The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 21, 1862.

ing Gen. Shirley near the Colosseum, That was
after I went down to Southend. I met to arrange
with him about leaving Aberdeen-villas. When I
met the General at the Fenchurch-street station I
thought we were going to Elackwall to dine, and
I did not take a box with me containing dresses
and a night-dress. I swear that. Gen. Shirley
did not on the journey down give me a wedding-
ring for me to wear, so that people might take me
for a married lady. If he should swear that it will
be false, but he gave me a wedding-ring the next
day. I never while at Rugby had my attention
called to a book containing an entry of Gen. Shirley's
marriage. The name of the tradesman of Rugby
to whom I paid £8 2s. 6d, was Maple, and I did
not pay him with money given to me by General
Shirley. I pledge my oath to that. Ido not re-
member stating to General Shirley when I first
went to Rugby that I was entirely without money.
I had money when I went there. I have the bill
for the goods which I obtained at Waterloo House
before going to Rugby, and I produce it. The total
of my bill is £4O, as I had goods to the amount of
£l6 after returning to town from Rugby. [lt was
explained here that £9 of the amount of the £4O
was incurred by the plaintiff before she knew the
defendant, and that she sought to recover only £3l
of the amount from General Shirley.] I still
adhere to my statement that whilst at Rugby I re-
ceived no money from General Shirley. The £3O
1 spoke to yesterday. I put down all I received in
a book which General Shirley has. I never had a
cheque for £2O, and never received any money after
last in May or June,
the £lO sent me in a letter. I have not been to
Rugby since this action was brought. I was there

ge-examined by Mr. Lewis—General Shirley did
not give me the wedding-ring until after he had
effected my ruin, and that was within five days of
the day on which he had promised to marry me.
That is General Shirley who is in court to-day. I
have seen none of my letters since I sent them to
General Shirley, but I see a packet of them now
lying before Mr. Pawle.
By the Arbitrator—The letter in which General
Shirley offered to allow me £2 per week was in
answer to one I had written after he had told me
that he was going to leave England, and that I
must do the best I could for myself.
Mr. Pawle here put in the following letter, in
which plaintiff declined to accept the general's offer
of £2 per week :
"My dear Arthur,—l wrote hurriedly to save post.. What
sad sad trouble you have brought on me. To tear this
little darling from me will break my poor aching heart. Do
not, I implore you, if you wish me to be your friend, throw
me on the wide, wide world penniless. Two pounds a week
cannot keep me and the child. All I ask you as a man of
feeling, and one in your position, can you expect me to be
able to exist on it ? lam willing to do all I can when an
opportunity presents itself, but 1 must have the means to
do it. I cannot seek a situation without a shilling in my
pocket. I ask nothing which is unreasonable. You must
not leave me wholly dependent on myself, for I cannot go
into any lodging, nor can I go to friends, as every thing
would be at once exposed, and I have no wish to injure you
if you are kind. The lowest your poor little, dear child can
be taken for, to be cared for and properly nursed, is 108. per
week, and the nurse will take her for that and include all.
And, dear Arthur, you must forgive me when I ask you to
let nurse have your written agreement, so that in case of
anything happening your dear little child may not be left
destitute.

" I remain, dear Arthur, your unhappy and ruined, but
still affectionate ANNIE."

Mr. Lewis—Now that letter is read, I apply for
the production of the whole of the correspondence.
Mr. Pawle has all the letters by him, and I ask that
they may be read. I ask it in the interest of justice
and truth, and the letters are held back to prevent
this young orphan from obtaining her rights. I
charge it as a deliberate attempt upon General
Shirley's part—

Mr. Pawle (interrupting)—General Shirley is too
much of a gentleman to produce--
Mr. Lewis (with great warmth)—Just put him
into the box, and we will soon see how much of a
gentleman he is.
Mr. Pawle (continuing)—Letters which have
been written to him by a young lady while he was
upon terms of affection with her.
Mr. Lewis—l say that the non-production of those
imi-prg is a shameful and a false attempt torevent
justice being done to tb uillUl
(WL., juung may, taw do not hesitate to say that
it is a most disgraceful and beggarly one. I do not
wish to make any reflections, but in the name of in-
terest and justice they should be produced.
Mr. Pawle—l say that Gen. Shirley is under my
advice, and I advise him not to produce them.
The Arbitrator—Mr. Pawle has a right to put
Gen. Shirley into the box if he pleases, but I must
say that for the purposes of this inquiry the letters
are not necessary.

Mr. Lewis—They are all wanted to prove a con-
tract. And, besides, we may yet have to go to a
court of equity to prove an equitable contract.
The Arbitrator—That is another question.
Mr. Lewis—Well, I have done my duty, and the
suppression of the letters is not my act.

The Arbitrator, to Mr. Pawle—Then the letter
you have read is the only one you put in ?
Mr. Pawle—Yes.

The Arbitrator, to Miss Thomas—The letter just
read—is that an answer to one in which he had
offered you £2 u-week ?
Plaintiff—No, to one in which he had offered 10s.
a-week, and since I have received that letter I have
spent £2 a-week in maintaining myself.
Mr Lewis—That is the case for the plaintiff.
The Arbitrator—Do you wish, Mr. Pawle, to pro-
duce any witness?
Mr. Pawle—l do not, sir.

Mr. Lewis—l am surprised that after Al r. Pawle
requested an adjournment of the case for the pur-
pose of the general's presence, and that now he is
present he declines to call him.

Mr. Pawle—You wish me to produce him as a
witness, so that you may cross-examine him. You
can make him a witness : he is here.

Mr. Lewis—l do not think that it is of much con-
sequence, for I believe he is unworthy of belief.
Mr. Pawle—l shall appeal to the Arbitrator for
protecticn. I will tender him if you will call him
as a witness.

The Arbitrator—The course is, Mr. Pawle, that
he is your witness, and you leave him to be cross-
examined.

Mr. Pawle—l do not tender him for cross•exa-
mination.

The Arbitratcr—lf Mr. Lewis had required him
for his witness he would have subpoenaed him.
Mr. Lewis—As the general is not produced as a
witness, I shall make some very sharp remarks, for
it was evident that he seduced this young lady
under a deliberate promise of marriage.
Mr. Pawic—That has nothing to do with the case.
Mr. Lewis—l contend it has. There is her mar-
riage dress.

The Arbitrator—She says she was sent to buy
goods under the authority of General Shirley. She
says, " He sent me."

Mr. Lewis—The general is intentionally with-
held. The adjournment, I considered, was for the
opportunity to produce him as a witness to contra-
dict the statements made.
After some further conversation,

Mr. Lewis proceeded to sum up. Ho said that
during the progress of the case certain statements
had been made which it was impossible to exclude
from the inquiry, since both he and Mr. Pawle, in
the inquiries which they had had to make, had be-
come acquainted with facts which it was impossible
for either to forget. Miss Thomas claimed from
General Shirley the paltry, pitiable sum of £l3O,
for which the general was indebted to her. General
Shirley had now come into court; he was there to
hear all the remarks which might be made, but he
(Mr. Lewis) did not suppose he would feel
it at all whatever might be said; but he had
not come forward either to admit or deny any.
Of the statements of Miss Thomas. The cir-
eurastauees under which the debt had been con-
tracted
Would have been disgraceful and dishonour-
able
even for a man in the lowest and meanest
position of society,
Ibfuhtewhhadenhathdeanpyardtyiffiwcualstya
even '
in maintaininggentleman—and Mr_ p'a
was a gentleman--withw e had said the defendant
a year, coming that
Lineome of
£7,000 £5,000 or
court and instructing
his attorney to torture that
Young lad while he
himself sat behind without comic
yg forward to deny
or admit mg of the statements Which
she had made,

he (Mr. Lewis) could not help saying that if the 1
defendant held a position in society he had forfeited
it from that moment. The plaintiff had stated that
General Shirley had introduced himself to her as a
widower. Would the General deny it on his oath ?
Subsequently she learned that he was a married
man, separated by deed from his wife. She had
stated that he had promised to marry her three or
four times. Would he admit that ? If he did, and
if he brought about her ruin by means of that
promise, God help the reflections which he must
have ! He (Mr. Lewis) challenged Mr. Pawle to
put him into the box to prove the facts ; and if
those facts proved that he had a conscience—

Mr. Pawle—l must appeal to the arbitrator as to
whether Mr. Lewis is to make a speech on the facts,
or whether he is to attack my client.
The Arbitrator—lf you appeal to me, I decide
that this is simply a money claim.

Mr. Lewis proceeded—lt was a money claim,
and a money claim arising out of circumstances
of a most disgraceful and dishonourable charac-
ter. Mr. Pawle had charged the young
lady who was the plaintiff with going down
to Southend as General Shirley's mistress, when
he was aware she went down as his affianced
wife ; and while Mr. Pawle made such obser-
vations, surely he (Mr. Lewis) might make remarks
upon Mr. Parole's client. The plaintiff had
sworn that the defendant had promised to marry
her on the 15th of June. She went by his direc-
tions to Waterloo House to order clothing prepara-
tory to her marriage with him, she at the time owing
a debt there of £9, which Gen. Shirley had never
paid, although he had her living in his house at
Rugby for nine months. He then took her over to
Ireland under the pretence of marrying her there,
but he brought her back again, and she then in-
curred a further debt at the same place amounting
to £ll on his authority. She had stated that he
never supplied her with a solitary shilling while
she was in his house, and although he had seduced
her under a promise of marriage. She was then
near her confinement, and came up to London to be
confined, and there were items in her account for
clothes, housemaid's wages, and other things,
amounting in the whole to £169 17s—money which
she had saved in an honourable and humble posi-
tion as governess, and money which she had inhe-
rited, and money which she had expended for the
support of the defendant's illegitimate child. She
had only received £3O from him in the whole, and
she had not received one penny from him for the
support of his illegitimate child—supporting that
child, he believed, almost at the sacrifice of her last
gown at the pledging-shop. Gen. Shirley had
heard all she had said, and yet he had not the cou-
rage to come into the witness-box to contradict her.
What were the facts with regard to the account ?
Gen.' Shirley authorised her to get lodgings at 275.
6d. per week, which amounted to £2O 12s. 6d.
Then there was the support of herself and child at
£3 per week, amounting to £45 ; clothing for the
baby, £4 10s.; baby linen, £10; chair Cs.; nurse-
maid's wages at ss. a week, £1 ; her own wear-
ing apparel, £l5 ; which was quite clear she
had bought by his authority. He had left her
without a dress of any sort. There was a rid-
ing habit, £ll ; medical expenses and her dress-
maker's bill— amounting altogether to £169
17s. She had received on account of this £3O ;
and a balance was still due to her of £139 17s.
Then came the question as to whether she had the
authority of General Shirley in incurring these
liabilities. She had sworn in his presence that he
had not given her a shilling during the nine months
she was at Rugby, and when she was delivered of
his bastard child he desired that it should be
christened by the name of Annie Rosalie Shirley
Thomas. It was christened by that name, and this
was the only relation that the law allowed to be
recognised between them; and what could be the
defendant's object now in the course that he was
adopting towards the child ? That he authorised
her to pay a rent of 255. 6d. a week was proved
by his letter telling her to go to a cheaper lodging ;
that letter the learned arbitrator would probably
remember, in which. General Shirley said that 255.
a week was to much to
_plyv fapery pad forU rent;
a defence which would have been beggarly, dis-
honourable, disreputable, and disgraceful to the
poorest man in the land, for it was clearly proved
that she had incurred the debt for the support of
his illegitimate child. He had left her destitute in
the world ; and he (Mr, Lewis) hoped that he would
forfeit his position in society, for he had left this
poor girl to starve in the streets and left his own
child to die in the workhouse. As the smallest
meed of justice that could be rendered to her, he
hoped that the learned arbitrator would give the
plaintiff the full amount which she had expended
for the support of herself and bastard child of a
man who had not had the feelings of the poorest
beggar to supply something towards the support of
his child. i\lr. Pawle might make observations
about the conduct of the plaintiff, and say that she
had lowered her own position in the world, but he
(Mr. Lewis) bad to say that was all brought about by
the treacherous conduct of General Shirley. Had
it not been for the aid of one or two charitable per-
sons who had interested themselves in her behalf,
the plaintiff and her child would have starved while
General Shirley kept in his pocket the amount which
she had expended upon his authorisation ; and now
he did not dare to come into the box to contradict
one single word that she had said. She now claimed
from him £139. As to what might be the result
with regard to other actions for other sums, which
could not, he was sorry to say, be decided before
the learned arbitrator, he (Mr. Lewis) would say
nothing; but at all events he hoped that the decision
of the arbitrator would give her that amount.
Mr. Pawle, on behalf of General Shirley, the de-
fendant, said that he should have been far better
pleased if Mr. Lewis had confined himself to the
legal points of the case. A very great deal had been
said about the non-production of General Shirley
yesterday, but the general was then present, and Mr.
Lewis could have called him if he had thought pro-
per to do so. He (Mr. Pawle) had declined to call
the general, because Mr. Lewis bad said on the pre-
vious day that if the general were called he should
put questions which would be exceedingly annoying
to him, and which would bring in the names of third
parties. For this reason he (Mr. Pawle) took upon
himself to advise General Shirley not to go into the
box for the purpose of hearing himself vilified and
abused. It appeared to him that for the last two
days they had been trying a case of seduction with
the object on the part of Mr. Lewis of creating a
sympathy towards his client. It had been objected
that General Shirley had not produced the letters to
which Mr. Lewis had alluded. It would not have
been manly in the general to have produced these
letters ; and he (Mr. Pawle) had advised him not to
do so, and t hat was why the letters had not been pro-
duced. But it was not so with Miss Thomas, every
letter that could annoy General Shirley had been
produced by her; but he (Mr. Pawle) would say
that there was not a single letier which General
Shirley had written of which he had reason to be
ashamed. The verdict at Lewes had told what the
jury thought of the case. It was true Miss Thomas
was not there for examination herself, but she had
a clever and adroit young woman thee°.
Mr. Lewis—Don't say that, Mr. Pawle.

The Arbitrator—The jury might have believed
her, and yet not considered the promise of marriage
was proved.
Mr. Pawle—The verdict showed what the jury
thought.

Mr. Lewis—Ah, but that verdict may be upset
by a new trial.

Mr. Pawle then went through the items, and
contended that they could not be legally claimed.
The learned gentleman then proceeded to say that
those were all the remarks that he wished to make.
He was not there for the purpose of splitting
straws, andlif the matter had been placed in a diffe-
rent shape to the general it would have been paid.
But, on the contrary, it had been set forth that he
was unwilling to do anything for her, and, further
that he would starve his child. He would put in
and read a letter upon that point, which would
show the real offer that had been made. The letter
was as follows:

«7, New-inn, Strand, London, August 12, 1862•

" SHIRLEY V. THOMAS.
"Dear Sirs,-11, e are instructed by General Shirley to

pay to Miss Thomas a weekly sum of L 2 for a period of 12
inonths from this date, within which time it is to be hoped
she may obtain some employment. Should she not, we have
no hesitation in saying the allowance will not be hastily
discontinued.

" We are also instructed to allow Miss Thomas, in addi- I
tion to the amount named, £3O per annum for the support
of her child, upon satisfactory proof from time to time that
it is well cared for ; or if Miss Thomas will give up the
child we are instructed to say that our client will at once
settle £3O per annum upon it, and will, upon its attaining
21 years of age, invest for its benefit a sum of £l,OOO. The
allowance to Miss Thomas will be paid in any way that
lady may desire, and should she require any small amount
of money for her present purposes we are quite willing to
advance it. Awaking your reply,
" We are, dear sirs, yours faithfully,
"PAIVLE and LOVESIt.
" Messrs. Lewis and Lewis, Ely-place.,"
Mr. Pawle continued—Now, sir, in dealing with
this case, can you think such a state of facts 'pos-
sible ? When she went to Rugby she was by no
means in good circumstances, and she obtained the
authority of General Shirley to buy dresses. While
living with the general, for between eight and nine
months, on application made to the defendant, it
was strange if she did not have very large sums of
money. She came to London and took apartments
under the authority of General Shirley, and now
she came to-day and asked them to believe another
story. She wished him (the learned arbitrator) to
believe that she had received only the miserable
sum of .£3O. He (Mr. Pawle) was then asked to
produce the general to give a denial to that state-
ment, which he declined to do, and for this reason,
that he had been deliberately told that he (Mr.
Lewis) would question him, and show him to be a
seducer, and by the questions put he would bring
other parties into the matter and affect the family
of the general, which he (Mr. Pawle) was deter-
mined to avoid. The question simply was, would
he give £lOO or £3O, without further occupying
the time of the learned arbitrator. He (Mr. Pawle)
hoped he would not believe the improbable state-
ment of the plaintiff in making his award.
Mr. Lewis trusted that, if his client was entitled
to any amount, the award would be made at an early
period, as his client was entirely dependent upon
her friends.

The Arbitrator said no doubt both sides would
be glad to have his decision as early as possible, to
which he would attend.