The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-25 00:00:00

An Irish Breach of Promise Case.

DAMAGES LAID AT £5,000.
On Monday, in the Dublin Court of Common Pleas, be-
fore the Chief Justice and a special . jury, Miss Mary
Blakeney sought to recover £5,000 damages from Mr. H.
S. Byrne, an engineer, for alleged breach of promise of
marriage.

Mr. Butt, Q.C., Mr. Jordan, and Mr. Oliver Bourke (in-
structed by Mr. Kelly), were counsel for the plaintiff ;
Sergeant Armstrong, Mr. J. E. Walshe, Q.C., and Mr.
Phillips (instructed by Mr. F. Tierney), appeared for the
defendant.

From the opening statements on the, side of the plaintiff,
it appeared that Miss Blakeney is a 'young lady of
respectable family, and of good education and prepossess-
ing appearance.. In November, 1862, she met the defend-
ant at a ball in Dublin, she being then 19 years of age, and
the defendant—a gentleman of means and independence,
standing high in his pi ofession—at once commenced to pay
her attentions. Ho was subsequently accepted as her suitor,
and in August, 1863, made a proposal of marriage, which
was accepted by Miss Blakney, with the consent of her
mother. Two days after this formal acceptance defendant
astonished Miss and Mrs. Blackeney by informing them
that he could not keep his promise, as his mother would
not give her consent to the marriage. On the evening of
the day on which this occurrence took place, the defend-
ant wrote the following letter:—
" My Dear Mrs. Blakeney,—l think we were all in high
temper this morning, and did not look at the matter in a
true light. Now, I think that if this little storm with my
mother blows over—as I think it will—all will be right
yet. Suppose we wait a day or so. Do not, madame,
think I in any way wish a stop put to our proceeding. No ;
for if I find my mother not coming round, I shall take my
stand, and Miss Blakeney still, if she wishes it, shall be
my wife. Enough for the present.—l am, yours most truly,

" HENRY G. BYRNE."
On the let of September, 1863, Miss Blakeney went to
England, and on the 20th of December the defendant
addressed the following letter to her :

"My dearest Mary,—l called to your mamma's to-day
and she gave me your address in England. Come home
and all will be settled to our most perfect satisfaction.
Your mother told me you loved me at first sight at the
ball. I must confess that, like the lamps that lit the shrine
of Kildare, the fire from your black eyes flashed on me and
lighted the way to love.
Come o'er the sea,
Maiden, to me,'
as our enchanted poet, Moore, pens it ; and when I have
you near me, love will spring up, and sunshine shall glad
our future days. Do not stay, love ! Come to your own
Harry, and let us dream away the happy days destined, in
God's holy will, to smooth our way. I shall try.to invent
every art to make your future life a joyful and happy one;
and, my Mary, let us not look into the dark future, but
with a manly heart grasp the present. Come, my dearest,
and let us drink across the charming cup that is handed
out to us. It is late, love, so adieu !—Your own

" HARRY."
In another letter, which he wrote on the 28th of Septem-
ber, he said : •

"Dearest Mary,—l got the ' Think of me' marker, and
was so pleased, my dear. I wish you were here, as the
fleet are all at anchor in the bay, looking most splendid
and imposing. There will be a ball, dinner, and fete for
the officers. They have all sworn to take an Irish wife
home, and if you were here you might make a conquest.
By the bye, the day before yesterday I was nearly lost.
We went to see the fleet, and on our return it began to
blow so hard that our small boat was nearly filled.
Only I was at the helm all was up. We had two
ladies on board, but they lay down at the bottom of
the yacht in a state of utter prostration. Well, my
love, how are you getting on ? I think before our mar-
riage I shall visit some friends in England, and get up my
health and spirits. My mother leaves us odd yet. Enough
for the present. Two of the ship's officers breakfasted here
with me, and I am to dine on board at the Warrior's mess
to-morrow.--Your own "HAItRY."

Miss Blakeney returned to Ireland, and the usual atten-
tions of an accepted suitor were shown to her by the de-
fendant. In October tho defendant had to go to London
on professional business, and from there addressed the fol-
lowing letters to the plaintiff :
" Dear Love—l called the evening I was going, and you
wore out. I left some snipe from my own gun, and hoped
you liked it. lam in good society here ; dined yesterday
with the mess of the London Volunteers—great fun, and
nice fellows. There is an officer of the 6th Regiment of
Inniskilling Dragoons stopping with me here, and wo have
great fun. Write to me, love. How is my intended mother-
in-law ? Give her my love. Ever your own

" HARRY."

"My dearest Mary,—l have just a moment to say lam
quite recovered. Would you like to come to Russia ? I
am looking after an appointment to that region, and am
off to the Treasury at one o'clock. I will write again and
be back as soon as I can. " HARRY."

In December ho returned to Dublin, but his manner was
entirely changed towards plaintiff. On the 22d of that
month ho addressed the following letter to her mother :

" My dear Mrs. Blakeney,—l am sorry to say my mother's
conduct has been so extremely strange of late that I am in
a perfect chaos of doubt if ever she will come and live with
me again. This makes me most discontented and unhappy,
and has put me to many pecuniary losses which I cannot
well got out of at present. I have not seen her for months,
and now at this festive season of Christmas I had thought
some change might have taken place, but there is none,
and I must candidly tell you with such coolness and my
circumstances in life being so unsettled, I could never
think of getting married. Again, our profession has
gone to the winds. The Board of Works, drainage, rail-
ways, &c., have vanished like last year's grass, and there
is very little work doing. Could I get married, then, in
the face of such a situation ? It would entail bitterness to
both parties, and bring my wife to a family too cold to
receive her. This I cannot do, and must abandon the idea
altogether. I got two kind letters from Miss Blakeney,
but in fact had no reply to make, as I could make no
favourable one.—With best regards to her, I am faithfully
yours, " H. G. BYRNE."

Mrs. Blakeney at once returned his presents, and all
intercourse was broken off for the time. Mr. Byrne's
mother died on the 11th of January, 1864, and the great
alleged obstacle to the match was thus removed. Defen-
dant then renewed his attentions to plaintiff, but again
cooled.

After this the legal proceedings were commenced.
Mrs. Margaret Blakeuey, the mother of the plaintiff,
having been examined,
Sergeant Armstrong addressed the jury for the defendant,
and said that the defendant's mother had always been
opposed to the marriage, thinking that he should get money,
and that his income was not at all such as it was repre-
sented.

After a brief deliberation the jury returned into court
with a verdict for the plaintiff of .£5OO damages and 6d.
costs.

Wholesale Attempt at Murder and Suicide.

The magistrates at Tavistock were engaged on Monday
in the investigation of one of the most determined attempts
at the murder of a whole household that has ever been re-
corded. Tho prisoner, John Medland, fired at no less than
four persons, and then cut his own throat. The complain-
ant is Elizabeth Blatchford, and is one of three extremely
handsome daughters of Mr. James Blatchford, of Moor-
town. The prisoner, who had formerly assisted on the
farm, was spending the day there on Tuesday, and about
5 o'clock, when Miss Blatchford was blowing the kitchen fire,
the prisoner stepped up behind her and deliberately shot at
her from a six-barrelled revolver. Mrs. Blatchford, hearing
the report, rushed into the kitchen, and found the prisoner
standing near her ditughter, who had fallen to the floor,
with a pistol close to her ear. She said, " You villain,
what are you about ?" and prisoner replied, "I'll have you
too," and put the muzzle to her face. At this moment
Selina, another daughter who had heard the report, came
in, and clasped her arms firmly round Medland, thereby
saving her mother's life, for the ball passed close by her
mother's face and entered the wall beyond her. Medland,
however, managed to get his hand partially freed from
in
sto desperate
the embrace, and fired over his shoulder, but, strange
hiso
ot oo u say, this
shoulder.o tt h i
gs e t shot
an
Selina
armsßhigh
teh missed,fe r a
enough
h theetakeaim over
Medland, and rushed oat of the kitchen with frighhet; releasedmother.
The third sister, Jane, however, hurried in and raised her
sister Elizabeth, who lay bleeding on the ground. They
both tried to escape, but both fell when near the door, for
Medland had fired off a fourth barrel. The young ladies,
however, sprang from the floor, and hurried into an adjoin-
ing field, where their sisters and mother were detaining
their father lest he too might be shot at. While alone in
the kitchen, however, Medland secured a butcher's knife,
and with it cut his throat, dividing the small arteries and
the windpipe in two places. He rushed out with his bleed-
ing throat, and when the gashes, after his capture by Mr.
Blatchford and his son, had been dressed, he tore open the
stitchesand tried to bleed himself to death. At the hearing
before the magistrates a most painful scene took place.
The prisoner declared that Elizabeth Blatchford loved him
and that he should have been happy but for the pride of
her family. The young lady gave her evidence with re-
luctance, and when at its close she was led out of court,
the prisoner piteously and frantically bogged that she
might remain, so that ho could see her if but for a few
minutes.
Yl;Theee of the bullets
edeneposhseodt
onto thethe factlef t
side
daTet
Miss
sh: ies
Elizabeth
r.
a.
Blatchford. W
conical C . No
hadbullet.
e
had been found, but the fourth was missing, and he was
not certain that it was not still lodged in her head. There
was also a hole through her dress, and a severe contusion
upon her side, occasioned, he believed, by another bullet.
Tho prisoner, after being cautioned, said that he loved
his "dear Elizabeth ;" that she and he were watched, and
finding that she cried about it, he could bear it no longer.
Four shots were fired, he said, but two were intended for
her and the remaining two for himself. Ile wished that
Elizabeth was dead, for then ho should die happy.
The prisoner was then committed for trial at the East,*
Assizes.