward in answer to the -action. He appeared
however, en idently to have been drinking, and h e gave
his evidence in the most unsatisfactory naanner.
Baron 'Martin, at the close of his . examination, asked
Sergeant Parry, whether he had anyother witnesses, as he
did not think the jury would rely upon the evidence of the
one who had already been examined.
Sergeant; Parry said there were other witnesses, but
Wilson was the one who was expecteafto give the most
material testimony.
A consultation then took place 'between the learned
counselorad it was arranged that a verdict should be taken
for the plaintiff with £5O damagestite, plea alleging her
unchastity, and all imputations upon her -character, also to
be immediately withdrawn.

_ .
The .:Earl of Airlie is to be installed Lord Rector of
Marischal Cyllege, Aberdeen, on Wednesday, the 16th inst. ,
The Lords of the Treasury have appointed the Judge
advocate (the Right Ron. Mr. Mowbray) and Mr. Robert
Bayley Follett to be the Commissioners under the Probate
Acts for deciding the claims for compensation made by
clerical surrogates.
The marriage of Major Thellusson, 'Coldstream Guards,
with Aliss Henrietta Wentworth, ;daughter of Mr. and
Lady Augusta Wentworth, was solemnised on Wednesday,
at Sti George's Church, Hanover-square, in the presence of
a large circle of relatives and friends. -
Lord Baybrooke has presented the Rev. Samuel Sturges,
M.A., incumbent of Knowle-hill, near Maidenhead, to the
vicarage of Wargrave, Berkshire, rendered vacant by the
appointment of the Rev. H. H. Swinny, M.A., to the
Pnncipalship of Cuddesdon Theological College. 1
NEW APPLICATION OF Ciurrouwn.—At Worship-street
Police Court, yesterday, a step-mother was charged with
having cruelly beaten her step-daughter with the cane from
her crinoline, which was produced. The marks on the
-child's body showed what a formidable :weapon that portion
of a lady's dress may become. The case was adjourned.
A STEAM-ENGINE TRAVERSING THE STREETS.---OH Wed-
nesday morning, some astonishment was created among the
drivers of the numerous vehicles in the Westminster-road
by. the appearance of a locomotive uuder steam moving
through that crowded thoroughfare; and soon after mid-
day a traction engine, drawing a truck, to,which was affixed
a placard, informing the numerous gazers that it was loaded
with 25 tons of iron, passed through the-York-road. The
engine was managed by Mr. Bray, the originator of it, and
turned the corners, making even the sharp turn necessary to
pass from the Belvedere-road into the wharf of Messrs.
Mawdslay and Co. without any difficulty. Messrs. Mawds-
lay have more than one of these engines in their employ,
which they use for communicating between their several
wharves in Lambeth, New-cross, &c.
REMARKABLE RETRIBUTION.—RecentIy the treasurer of
the town of Erin, Washington County, whose name, we
believe, was Whaling, was shot dead while attempting to rob
his own house. It appears that he had collected some
$12,000 or $15,000 of the town taxes, and left home in the
forenoon, telling his wife he should be gone all night.
Towards night, a travelling pedlar applied at the house for
a night's lodging. The wife at first refused to:admit him,
but finally yielded, with much reluctance to his request.
Some time in the night the pedlar was awakened by the
noise of men breaking into his room. Taking them for
robbers, he drew a pistol and fired at them. One fell and
two fled. Lights being procured, the dead body of a man,
with blackened face, and otherwise disguised, was found
upon the floor. Upon further examination, it prayed to be
the proprietor of the house himself, who had resorted to
this stragatem to steal the tax-money collected, and had met
with this terrible retribution.—.lfiluzukie Sentinel.
A CHINA GENTLEMAN'S HOUSE.—He first took us ito his
country house, now uninhabited. It was the perfect
residence of a -Chinese gentleman. There was a .very
large garden, with bamboo hedges and large fish
tanks, edged .with walls of blue bricks and per-
forated tiles, His pigs were in admirable GQll-
dition, and as beautifully kept as the Prince
Consort's at Windsor. About the grounds were nutmegs'
mangosteens, plantains, cocoanuts, dariens, and small
creepers, trained into baskets and pagodas. Inside the house
the drawing-rooms had doors sliding across circular open-
ings. We then went on to this good gentleman's private
residence, entering by a Chinese triumphal gate. He
tells me he has ten miles of carriage road round his
estate. It is on a fine undulating tract of land, reclaimed
from the jungle, and laid out with rare taste. In the
outskirts a tiger killed a man the other day. In his
garden I found Jacko, living in a cane cage, next door to
a porcupine ; there were also some rare birds. .Further
on some very small Brahmin :Wits, a Cashmere goat, and
a family of young kangaroos. There were all sorts of un-
known beautiful flowers placed about in enormous China
vases. Here I first saw the tea plant growing. It is of the
camelia tribe, three or four feet high, perhaps, and bears a
small white flower, like the open dog-rose ; also I
was shown the "moon flower," a kind of rounded convol-
vulus, that only opens at night. There was a bower of
" monkey-cups"--the pitcher flower, which collects water,
and from which Jacko refreshes himself in the jungles.
The fan palm - a beautiful tree on the lawn—pro:
duced water of clear cold quality by being pierced with
a penknife. Several minute creepers were trained over
wire forms, to imitate dragons, with egg-shells for their
eyea; and there were many of the celebrated dwarf trees---
the first 1 had seen—little oaks and elms, about 18 inches
high, like small withered old men. The house here was
superbly furnished in the English style, but with lanterns all
about it. At six o'clock the guests arrived—mostly English
all dressed in short white jackets and trousers. The
dinner was admirably served, in good London style, and all
the appointments, as regarded plate, glass, wines, and dishes,
perfect. The quiet attentive waiting of the little China
boys deserved all praise. After dinner we lounged through
the rooms, decorated with English prints of the Royal
Family, statuettes, ~ 550,,i08," from every part of the world,
and rare objects in jada-Atone and crackle china, also a
portrait of our host's son, who is being educated in
Edinburgh. 111 VP All gna46l.rous.—.dibort Smith's To
China and Bark -