The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-01-18 00:00:00

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adept. His Learned Friend had told them that Mr. Cox was the
friend and patron of 11r. Kean ; that he had held out to him a
leading hand, artl had spoken to him the cheering language of
hope ; but what proof was there of this ?—not any, and he denied
the fact, for it was well known that it was thirteen years since this
celebrated Man *tartest. as his Learned Friend had justly said, into
that fame which other men were doomed for years to climb to ; and
it was net for several years after that that :Br. Kean became ac-
quainted with the fdaintiffand his family, for the young woman
! who lived in the letioily eleven years sever saw Mr. Kean in her
master's house to: the Ana first years of her servitude. It would,
! indeed. be most base and tri,icherous, nay more, it would be un-
grateful 11,41 unnatural, if his client, having been patronised and
protected by the plaintiff, had turned round, betrayed his friend,
and seduced his wife. This conduct would have been a grout ag-
gravation of damages, and would have justly exposed his client to
the detestation of all honourable men. But let him, however, look
to :hese said letters that had been so much dwelt upon, and make a
comment or two upon them. It was very plainly perceived that,
whoever was the writer of them, there had been inspired in his bo-
som a very strong affer ion towards the individual to whom they
were addremed„—an affection, too, of a nature far different from
that which an illicit cornexion was wont to create ; for what was
the language of one of these letters ?—fn one of them the writer
complained of a visible charge in the torte of the letters he received
from the object of his affection ; that the simple style of writing in
which her letters used to be given, wax changed to the slang of co.
query, and that they contained matter which, to a common ob-
server, was very different from that of love " 1 begin to
End," said he, ••• that your'', is passion, aid not love ; there
is a coolness which tells me that your heart is no longer
mine." Now, if airs. Ca a was the person to whom that letter was
addressed. he would ask the Jury whether they did not think that
a little daylight had begun to shed itself upon the writer's mind,
which had been so long felt by others ? Suppose that Mrs. Cox
was fixing her affectioos upon another man, why &engin he not
infer that she was deceiving Mr. Kean as she had alteady
deceived her own husband, and that she was proving herself
to be a more coostionitate actor than Kean himself? But to
whom were those nocturnal visits paid by the woman Mr. Cox
so highly values? mot certainly to 111 r. lean on every occasion ;
• and vet every time 31r. Cox went out to diuner. sheas regularly
and invariably walked out, and remained from home for some hours,
and then returned late at night, unaccompaithd by any friend, male
or female, to her home. A very strange sort of wife this? one
whom lie should think a roan would las very glad to get rid of. He
ventured to address himaell in this cause to the .fury, not without a
very sanguine hope of obtaining their verdict. lie said a sanguine
hope—for it would not become a defendunt's Counsel to speak
more conlidently, especially when he came with his defence from
the plaintiff's own family. lint the whole complexion of the facts
adduced in evidence was of such a nature, that he thought no Jury
could contemplate them without feeling the strength of the plain.
tiff's claim on them weaken more and more at every advance.
The Jury had heard of Mr. Kean's visit on one occasion at the
house of the plaintiff; he could only get at one of them, and that
one was very aterial. It appeared that he called at the house in
Wellington-street, very late at night, and that Mrs. Cox gut up
and let him in. They had heard of Mr. Kean's carriage coming to
the door, and staying till three o'clock, anti then Me. servant
being sent for; on whose arrival Mr. and Mrs. Cox, Miss Wick-
stead, and 31r. Kean all go down to Croydon together. The Alder-
man returned to town on the %ante morning, leaving Mrs. Cox and
Miss 'W iekstead under Mr. Sean's protection. Why this was very
strange sort of intercourse! Ile would say, that if any man felt
disposed to do this, to take his wife and niece out of town, and return
himself, leaving them under the care of amale friend for all one night,
that great care should be taken that that friend was not an actor,
because, of all other men, they were, from their peculiar profession,
more capable of wielding a fascination and a power over a female
mind, that would, if permitted. lead its possessor on to the most
unhappy consequence& God forbid he shouted say there were not
I men of that profession as high in moral principle as they
were splendid in talents, and who were as capable of adorning
and doing honour to all the relations of social and domestic
I life as those of any other class, however exalted: he did not
mean to say any such thing, for he knew there were men of'
that profession, all over the world, whose characters were as great
as their names were glorious. But still the habits, studies, and
pursuits of an actor, afforded him facilities which other men had
no:. of winning upon the sensibilities of the female sex, and of
working as destructively upon a woman's heart as the power of
passion and poesy united ever produced. But so highly did be
think of them as men of honour, and so peculiar was their pro-
fession, that he would go a step further, and say, that
an actor was not the man who makes the first overtures to
to a married woolen ; it swat come from her, for he feels so well
I that the very first time his dishonourable attempts were rejected it
would not only ruin him in that person's family, but it would
destroy his prospects in the world, and deprive him of all his well
and hard-earned theatrical fame, however exalted it might be. It
I was impossible therefore to conceive that any man with the know-
ledge which Mr. Kean possessed, and with the stake that he had to
risk, would have sought to have brought the consequences of this
' day's proceedings upon himself. But he would request the Jury
in look back at the journey to Croplon, and reflect upon the can-
duct of the plaintiff on that occasion. Linder such circumstances
for a man to thrust his wife into the hands of a celebrated actor, if
it was not an act of collusion, it was an act of greater folly than he
should ever have thought any Alderman of London to lie guilty of;
but, although he had made allusion to Aldermen, he did not mean
to say that they were distinguished for any peculiar folly from other
men ; yet he remembered to have read somewhere, that, in the
reign of Charles IL, it having been reported that London was
going to be fortified with horns, a wit remarked, that he supposed
the Aldermen were going then to lay their heads together. Much
had been said about Mr. Cox being the friend and patron of Mr.
Kean, and of his introducing him into notice, and being, m it were,
the first mover of his future tame; all this wean:rooms; he would
tell the Jury when it was their intimacy commenced ; that It was
not when Mr. Kean was performing at an obscure country town, in
the company of strolling players, but at a time when his name had
attained its zenith,- and he was known to the world as a consummate
tragedian, a scholar, and one fitted to adorn the highest walks of life.
The first time the defendaut ever saw Mrs. Cox was at the theatre at
Taunton. A lady had tainted during the performance of Othello,
and Mr. Kean betng on the stage, used every exertion for her reco-
very, and on the next dee the plaintiff waited on Mr. Kean to thank
hint for his attentions on the preceding evening. An intercourse
now commenced, and Mrs. Cox went almost nightly to the play,
and was seated in Mr. Kean's box, She was also repeatedly In his
dressing-room ; this was repeated almost nightly. Highly as Mr.
Kean stood as an actor, he could not still be insensible to the ap-
plause and admiration of a lady. Time strengthened the attach-
ment, and neither Mr. nor lies. Cow could live without the defen-
dant; he slept in their house whenever he thought proper, and
11ra. Kean had told them that the intimacy which had so com-
menced must and would end in wrong. Night after night Mr. Kean
was at the house of plaintdf, and he must have seen that the
period would arrive which did, at last, unfortunately come. Ile(1111r.
Seeded) would not attempt to apologise for the moral wrong of his
client, far from it ; but looking at the visits'periods
the at
which they were made, the encouragement given
by the plaintiff
to the defendant ; looking at the stimulants which was so copi-
ously administered, there was not one man in five thousand, nor
perhaps in five niillions, who would have resisted the temptation.
rite drama was now coining to a close, and the letters show that
the defendant had not the same wishes or feelings an Mrs. Coi,
who had resolved to sacrifice family and honour for the gratification
of her unhappy passion. The long course of levity—the long
course of familiarity exhibited by.M re. Cox towards the defendant,
could not be unseen by the plaintiff. Mrs. Cox offered to make
every sacrifice for him. She was willing to leave her home—her
friends—to bury herself in solitude with him; and what was he to
do ? Every man, at some time or other of his life, was led by a
predominant passion; in this case love, as in most others, predo-
initiated. Mrs. Kean's warning had no effect ; her jealousies were
of no avail ; and the refusal on her part to receive the visits of
31e. and llrs. Cow were disregarded. Still they went to the thea-
tre, to Mr. Kean's box, to his dressing-room, and he cow asked
to what amount of damages was such a plaintiff entitled? He
(11r. Scarlet[) would call witnesses to prove that this state-
ment was not overrated, for lie was aware that he could not do
~so, without exposing hie client to very considerable danger. Iu the
' sunimer of 111.0, Mrs. Cow went to Birmingham on a visit to Mr.
Kean. lir. Cox despatched his son after her, and what measure
• did the plaintiff pursue afterwards ? What precaution did he take?
Ile took her back to Lis bed without inquiry. Her conduct with
Colooel l'earson was felt the topic of animadversion by the plain-
riff, but with that it ended, although the plaintiff's jealousy was
rather sensibly exhibited. During all this time, the assiduity of the
nefentlant continued unabated ; and if he (Mr. Searlett) could
prove. as he was instructed he could, that after the discovery of
Watenan'e illicit commerce in April, the Alderman and
his wife were seen walking arm in arm together, and that after this
action was brought ; if he could prove that. he had a most san-
guiae expectation of a verdict for the defendant. la'hether the
object of the plaintiff was to get money from Mr. Kean, or procure
a divorce in consequence of the adultery of Mr. Iratman, he mat
not say, but this he could say, that lie had brought actions against
both. The letters were discovered in April--the box was opened
—the wife wasgone—the Alderman was subsequently seen with
her, and there went off the divorce. If the plaintiff then
knew of the conduct of the defendant before that period—no
man who hail his eyes open could avoid seeing it ;—if there were
connivance or collusion on his part in any way--then away would
this action go like the other. If this were the case, what damages
could the plaintiff be entitled to ? Would any gentleman of the
Jury like that Ina wife should act as Mrs. Cow had clone? or would
therthink themselves entitled to large verdicts if therizondma had
been like that of the plaintiff? lie (Mr. Scarlett) could not
help saying that s very strong presumption of collusion existed
in his mind. Now, a word or two with respect to fir. Wittman.
That gentleman :deiced the house of the plaintiff under the plea of
courting Miss IVickstead ; but., as the event proved, he was in-
dulging in an illicit intercourse with Mrs. Cow. 'Theyhad die
evidence of the servant woman as to the wants of Mrs. Cox, and it
appeared that the servant knew them well ; and, under these eh-
cuinstances, it would be for thaws to say, what money should be I
takes from the pocket of 31r. Kean. He (Mr. Scarlett) had so far
showed the Joey what manner of woman Mrs. Cox was, said he
was desired by his client not to add to the dishonour of Mr. Cox,
or to the wrongs of 'urn. Cox, by the prodaceion of her letters. If
the plaintiffs Counsel had not indulged in statements which he
failed to prove—if he had not introduced violated faith, betrayed
confidence, abused licemitality, he (Mr. Scarlett) woakl not have
celled a witmos. Bat now lie must adopt another course. He was
obliged to eall witnesses to prove almost that Mr. Cow had offered
up his wife at the shrine of Mr. Kean, to do with her as he
pleased. In his private box—in his private dressing-room—
Ins habiliments suck as modesty ought not to see—what
could be the mowing of taking a married woman to such