The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-21 00:00:00

THE,'. SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, AUGUST 21, 1863.

terious Lady, Rose, Theobalda, Lady de Trafford, Claxton,
Shylock, Ess Bouquet, Fauconberg, Greville, Mother
Carey's Chicken, Ignorance filly, The Shuffle; Exile of
Erin colt, Frondeur, and Alice Leigh.
Betting--3 to 1 agst Harvest Mell, Bto 1 each agst
Bangle and Dawdle.

All got well off, and came together to the distance,
when Bangle drew away, and, after a good race, won by a
length.

The Members' Plate of 50 sous, given by the Members for
the city of York ; 3-yr-olds, 7st ; four, Bst 31b ; five and
upwards, Bst 101 b; m and g allowed 31b. Maiden allow-
ances. The winner to be sold for £5O. Three-quarters of

a mile.
Mr. Greaves's Sledmere, 3 yrs, Bst
Mr. T. Raymond's General Bixie, 4 yrs, 7st (Challoner) 2

. ,
Betting-6 to 4on General Bixie.
Sledmere took the lead, and won easily by two lengths.
. _ _ _

The First Year of the Tenth Asks Produce Stakes of 50
each, h ft, for 2-year-olds ; colts, Bst 71b ; fillies, Bst 41b.
Maiden allowances. T.Y.C. 7 subs.

Mr. J. Osborne's Dr. Rooke, Bst 41b (b) (Osborne) 1
Lord Zetland's Revival, Bst llb (31b)........ (Snowden) 2
Mr. Jackson's Prescription, Bst llb (31b) (Doyle) 3
Betting-6 to 4 agst Dr. Rooke, 2to 1 agst Revival.
Dr. Rooke made all the running, and won a good race by
half a length.
LATEST BETTING ON THE COURSE.
ST. LEGER.
11 to 2 agst Queen Bertha (taken and offered)
11 to 2 agst Lord Clifden (taken and offered)
6to 1 agst Ranger (taken)
9to 1 agst Avenger (taken)
100 to 7 agst Golden Pledge (taken)

PLYMOUTH, DEVONPORT, AND CORNWALL
RACES.—THURSDAY.
The Trial Stakes of 5 soya each, with 30 added. One mile.
Rubini ... , 1
Peru .........
Artless colt ....
Three ran.
The United Service Plate (Handicap). Two miles. 6 subs. lOst 81b
Sir Geoffrey (h b), aged,
The Plymouth Plato (Handicap) of 60 soya. One mile.
The Dictator, 3 yrs, 7st 31b
Southampton, aged, Bst
Mysterious, 4 yrs, Bst 31b 3
Five ran.
The Saltram Stakes (Handicap) of 15 soya each, 7 ft, and
3if declared. About two miles. 39 subs, 27 declared
Hampton Court, 3 yra, 6st 91b
Fontenoy, 3 yra, 7st 111 b .• • •
Icarus, 5 yrs, 7st 41b
_. _

Three ran.
The Ladies' Plata of 30 sm. Half a mile.
Abernethy, 3 yrs
Kennett, 3 yrs

Three ran.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT. —LIMP 00L, AUG. 20.
Clvu. COURT.
(Before Me. justice Mellor.)
BARBER V. YENT ON.
This was an action for a breach of promise of marriage.
The defendant denied the promise.
The Attorney-General for the County Palatine (Mr.
James) Q.C.), Mr. Temple, Q.C., and Mr. Milward appeared
for the plaintiff; and Mr. Bovill, Q.C. (of the Home Cir-
cuit), specially retained, and Mr. T. Jones for the defendant.
The learned Attorney-General for the County Palatine,
in opening the case, said the plaintiff, who sued by her next
friend, was the daughter of a highly respectable cotton
broker, residing at Broughton, near Manchester. Mr. Bar-
ber had four children, the youngest of whom was the
plaintiff, who was 18 years old in Dec. last. The case was
one which he was sure would enlist the warmest sympathy
jury. The young lady
of the had been brought up with
the tenderest care, and her affections had been won by
the defendant, who had persisted in his courtship for 18
months, and had then abandoned her to the scorn of the
world. In the autumn of 1861 there was a ball given by
r
the officers of the Rifles at Manchester, at which the
plaintiff was acoompanied oy her friends, and there for
the first time she had met the defendant. The defendant
was the son of a gentleman well known at one time in
the county, having
sat in Parliament for the town
of Rochdale, near which he resided, and where
he was an influential banker. The defendant
was a young gentleman of considerable means and of large
expectations during his father's life, which had lately been
realised by old Mr. Fenton's death. The defendant was in
a position of considerable wealth, and was 27 years of age.
There was nothing therefore in the respective ages of the
parties against such an union. Soon after the ball there
was a cricket match in the neighbourhood, at which the
plaintiff and the defendant, with their respective friends,
were present. The acquaintanceship was then renewed,
and soon after the plaintiff, accompanied by her brother,
met the defendant at a concert. During the concert the
plaintiff's brother was taken ill and obliged to leave the
room, and he requested the defendant to pay her any atten-
tion she might require. The defendant, as any other gen-
tleman would have done, showed her courteous attention,
saw her to her cab, and accompanied her home. This led
to further intimacy, and about the 10th of November, at
another concert, the defendant proposed marriage to her.
She, flattered no doubt by the proposal, had hesitated, as
most ladies would a little, and required some little time.
The defendant afterwards learned that the plaintiff was
going to Bolton, and he waited at the train to see her, and
then he obtained her consent to his proposal, and the only
thing was to obtain the consent of the respective families.
The matter was discussed by their respective friends, and
the engagement was confirmed. The defendant obtained
the consent of his own father, and was congratulated on the
coming event, and the plaintiff was received as his future
wife by his friends. Her father thought her too young,
engagement had better be postponed. The
was anxious that the marriage should
andweiv"tewr'as first arranged to take place in the
i
spring and then
take
an kde
defendant,t
place,h a t h
heon
the autumn of 1862, against the wish of
the defendant. During all this time the defendant was cc-
customed to pass much of his time at the house of Mr.
Gardner, the husband of plaintiff's sister, and no attention
could be more devoted than he bestowed upon her. He con
tinually wrote to her. When absent in Devonshire, his
let era to her abounded in terms of affection. He afterwards
went to Ireland, and whether he there met some lady who
had won his affection he (the learned counsel) could not
say, but it was a fact that on his return his attention be-
came less. Mrs. Gardner was in the month of May last at
Southport, and her sister was staying with her, and there
some little differences between them came to a crisis. There,
as would appear from the evidence of the plaintiff's sister,
the defendant told her, to her utmost horror, that he had
ceased to love her—nay, that he never had loved her, and
state
o and in
see which
her,
but her
from sister
that was
time placed.
to ed.
the He
present
se pro-
mised that marry her he would not, and he left her there under
the deepest distress. Mrs. Gardner wrote to him about the
dreadfut
o g
l
she had never seen him again. He would call attention to
some of the defendant's letters as evidence of the terms of
affection in which he ; addressed her. The first letter was
dated the 16th of November :

" Nov. 16, 1861.
rr Dear Edith,—You will let me call you by that sweet
name now, will you not? I got home all right last night,
as I always do. lam such a lucky dog. I told Hannah
on condition they would not
waslloettled between your father and
myself. They wished no end of good things in store for
one
till our engagement,
it
us. Hannah says you must come and stay at Chaserey as
andtel l any Joe
of
soon as it is all settled. They were so surprised when I
told them, not having the slightest suspicion. Hannah
will write and ask you herself when the proper time
comes, I think. I can hardly realise the fact that I am
yours and you are mine. It seems like a pleasant dream
—too good to be true. I begin to believe that love is holy
now, as I said my prayers last night for the first time
for ever such a time. Don't make fun of me if I
tell you what my prayer was. I asked that our love might
not be a swift flame burnt out in a short time, bat one that
would burn stronger as we grew older and knew each other
better. You are very young yet, Edith, and lam a very
strange fellow, but wo ought to remember that we have
bound ourselves together by a stronger tie than any earthly
_
ceremony. I registered a solemn vow in Heaven when I
took your hand in the cab that I would love and protect
you
all the days of my life, and I do sincerely hope
andtrust
that we shall ever love each other as we do now,
and never
have to recall our vows. All my thoughts are
with you now,
come back
Edith. The time will roll slowly on until
you
again. I have made all sorts of good resolves for the future,
billiards and
and am going to work like a brick, and give_ up
future bef u ore s.
smoking. So I think we have a bright
th, we will love
At any rate, if clouds do come over our
plaves to brave the
each other all 9 the more, and nerve ourse
as I have dotted
storm. You must not quiz my lettetr,
ou
h ght of anything
down all my thoughts, and have not
I shall be able to
but your own sweet self. I don'tthink
write to-morrow, as I have to shoot for our battalion prizes
in the morning; perhaps it will be the last time I shall do
I intend toresign
at a thing, so you must not blame me.in .
at Christmas. You will think 1 writeho nuc more seriously
w much.l love You
now that I am separated from you. You must not shrink
from telling me anything now; all my
thoughts are open to
you. I will tell anything you wish to know, bat I must
wind up now, as it is time I went to the train. I remain
yours only, and for ever, " ROBERT FENTON."
The learned counsel then read a number of other letters
from the defendant to the plaintiff, which were full of terms
of playful affection, were extremely well written, and were
the letters of an educated and sensible gentleman. He read
them to show what had been the plaintiff's loss in losing a
husband so calculated to make her happy. Theh came the
letter breaking off the match, written to the defendant while
she was at Southport. -
The letter was as follows ;

" Crimble-hall, May 29, 1863.
"Dearest Edith,--We came back from Ireland last Tues-
day, and had a very quiet
passage. This is the first oppor-
tunity I have had of writing without being interrupted, SO
I will avail myself of it, and explain to you more fully the
subject of our last conversation at Southport. When first we
met I felt interested in you, and afterwards the feeling
deepened, until it ripened into an affection, which by an act
of your brother Charley I was forced to acknowledge before
the world ere its strength had in the slightest degree been
tested. I tell you candidly, had not Charley so meanly
spread such calumnious reports abroad about his own sister
I should never have sought to obtain an avowal of love from
you until I had tried the endurance and intensity of my
own love;' but the knowledge that I had been the means
(though innocent) of bringing even the slightest breath of
slander over your fair fame urged me on to measures that
ought to have been well considered before being put into
execution ; so, you see. we have to thank Charley for our
present state of unhappiness. The novelty of being engaged,