The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY ETE4NING, JUNE 20, 1853,

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.-SATURDAY.

WHITE V. FIELD.-BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.

, The plaintiff in this case sued to recover damages for
a breach of promise of marriage, and the defendant, by
his pleas, denied the promise, and the willingness of the
plaintiff to carry it out, and also pleaded that the plain-
tiff had released him from the promise, and as to 1601.,
part of the damage, he paid that sum into court.
Mr. Serjeant Byles and Mr. Bovill appeared for the
plaintiff, and Mr. Serjeant Wilkins and Mr. Hawkins
for the defendant.

Mr. Serjeant Byles opened the case to the jury, and
said that the plaintiff, Miss Caroline Eugenie White,
was a young lady about thirty-one years of age, and
she was a lady of great personal charms, and qualified
to make the happiness and adorn the table of any man
with whom she might be united in marriage. The
defendant, Captain Field, was a member of the Honour-
able Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms ; he was about forty-
five years old, and the son of Dr. Field, a gentleman of
large fortune, well known the county of Suffolk, and
occasionally residing iu May-fair, but now living in Hill-
street, Berkeley-square. Plaintiff's father was formerly
a timber merchant, but afterwards a district surveyor of
Marylebone, and in 1851 he died, leaving a widow and
seven children, of whom the plaintiff was the youngest.
Three of these children were daughters ; one of them
was the wife of Mr. Duffin, a surgeon, of Langhan-
place ; and the eldest daughter and the plaintiff lived
with their mother who was a great invalid, at West-
bourne-grove. The plaintiff was entitled to a small
property, she being possessed of a debenture upon the
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway Com-
pany for 1501., and she was also entitled, upon the death
of her mother, to one-seventh share of 5,0001. ; and be-
yond this she had some slight expectations under the
will of the Rev. Thomas White. The plaintiff had been
acquainted with Dr. Field and his family fcrr some years,
and in the spring of lust year the defendant formed an
affection for her, and in May he called at her mother's
and saw the plaintiff, but as only the plaintiff and de-
fendant were present at that interview, it could not be
proved what then took place. The consequence, how-
ever, was that on the 26th of May, 1852, the plaintiff
wrote to the defendant in these terms :

"Dear Captain Field,--I promised to write soon.
Having considered what you said to me this afternoon, I
now wish, before engaging your affections, to see you again,
when I desire to tell you fully my future prospects. Ido
not doubt my circumstances will change your regard for
me, but I cannot accept your proposals without being fully
explicit. May I ask your indulgence in giving me a week's
time to consider before we meet."

In reply to this the defendant wrote as follows :
" 18, Queen-street, May-fair, May 26, 1852.
"My dear Miss Caroline White,—l thank you much for
your letter to-day, and think it most kind of you, and that
I should not write more than that I will call on you on the
lat of June. I would not write in this brief way, but I
think it may give you less pain, and that we can better
talk upon the subject, and I can explain to you what I
mean. I know I have had longer time to think of it than
you have, and I hope that I may say, I am, yours most
affectionately, E. FIELD.
"P.S. But if I am wrong in writing in this way, I
trust to your kindness in pardoning me for doing so. To-
night all are gone to the theatre, and I am all by myself.
If you wish to call on my sister, I trust you will not hesi-
tate on this account."

Accordingly the captain called on the Ist June, and
although it could not be stated what then took place,
yet it might be gathered from the surrounding circum-
stances. From this time he was the accepted suitor of
the plaintiff, and on the 22d June the defendant wrote
this letter :

" 18, Queen-street, May fair.
"My dear Eugenie,—The facts are we must live honestly
within our income, and not calculate on the death of any
of our friends, for that is most horrible to me and to my
father ; and, I am sure, it cannot be less so to you ; and
then we shall be happy, and my greatest delight will be to
study your comfort in every way. I am anxious to see
you, and hope you will come as soon as you can, and speak
to my father yourself, at about half-past 12 o'clock ; but
be so kind as to write to me and let me know when you
are coming; and, I hope, dear, all will be right; and we
must take each other for better for worse ; and I think
my father will be kind to us ; he is very good. You must
be decided and firm. Is not this a curious love letter?
My kindest love to you, and believe me ever your most
affectionate. "E. FIELD."

The result of the intercourse between the parties was
that the wedding was fixed to take place on the 15th
July last ; and on the Sunday before that event was to
take place, the plaintiff and the defendant went to
church and took the sacrament together. The wedding-
cards were printed, the marriage settlement was prepared
the dresses were made, and the wedding breakfast was
actually ordered, and that at the expense of the young
lady. Two or three days before the marriage day,
however, Captain Field's manner became altered, and
he began to hesitate about the difficulty of obtaining his
father's consent to his marriage, and it became evident
that he did not intend to fulfil his engagement ; but he
did not at this time, or at any other, nor could, cast the
slightest reflection upon the character of the plaintiff.
Nor, on the other hand, did the plaintiff make any com-
plaint against Captain Field, except this, that he ought
not to have engaged her affections and entered into this
solemn contract with her, unless he had made up his
mind, that, whatever his father might say, he, like a
man of honour, would fulfil his pledged word, cost what
it might. As to the sum of money paid into court, that
had nothing to do with the general damages in the
cause ; but the meaning of it was this, that the plaintiff
having been put to an expense of 2001.. in preparing for
the wedding, the defendant had paid 1601. into court on
account of that expense, and upon a written understand-
ing that it should have no effect upon the general
damages at all.

Miss Cecilia White, a sister of the plaintiff, was then
called. She knew Captain Field well. He was in the
habit of coming to see her sister, and he was received by
the family as her suitor, and was treated with the
greatest kindness. The 15th of July was fixed for the
wedding day, and Captain Field and the plaintiff made
out a list of the g►uests who were to be invited to the
breatifast. She (lid not see the ring, but she believed it
was ordered.

Mr. Bovill—Was the trousseau ordered ?
The Chief Justice— What do you mean by trousseau ?
That word applies when a party goes to Storr and Mor-
timer's and orders a set of jewels ; when I was mar-
ridd I had no trousseau. (Laughter.)
Witness—On the 13th April the captain came to
breakfast,-and he then seemed not to wish to marry the
plaintiff ; but witness said that was impossible, and they
all said the same. He said his father would not allow
him to marry her. The plaintiff became very much
excited, and it was a most painful scene. Ultimately
the plaintiff and defendant left together.
Cross-examined—Captain Field did not say, to wit-
ness's knowledge, that if the plaintiff insisted he would
carry out his contract. She knew Mr. Sanders, who
had been in the habit of writing to the plaintiff before
Captain Field came. The plaintiff had accepted Mr.
Sanders, but had afterwards refused him and accepted
the captain. Some of the family had attempted to get
Mr. Sanders, who lived at Newport, a situation on a
railway, that he might be near the plaintiff. Witness
did not think the situation was that of a station-master.
Mr. Alfred White, the plaintiff's brother, also deposed
to what took place at-the " scene" on the 13th of July.
The captain always said his father was averse to the
match, but he thought he would come to at last.
Cross-examined—Captain Field had always mani-
fested strong affection for the plaintiff, and since the
15th of July he had wanted to see her, but witness ob-
jected. He had even wished that the matter should go
on privately, but that the marriage should be post-
poned.

Mrs. Duffin, a sister of the plaintiff, said she had at
first explained to Captain Field the pecuniary situation
of the plaintiff. Her sister (the plaintiff) came to her on
the 13th of July in an almost frantic state, and they
went together to Miss Cornell's, the dressmaker, where
they met Captain Field and Mrs. Beck, his sister. He
told witness his father objected to the marriage, and he
was afraid ho could not go on, but witness thought it
had gone too far to be broken off. He was very much
agitated and distressed, and the plaintiff said, "Pray,
Captain Field, do not let us talk any more about it."
Witness was in a great hurry, having an appointment to
take tea, and so she left.

Cross-examined—Witness and her husband first sug-
gested that this action should be brought, but the plain-
tiff herself had always been very reluctant that proceed-
ings should be commenced. Captain Field said his
father would stop his allowance if he married, and the
plaintiff said she was willing to work or to do anything
sooner than he should be uncomfortable.
Mr. Bruce, the plaintiff's attorney, proved the prepa-
ration of the marriage settlement, which settled the
plaintiff's property upon the husband for life, and then
to the wife, with reversion to the children.
Mr. Cooke, a clerk at Messrs. Coxs and Greenwood's,
said the defendant was one of the crops of Gentleman-at-
Arms, and was a captain by courtesy. His commission
was worth about 1,3001., and it brought in about 701.
per annum. Witness had this commission on his re-
gister for sale, but he could not say for how long.
The Chief Justice—lt was before the present appre-
hension of war ?

thought such a moderate verdict ought to be con-
sented to.

Witness—Oh, yes, before that. (Laughter.)
Mr. Serjt. Wilkins addressed the jury on behalf of the
defendant in mitigation of damages, and submitted that
the injury to the plaintiff's feelings was not so severe as
it had been represented ; and, in fact, that the feeling
and the wounded affection seemed to be all on the other
side. He could not help smiling at some portions of
his learned brother's address, for he reminded him of a
certain lion—he lashed himself with his own tail, to get
himself into a state of pathos. (A laugh.) In his
opinion Capt. Field had acted nobly in disregarding his
own feelings and inclination, rather than introduce the
plaintiff into a state of life which would, under the cir-
cumstances, most probably prove one of penury and
misery, and he submitted that a very small amount of
damages would satisfy the merits of this case.
The jury retired to consider their verdict and re-
mained away for nearly two hours. They then came
into court and said their verdict was for the plaintiff.
Eleven of them had agreed as to the amount of the
damages, but there was not the slightest probability of
the 12 being unanimous. Under the circumstances they
hoped the parties would agree as to the amount.
The Chief Justice asked if the verdict of the eleven
would be taken. It might be that some one juryman
wished to give an extravagantly large amount.
A Juryman—lt is just the other way, my lord.
The Chief Justice—Now, sir, you have prevented the
possibility of arranging the matter. I am afraid you
must again retire.
Mr. Hawkins said he could not consent to take the
verdict of the eleven.

Mr. Serjeant Byles was willing that the jury should
be discharged without a verdict.

The jury, therefore, again retired, but in half an hour
they came in and said their verdict was for 2501.
A Juryman—That is the verdict of the eleven.
_ . _ _ _

Mr. Hawkins declined to consent to that course being
adopted.
• The jury were consequently again locked up, but ulti-
mately it was agreed that the verdict of the eleven should
be taken by consent.
Verdict for the plaintiff, damages 250 i.

The aid Justice paid that would it 4 doi but be