The Sun.
London, England, 1806-08-05 00:00:00

ence : he was instruded to say, that this iffai a rnost
foul and wicked Conspiracy to ruin and LLsgrace a
young man just' entering into Hid,: that extraordi-
nary as the case was on the part of the Plaintiff,•his
defence wa,s still more extraordinary, for he was in-
straied most unequivocally to declare the Defendant
-an innocent malt, and that he never had anything to
(to with the Plaintiff's daugbter in the whole course
of his life. He was aware of the difficulties
under- which he laboured, by being only per-
mitted- by the law to give negative evidence
against the dire& statement of the Plaintifi's
daughter; and as the Defendant himself could not.
be -heard, it behoved the Jury to receive with
great caution what Sarah Woodward had told them,
• for if they did not do so, no man would be safe, altd
it would have been as easy to fix it upon any other.
Man in Court who could not recollect or-prove where
he was twelve months betbre. He commented with
great ingenuity on the evidence of Sarah Woodward,
and of the- total impossibility of the truth of her story.
He undertook to give all the proofthat any innocent
man could give to such a'charge,'but dire& contra-
*diaion was out of his power, unless he could be per-
mitted to examine the Defendant himself. , Several
Witnesses were then called to prove the Defendant
was not an early riser, and that whenever he went out
in the morning he went to his fairlD, the dire& reverse
of the road to the Plaintiffs'houie.
After Serjeant SELLON had concluded a most ani-
mated reply of about two hours, - Sir JANI7,S MANS-
FIELD Ictl'it to the Jury to decide -upon the Story
told by Sarah Woodward; but if they believed'her,-,
they would consider what damages such a case de-
manded. The July -consulted, together about five
minutes, and brought in dverdiat for the Plaintiff—
Darnages tol. •
The trial lasted seven hours, and the Court -was
uncommonly crevoded. The Plaintiff is said to a
Clergyman of the'mosi honourable chavai4er, tho Ugh
too frequently the dupe of the pretended poor, and
although his living is 2001. per annum,. he 'cannot
resisi,the importunity of any person preteiidingsio
be diStressed, and has actually given away all his
furniture, and lately the shoes off his feet, and left
himself without the comthon necessaries of Jife.
The daughter is a very delicate girl, and appeared to
be extremely ill. -•

BEDFORD ASSIZES.

SEDUCTION.

VIE REV: ROBERT WOODWARD V. THOMAS WALTON

This was an aeon brought by a Parent against
the seducer of hi,; Child, and the jet of the•a&ion
was, that he had been deprived of her services, and
the comforts derived from her being chaste and vir-
tuous.

Mr. Serjeant SELLON stated the case to the Jury.
He said the Plaintiff was the Vicar of Harrold, in
that county,, and that his fatuity consisted of himself,
a wife; and three daughters. The Plaintiff resided at
the Vicarage-)cause, and lived the life of a recluse.
His daughters had never been from home,- nor had
they ever demeaned themselves in a way to throw"
_the slightest imputation upon their charaders. The
Defendant was a young farmer, who came to reside
in the parish about four years ago, and became
ac-
(painted with the Plaintiff's eldest daughter, Sarah
'Woodward, and seduced her. After a time she prov-
ed 'tvith child, and was deserted by the Defendant,
16' the hour of distress she delivered herself of a fe-
male child, which, for wantof proper attention, died
in twelve days afterwards. Her health had been
much injured by her sufferings ; and if the case,
which Was one of the most extraordinary kind ever
stated in a Court of Justice, should be made out to
their satisfadion, they would take into their consi-
deration the rank in life of the Plaintiff, and the
keenness of his feelings upon such an event. It was
extraordinary,, but very true, that although the cri-
minal inty-course between the Plaintiff's' daughter
and the Defendant had continued for a considerable
time, he Was not prepared to prove, by any other
witness that; the girl herself, .that they were ever
together.
' Sarah Woodward stated, that she was twenty-four T
years old, and the eldest daughter of the Plaintiff,
and that on accoutit of the distressed situation of her
p irents; she a&ed as servant to the family; that after
finishing her work, she employed the. rest of the day
in making lace,--and her sister- kept a day-school;
,for` the pnrpoSe of supporting., her parents.' In the
year 1803 they came to reside at the Vicarage,house,-.
in Harrold, and the first Sunday she went to Church
she saw the Defendant, who fixed his eyes upon her
very mud, but that for more than two years she
never spoke to him ; that on the ittli of February,
1805, about six o'clock in the morning, he came to
her father's honse,. and knocked at the door. She
opened it, when he asked if her father was op; and
upon being told lie was not, the Defendant proceed-
ed to take improper liberties, and she got ;id of him,
however; by stating, that her father was coming
down stairs. On the next morning at the same
hour, he came again, when-she yielded 'to him, and
a crimir,l intercourse took place between them,
which continued till the NoVember following, after
which he never came again. In the course of these
interviews, which were- always about..day-break in
the morning, thv Defendant informed her of the cir-
cuitous route he had taken to come to her father's,
in order to avoid being seen by any person. In the
month of February, 1806; she thought she was preg
writ, but-made no preparatiOns for such an el;ent,
nor did she communicate her. suspicions to any part
of the family ; but on the 25th of February, in the
morning, she felt herself very unwell, but continued
doing the household work till about ten at night,
when she delivered 'herself of a. female child in the
school-room, having no person with he"r to afford the
least assistance ; that she was afterwards carried up
stairs to bed, and the child wrapped up in an apron,
and laid by her ; that Sarah Crouch, who resided at
the back 'of her father's house, was sent for, and
brought some clothes to dress the child in, and ,that
it died in twelve days after.
On her cross-examination by Mr. WILSON, she
said the Defendant knocked loud at the door, as if
he came upon business ; that it was. an iron knocker,
and that the indecencies she stated were outside of
the house, and that no. sort of conversation or court-
ship took place previous ; that the next day she let
him into the house, and that then, without more
ceremony than was before observed, she yielded to'
him; that he came sometimes twice a week, some-
times not for a month, but always; either in thewin-
ter or summer, about day-break in ,the mornings
that she Ni'p positive he was the father of the child ;'
that she did not know she was with child till near the
time, of her delivery ; that she never told her mother
and sisters, and that they neVer suspe&ed her tote
so ; that her father was a very distressed, man,
that until the last six months they had no bed t
on ;. that there was very little furniture in the Vi
rage-houAp, it having been given away; and that 011,
her Child, and her sisters, lay upon a flock mattras on
the,floor. She said her father, as soon as she was t
able to get up,.calleda meeting of the Inhabitants of
Harrold; at the Wheatsheaf public-house, in order,
to explain to the Defendant and others the business,
and that at that Meeting she charged the Defendant
with being the farrier ; but on being desired to men- j
Om the day she supposed the child to have been got;
she'fixedit as the Friday before Odell Fair; but it
was then obSerVed that could not be, fin that the De-
fendant Was net in the county; and being very much
Cenfused,'she did not then cornea herself, but when
st'e got home she recolleded" she had made a mis-
take; and that it was:the Friday after Odell Fair. The
'examination 'of this witness lasted near three hours.

LA4TV.REPOM'.

COURT OF CHANCERY, Auc. 2.

SHERLEY, BART. V. NEWNIIAIsi.

The So Limox GENERA L moved fo'r a commission.
to examine witnesses de bow me, under the partial.:
lar circumstances of this most remarkable case. it
was a question of the legitimacy of the Defendant,
,• who was an infant. This Bill was filed on the 23d
,of February. The Defendant had- two orders for
time to answer, and, there was an order for an at-
tachment against him for-not putting in his answer.
On the 23d of April there was an order for a MeS,.
senger to bring the Defendant: into Court, for the
purpose of having a guardian assigned to him by% the
Loan CHANCELLOR, and a Clerk in Court dire&ed
to put in that answer for the infant, so that the
parties might be 'able to proceed to,take the depo-
sitions Of witnesses, and, prepare for the hearing of
the cause, the,qtiestior; being on the legitimacy of
the Defendant ; but since the last order had been ob-
tained, the party who had the charge of it, and Mr.
Williams, the Officer of the Court; had not been able
to find • the Defendant.
,They 'were apprehensive
that he might be kept out of the way—perliaps car-
ried to
.Scotland, or some place out of 'the jurisdic-
tion of the Court, until the witnesses'necessary to be
examined; and who are the only witnesses who can
speak to the faa as to his birth, &c. shall be dead,
so that the Plaintiff may lose entirely the benefit of
-theifutestimony.
Ur. RicuAans,, on the same side, stated the cir-
cumstances of the case, and submitted that the par-
ties were perfectly regular" in this application, arid
the. COurt. would be justified in complying with it,
because justice could not be obtained without it,
for here were a great number of WitnesseS to cer-
tain faEls essential to be proved in this cause, and
which none could prove, beCause none knew them,
but these witnesses ; such as_the birth of this Young
'Gentleman and the like..

Mr. BELL appeared for the Infant, and observed,.
that his task was very 'easy in this case, because the
LORD CHANCELLOR would guard the interests of the
Infant in every respea without the aid of Counsel.
The Infant was said to be a suppositious; or natural
child—his mother Was said to be aborad, and but. of
the jurisdiEtion of the Court—and it was said that
the father was to be a witness againSt the Infant, to
prove some fa&s to establgh his illegitimacy. Thus
situated, the Infant had no 'protector but his Lord-
ship. As to his not having put in ,his answer, that,
Mr. BELL said, was by his advice; under all the cir-
cumstances of this case, he told the parties, no an-
swer ought to be put in, but the proper mode would
be, that he-should be taken before the LORD CHAN-
CELLOR in Court ; then his Lordship would
nomi-
nate one of "the Six Clerks as a guardian to put in an
answer for him, under the common order of the
Court, 'in cases where. Infants having no guardians
are made Defendants ; and the necessary proceedings
would take place. But he apprehended that the alle-
gations of the affidavit, about the Infant being likely
to be taken out of the jurisdietion. of the Court, to
take the chance of the witnesses dying before he
should pit in his answer, so as to defeat the object
or this suit; was somewhat over-.stated by Mr. Sou-
CITCIa GENERAL, who, from the multiplicity of
his business, had been prevented from looking
so minutely into the detail of the circumstances
as he might otherwise• have done, for there was
no intention of -taking the Infant away from the
jurisdiaion 'of ,the Court, for the purpose of eluding
the administration of justice. fle-siabmitted,'how-
ever, that this Motion was not warranted by the
pra&ice of the Court : there Were. but three cases in
which the Count would grant a Commission to ex-
amine witnesses se de bete es.se, to perpetuate their
testimony. In the first it was, where the witness
is above' 70 years. of age, and therefore likely to
die before the cause can be 'tried. Secondly, That
he may be going out of the jurisdiction of the Court.
Thirdly, Thatohe is the .ority witness to a material
'fact in a cause : neither was suggested to be the
case here ;' therefore there was no. precedent for
this.

Sarah Crouth proved that she was called up soon
after the birth of the Child, and that she atibrded
every assistance in her power. She said that she had
been in the habit. of seeing the Plaintiff's daughter
several times a day for more than two years, and
ne‘er observed any thing improper in her condua ;
nor did she perceive that she,was with child, and
that she and the girl's parents were never more sur-
prised than when she was delivered of the child.—
On. her cross-examination, she said the.child was a
very fine child, but that it had. More tinvrs and
toes thin . a child ought to have,' and that the want
of care and,attention in the, delivery had been the
cai.ise of its death.. That she rented the back part
6f the Vicaragehouse, for Which she paid 455. per
ann. that she hada large family, and rose early every
morning, but:. that she never saw the Defendant near
tie hou,e."

Mr. WiLsoi.r, for the Defhidant, said, that ,the
preFent aEtion , was of a most singular nature; and
supported by. the most extraordinary evidence he had
ever heard in the course of his professional

LON,DON : • i'rinted by RICIIAR HARRIS, of No. 4, Marti:At-court, Bow-stret - and i'Jbitsiied WLLI A SI AR.hifGliz. SCA UPS, Of South VfOltoll-Vr;:tr, (irosvenor-scpw.:
At the SUN-OFFICE, No. 112) Strand ; 4dvolisJinents Orders for -P,pv-, Leiters for the must b addressed.