The Sun.
London, England, 1808-07-28 00:00:00

TLVTERN .48.8EY.

Movmou'r.nsiEnta, JULY 12. .-,—The beauty of this
rut!: having long been noticed as an object of atten-
tion to the visitor .3n this country, I availed myself
of the fineness of a d'.3y last week, and descended
the Wye, from Monttittli, in a boat for that pur-
pose;, whose sinuous course vlaying through such a
dtstrid of rich scenery;-was inuodnetion to the
feature of my voyage of the n'.6, :t pleasing nature.—
On entering the Abbey, all that description
painted of this enchanting pile, mite 'Very far Short
of the effeds it produced upon my in sutvey-.
ing its hallowed walls. Fortunately'l had chosen
•-a-time for the-excursion when the spot ten's tendered
more -interesting by the company assembled; In
one part were kgrotipe of Ladies and Gentle';en,
With a table-cloth spread on the green velvet, enjoy`-
ing a nOn-day repast,• the females seateLl on thei
, buttresses of the ancient pillars. In chosen point§
were men'of taste, F.otn'tnitt ing its ruined scenerno.
fame by means of the pencil. In .the choir were
elegant-women walking a ease, or •,seited on its
ruins, contemplating the beauty of , the. obje&s
which-surrounded them ; while, in the north tran-
sept, were a xOnvivial party enjoying a luknrious din-
ner. With one of these parties were sorne Gentle-
' men, who performed elOremely well on the German
~.flute,--whose soft attd dul`Cet sounds were occasionally
-;.reliev,,d by the grand noes of the bugle-horn sound-
ed front another part of the venerable pile. •The
_evening was all that could he wished' tot crown such
pleasure ; it being the full of the.monn, whose in-
fluence was rendered ihinlitably tine by 11.4 r beaMs
gleaming through the rich gothic windows, -Mantled.
with ivy, on t.,e southern walls of this magnificent
. ,

This buildilt INA the reqidenCe of the faMons
Earl Strongbo‘v. When he went to- Ireland
built one upon the•same- plan, and 'gave it the sate
riatne, vii. Tihtern Abbey, the family residence of
,the senior branch of the Colclbugh family, in the
county of. Wexford, lately inhabited by John Col=
dough, 'Esq. late Representative for. that county,
whose unfortunate and much-lamented death, • in a
duel with Mr. Alcock, is nOw the eound of a Pal-
tiOn for the removal of the latter ftotii his seat_ in
the. House of COmmoils.

- Fox CHACE FXTRAORDINARY.--.-The following
Fox Chace; which took place about seven. weeljs,
ago, in the counties of Inverness and Perth, has, per-
haps, never been equalled in the ahnals of fOxAnit-
ing. On the Bth ult. near Duhkeld, Perthshire,
there were seen on the high road a fox and'a hound
proceeding at a .slow trotting pace. The dog Was
about the distance of 'fifty yards behind the, fox ;
each was so fatigue.] and spent, that the latter cod' d
not out-run the former, nor the former overtake the
latter% A countryman; who observed them in this
state, very easily caught the fox.by running; Roth'
the fox and the dog were taken to a Gentleman's
house in the neighbourhood; where the dog received
every mark of hospitality to which his quceasing'
pursuit entitled him, and Reynard was placed itt •a
garden as a prisOnerot war; but whether from over-
fatigue, or froal a determination not to out-live the
loss of his liberty, .he refused to take any sustenance,
and the cowiequence was, that he died the day fol-
lowing. After the lapse cif a week, the dog seemed
quite recovered nfrom the- fatigues of the chace, on
which it ,was determined by the Gentleman whose
kindness he so much 'experienced, to tie a letter to
his neck, and let -him go, in which all the circum-
stances that pa§ied in that place were stated ; it con-
cluded with requesting the owner of the clog, ifever
he found hi; way house, to acquaint Mr. by
.post, where the fox was started, in order that the
length of the cha-e, and the time employed in it,
might be ascertained. In ten days after Mr. S—t-
received a letter acquainting hit's,-that the dog had.
arrived sateat his mal:er'S hou,se.in Badenoch.; that
he was one of the hounds of the Duke of Gordon's
Fox-hunter in that country; an that the fox
fr
was started in the morning of the King's Birth-day",
on the top of 'those bills, called the Mona-liadh,.
which -separates Badenoch from Fort Augustus.—
From hence it appears, that the chace lasted four
days, and that the distance Travelled from the' place
where the game was sprung, to the place where
it was caught, without making any allowances for
doubles, crosses, &c. exceeded 70 miles.
CORN EXCHANGE, JULY 28 .—The arrivals of•
Wheat to-day are few, and the supply on hand
again short ; the sales in general are, at a small ad-
.vanc.e in price; Barley and Malt also in short sup•
ply, the latter rather dearer ; Beans of 'both sorts
likewise; the supplies of Oats are considerable, part-
ly from Wales, but this trade fully maintains la'st
prices; in Flour but little variation.

I
Wheat 56s a 70s a Sos od Tick. Beans' - 6ts a 67s od
Pine ditto -83 s aOF oc: Oarf - 4os a 4zs a 46s od
4 0 , 1 ,:.• Rye - -46 s a 5 i a Oki . plan Cl. ditto 47a a 443 041
Barley - • 44s 2 SoS cd rOtiitOe - - --a a sos ad
Malt - - 6`4is a'7Bs od Rape. Seed - 351 a 381 -LI
wilite.Pene r4ss a lics od Fine Flour bob a frm —:-.),-1
C'rejt ditto -56 s a 6is orl -SeCQI44IS - - sis a 6,s cAI
kieairs IOW) - • bzs a Oh oci

lIT ItePORT.

CItJRT OF KING's BENCH, fUL Y Z 7.

CRINI; CON.

GIikGSON V. m'TAOcAlit.

. .
I -,-The Plaintiff is an eminent Attorney.; who: aiely
obtained „a verdid in a similar- action against .his
ceaelonan.
_The Defendant is a.Getitteman of con-
siderable opulence and respe6tability in the mer-
cantile. World, who has a town-house in BrOad-
' streea", and a country-house in the vicinity of the
Phlietiffs, at Layton.
Tae ATTORNEY-GENERAL stated the case, on the
L -
part, Of"iliel Plaintiff would He thought it dUld be an
aillli.w4teabf the time Of the Jury to dwell upon
the serithrS nature of that injury:which. was;the
sub-
jeEt of the pavan action. The .Plaintiff was a man
eminent in his profesiorf, of irreproachablecharac-
ler, and, as 'he would prove, a tenderandatFeetionate
husband:. He had paid
,his eddre,ses it, the year
1792, to a Miss Close, whorialie unfortunately made
his. wife. From the year of his marriage to the pre-
'sent year, they had lived in uninterrupted har-
mony, nor was' it until the 'present yeat that the
Militia: had ever entertained the slightest suspicion
that hi& wife was 'faithless to his bed. it had ap-
peared by the verdict of a Jury 011-.3 late trial, that
in the present year, the vVile of the Plaintiff had pros-
tituted herself to the base embraces of.a menial sers
vant. In the .course of the "investigation of that
atfair, circumstances transpired which gave his un-
fortunate client every reason to suppose that his
vile had been first seduced.and dishonoared by the
Dv:feta:ant. Advice waa then taken from him and
his tadrned Friend (Mr. Garrow)', Whather it woad
not be better. to withdraw the aetion 'against the
coachman, and bring thiS forward instead of it. At.
that time he and his feenned Friend were .of 'opia
Mon, that there was not satheient evidence to hrieg
the fad home to the Defendant ; but; altar that trial:,
circumstances had transpired vivhiCh were before tie- I
known, and which furnished such a due as enabled I
him to bring forava‘rdeuch a case
.as, he was confi- I
dent, would convince the Jury that a criminal cor-
respondence had existed bet Ween the Defendant and
the wife of the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff,
,abont the
year kBO2, had been advised by hi's 'Medical attend-
ants to • sleep in the country as often as be Could, 3s.
his health had been much impaired by hiS attentiOn,
to business. •He accordingly took a coUntry-hoUse
ate Low Layton„ in the vicinity of which the De; •
feldant also had i.. country-house. The Defendant'
it:: -dowel, are; bad-three or four. children.'
From akeiratiear. . neighbourhood they soon became
acquainatted, and the Defendant dined tlqee or tour
times the bouse,Of the Plaintiff, 'when there was
compatly. About •balf a year after their first ac-;
quaint pee, his visits became frequent, end were
always paid when Mr. Gregson was not at. home., .
Mr. Gaie'gsen was ..in" the habit always ef going to
town abOut eight-o'clock in the 'morning, to. atteiscP
his business, end his lime Of returning was at
past ii tie o'clock at night. The Defendant 'visited .
her generally two 'or three. dines* a week, and con;
tinned his visits treqt4.7ntly for two hours together..
These visits in themselves would certainly nee taut
slight grOueds of Suspicion but it Would alsb be
proved, that at these visits the Defend int was often '
received in the menner•an,eipeeied h ;Areal would
be received by a fond and ex; 'eating wife. They
had mere ',Lan Once braen-aetesa-try4res• ser is- hiss-
each other. atfedionately. He o fly mentioned
these things as preliminary grounds of suspicion, .
and knew that much more must be proved to war-
rant
the Jury to presume that it had proceeded to the
criminal length of adultery. In addaion tb the cir-
cumstances he had already mention_;cl, it would be
proved that. the Defendant was' always received
iii the drawing-room when there was no com-
pany in the house, and that on these occasions the
blinds were always-down, -so that no person from
the outside could see what passed in the room. On
one occasion he and Mrs. Gregson had been seen'
corning down stairs together, although the house
was so construfted that all .the sitting-rooms were
On the'ground &Or, and the story above consisted
of bed-chambers, and one small room, esed as a
dressing-room by Mrs. Gregson, but in which she
never saw any body, and which was by no means -
fit for' he reception of Mr. M'Taggart. Whatother
construction could the Jury- put upon this circum-
stance, coupled with the 'others, but that it was for -
a criminal purpose they visited that part of the house
in which company was never seen ? When there
was company in the horse, and particularly in the...
year-1804., when Mrs. Close, her mother, was at the
house, then the Defendant saw Mrs Gregson, not
in the drawing-room, bet in the garden. It would
appear, that one evening in particular, in t e month
of Nbvember, when Mrs. Close was in the drawing-
room, Mrs. Gregson went out to walk. in the garden
with a tippet-shawl on, as tlee eVeitiag was very cold.
Mr. M`Taggart called, and went into thU garden
without entering the drawing-room. 'alley were
seen by one of the wvant,..rnaids walking backwards
and korwards near the greenhouse in (evilest confer- .
sation, When at length
.Ma. M'Taggart took, her by
the arm, and (ently dragged her down a path which.
led to no place but tOa tittle waste spot behind the
green-house, which had been only usti bythe. gar-
dener to keep' his water-pots and thing's of thalna-.
ture, but which was completely out of sight." The
servant who had seen this, after waiting some time'
for then-return, told some of herfellow-servants; and
one of them went out; and after some time Saw' the
Defendant come from thespOt -alone, and itutnedi-•
ately go away. What could 'the Jury infer, from
this, but that he had chosen-this private spot merely
because it was out of view, and that heedid not retire
until his desire had been satiated? It would appear
also in eyidence that Mrs. Gregson usually dressed in
the morning, and did not alter her dress till night ;
but whenever the visits of tire Defendant were ax-
pealed, then she 'dined early, and dressed herself atter
dinnerechanging event that garment' which was next •
her `person. This was a circumstance which the
Juryecould not fail to •consider as highly. suspicious.
It w otild appear also, that on one occasion whirl) the
afeinlarat
.Ivas.with her, a servant coining in to
bring coals to the'fire, build Mrs-. Gregson with her
hair. disordered; and th r dress - vary much discomeos-
vci her mistress was vs;ty much flurried; amid asked
" Could nut she have waited till she was rug
for All these itairsietions took place • in tee
country-house, and in c.e years 1801, 1804, and
1800.; btu there. weie other eircumstanues-as mark,:
eik, which took place at . the YlaintitFs town nonse.

---The front entrance to the Plaintiff!s house was
in Angel-court, and there was also a back. -ent.-anC.
'in CoI )OAI-court,. which Was in eneral only
. .-te, g
psed by the tradesople. The Defend int, how-
ever, in his vi.sit4,gett..blly chose to come-in at the
back entrance: -.1-fif;Visits. here, as well as in the
country, were,,alino.:l qJKw in . the absence; of her
husband, 7U.AIIcI Willyiriktiletjiy,ty the room where
Mrs. GregsO'n vas. sitting. `'.,t-le was here received in a
~toom up . one .ppir2ol2' stair's, which. was ,cal)#o the
parlour, and` which _Liza three windows in it: I.iithelF,
, • 6,1
the
ever ne.catne,,one"of blinds were let doVrn,
.so
(114 t. it Was impossible for the neighbours to see any
.thing that passed in the room.- His-visits here, as
in the country.,zge.neraOy lasted. from one to two
hourS, and Were' usually hi the afternoon. This
parlour,
.howevQ.r, happened to
.be separated bunk
the kitchen by on;y a slight par; ii ion, thruugh which.'
it was easy toov-erhear what passed.:. A maid, who
was in the:kitcheni heard that noise from which she
could entertain no doubt but:that the crime of adul-
' tery.was theto,-,olits,iesiti; He thought there coald
not be.ally4,4t. blje;tostb.ikta,hei'critue
.had been Coin-
; mined in_ i hesaaoen,-,croriheAime and under the 'Or-
: cutikstancytekliactAlf(ti*stated. If he established
in proof :ilt, theg..traptq sircumstances- which lie had
stated, he. 014-A •Uctlx7 CbtiCE.lVe that the rv.! was a
shadow of dbubt remaining ~,,, t that a crifoard cor-
: resnondence had.taken place between the Defendant
1 and-the wife'of.the Plaintiff. If a Jury wcpild not
preiuMe it from circumstances such as these, he was
at a loss to knoW what evidence would be sufficient
in cases olthis nature ? Vas it to be supposA, that
the parties were to be 'shewn to the Jury naked arid
in bed I If the Jtrry did think, as he was confident
they would, that a. (.!ritnint•l correspondence had
taken 'place," the next question would be what da-
mages ought to be liven : and he Would here say,
that it was not so much with aview of the. damages be recover( (1. th.it (he Plaint,itf- had brought the
present ,i4ion, buYbceause, in the courSe of the in-
vestigation whiefi V.W former busin-ss gave rise to,
tlie.Plaintiff4itiKaAtid that it was the Defend-
ant who- originalirNteidaNd Iris wife; and violated
the honour -bt his REPdtWthe rights of hospitality
and friendship ii 4:ll4kVaittlonvinced that. it was in
conserpaence'ofilii§q9ulKh that his wife had b.=
.cbtne -so degradidrhsbtiiVrosiitute herself to the em-
braces of a menial servant. He.thought, that not-
ukithStanding the verdi& which had been obtained
against the coachman,' he had still a right to. bring
his aelion against•the original seducer of his wife's
honour, and that if.he had not dime so,.his enemies
would have said that he ;chose rather to bring an
action against a, poor coachmen, who.had but small
means of defending himself, but that he was afraid
to bring it again4.4a,flaji ofnpulence, who possessed
abundant tnearitictxl4latig,- whatever defence the:
ingenuity of- the•;a4lls.oo fixitinsel could suggest.—
TO that defenehe---t÷rcrzfiiire7Trow &fiat the be-
fondant, 7/ --

r \.!

In considering the measure of damages that ought
,to be giveli,-it•wetiliiV, Ottbileeted that .the.a.fend-
-atrrisuot a 'man-- who could plead' the heat and im-
petuosity of youth in extenuation of his offence.—
He was a man no longer young; his disposition was
grave, and therefore, when-such- a' E 6311 was a se-
aticer Olteinale/virtue, he must be considered a.cold,
calculating, scheming seducer and• adulterer. He
wqs a widower, and twitig .been". once possessed of
the affeatiops..otA virtuous., woman, must have
known theVaineof that loss which the Plaintiff had
sustained in 'consequence of his seduaion, tie was
a father, and Owed to his'children a better' example.
With those observations •he would Stibinit the-
case entirely to 'the jury,. -and proceed to 'call hist
Witnesses.

The marriage was proved, and Mr._Clementson,
partner to rote PlainAitf, and 'several other Witnesses,
depos'ed to the--,4- • between' the
Plaintiff and toahe'preSent year. 'The
Plaintiff was a 4,ind„ and indulgent hus-
band.
... Naomi &iedi.4 ViATIN /INEA.VM-ieho de d pose ,
to the circumstanteesdstiattsi by the Learried -Counsel:
She had been in theAcapacii of housemaid to the
Plaintiff, at 'his country house, in the years 1802,
1803, and 1804. She confirthel the statement a 3
to the frequency of the DefendAtit'S• visits; Which
lasted generally, for, two„ hours. He called ahOtat
twice a week, and generally in the evening; 'He
used commonly 'to come between six and seven,
and stay till near nine. Mr.•Grepon refdrned from
town between nine and ten. Onthe-daYs that Mr.
PT,aggart visited wri, Gregson used to dress
about two Q'(2C.4ilisybtgiVl, on Other days, she
dressed in .the.tWornfl, abed did net alter her dress
during the;' tlx*.,7)4.)notll4`ilayS Of Mr. M'Taggait's
yisiting he -mg rtips.44 somewhat more gaily than
at other times, and al\yavs changed her dress entire-
ly.' She Was Certlin
.oFthis.fa-t, as she Was the per-
sun who Ai WAYW. atre'd her•inistres shift' at the
kitchen fire. One night site came into the moth ,
just as the Defendant was going aw:iy, an,i saw her
mistress's hair quite disordered, and her dress'dis-
TconnpoSed-.. Her mistress appealed to be very much
liurried,*and went out into the garden for a' few'
nutes, and afterwards, withotit saving a v.; rd to her,
went up stairs immediately to set herself to rights
before Mr: Greg on returned. She also confirmed
the.. circumstance of the Defendant; 'being alWAys
,shewn into the drn;.ving-rnoin (of which the blin-1
were let down) when there was -norbdrnpiiny; and
of his meeting. her mistress in tle: prcl-en'wheil
there .was cortipmi.. She recolleoted,' one flight' that
the TiefendAN,*44ll:-We`h. with ber'in't lie e iideti, stre
overheardlitWbitogtvaimecrsatton, atter he was gonvbetween ..het,
~,01,igriei.i.s41\4!.9. Close,- her in°, he'.
She did not lien tto altivtilms, of t c • nversx ,
but her alik4ahllArYPuitrfo -tearS:" 11,"
times been -,;she3Shl e 'drawi nig-room, where
Mrs. Close was, but generally w ens into the garden
Vclien there •!vas company in the nouse.
On 'her crossekaini:tation, said, bad twver
taken notice ot the sold bz.itig put bui of:Order at :host)
visits: She believed - her mistress did :::Ornetimes drink
a little too much.

Elizabeth (3;aves was also a ser.arAL at ;I)e.cQuntly-
'house tit LA, ion. She euu 1 ttlel• MOST of the Cif_
eu.ns!anees minted by the last witness t.bout the visits
of the Deteijcl4. AjSje nad sees. the D..l!etikl-
aut kiss her wtit,rels atamiing into the roo.n. The
kiss appeareif liave 01/4eti foxed fro. Ln.
Mrs. Gregson, but gi‘4,4cilt'.2;ntarily. It was she
who saw the Defendirrt—ttrag her mistress lulu the
path in thedhilitle4ol3,yo rich enly led to s waste
spot behiatt kl4q,artV4l,itquse. She stuived fur
,