The Sun.
London, England, 1814-12-12 00:00:00

rC IM.'C6N.
6

FITERIFF'S ilf:thOßls-SinEET, DEC. 10.

:5T FORE-JOSEPH BILICIikLL; ESEL. AITD A SPECIAL
'31.711Y. _

THE EARL OF ROSERER RY 'lt. SIR lIENR:Y MILDMAY,
• BART. J.P.

Mr. JONES 'opened the pleadings. He:sbi
• that Nt...il'PriurroS-6,'Earl Of Roseberry,.WaSPlain-
' tiff, and'Sir Henry St. John Mildmitay, tart. was
defendant. It was an action for eriminal eunver-
's,ition ,with the plaintiff's wife, and the -damages_
were laid at.Tl-myrY THOUSANDPouNbs.=—The
defendant .bad suffered-judgMent by defarilt, and
"the•jury were called upon to assess the damages.
Mr. ATTORNttY-dENP.rtAL stated, that it became
'Eris duty, in'consequence-, not so much Of his m.0..'
fessional avocation, as. of. the long aid shwere•
friendship which had subsisted between an Hon.
andiearned Friend of his, nearly.connetted with
-the family of the Noble Plaintiff, -to appear as
`Counsel.upon this occasion ; and after the length
of time he had been erigar.,ed in the profession,
and 'his .experience it (much -more than had
*been agi'ecable to him upon questions like the
one which,'today would- occupy the serious at-
tention of the Jury), it might seem something
like affectation,• to-say, that he felt greattliffletd-
ty in presenting himself before them. 'Those
Who knew him, would acquit him of being ad-
;dieted- to express what he did hot feel ; be Could
assure therathat in the whole course of his life,
he had never felt any thing apprOaching .the dif-
ficulty, distress, and embarrassment, he now ex-
perienced. He .had endeavoured, as his duty
to the plaintitT, and- his duty to the Jury
Whom lie had the honour of 'addressing, requir---
tcLof •him; to put his thoughts into something
like formal arrangement ; but he found that-ab-
-tolutely impossible; the circumstances of this-,
case differing so much from every•thing• hC had
'evCr.Seen read, or heard of before ; differing from
all others in the evraordinary atrocity by which
it Was -peculiarly, distinguished. This hart placed
hint in a 'situation of being obliged, as well as lie
was able, to state the circumstances to time Jury,
just as they presented themselves to his memory.•
He had felt a degree of 'disgust by the perusal of
the'details of the case., which moldered it impos-
sible-for hint 'to do any more than trust to the mo-
niOnt for such expressions-as might Occur to him.
The first thing he Immtcl to &tate was, who those
:partie's•werewho they were individually, and as
inc tubers of the commtinity ; arid to add to the
intlani7holy and afflicting task, of itelling •them
who orhey were, as: related to each • other.- The
pialuria" was a Nobleman of ancient creation in
the Northern part
.of his Majesty's dominions ;
be -wos speaking of ,hint here as a man—but
.as a husband- and a father, not having the
Ininour to know him, he could only speak from
the information of others ; and he Understood
from a quarter whiCh never deceived him, • that it
was impossible to speak of the Noble Plaintiff in
higher terms than he deserved. tie wils, as had
butn•well -expressed by his Hon. and Learned.
Friend (Mr. Solicitor-General), such a man, that
if a person of the highest rank had a daughter
most dear to hint, and of marriageable acre, that
person could-not have found a fitter husband for
her than -Lora noseberry ; and . having mmem;red
her with him, would hare considered all his
cares with regard to that daughter._ at ,stn end.
As al husband, the plaiodif xvas most indulgent,
affectionate and termaer-i- watching every opportu-
nity of gratityhig his lady, not.by those frivolities
described as constituting the agreeable part of
life, but by..every thing by which there was a ra-
tional hope of conducing to the happiness of her
who was the object of his attentions. He married
this lady in-the 'year 1808; she was then of the age
of 18, in the possession of every charm-that-mild
taptivate, of•every ornament and accomplishment
that constitute-the happine.ss of married- life. She

was the daughter of a man whose name must be

known to the Jury, because men like them could

not he unacquainted with:one of the greatest phi-
lanthropists of the a;.; ; tJley could not hut have
beard of the Han: Mr. Bouverie.) known as the

b''-other of the Earl ot. Rad nor, but moredistinguish-
ed by every virtue. that could adorn human nature.
This laHy was one of, his -da,ughters She had
been educated in a manner most exemplary; and,
by her conduct up to the time.,when she ceased to
be miller the parental- roof, arid till the pet iud when

the/transactions _which. were the• subject of the

bresent suit,' was distinguished, was. admircd,
olted up to as a lady whose conduct. was Ivo! thy
the imitation.of the mo6t virttroas. He.had ttted
that she AVAS One .of Mr. liouvvries doughteTs.
Who were the others ? The deroithwe, Sir

INnry Itad married oue of -
The tielendant:s xvite had born- him a son-,. and

he had the inislortitne to become a widower ;
Ise lost his lady in 1810. It was auother- }art of
thid melancholy history, that the brother of the

defendant was married to another of Air. Lion-

_
danghters, so that this ease pre3euted,,not
case of adultery al•one not 'a ease of seductio►►
alone, not -a case in which it was imputed to the
,defendant that be had violated all the ties of

friendship, and broken down all thA belonged to
the laws of hospitality ; but that be had added
to those crirnes,tlie additional- one of multiplied
incest. This -was"the State of the case he
,had.to

present. After the death of Lady Ilildinay,
at a period when it see.ined, and it was to be

feared %viten it only scented, that - Sir liunry
Aiiithnay felt as an 'affectionate fuishaud might
be expected to feel upon that greatest of all
possible cahnitities, the loss of an .affectionate
‘vile.,,Oertiother of an infant son, where was he
so-likely to look for consolation as iu the highly
respectable society of tic relatives. of his deceased
wife? .In their affectionate attentions !night
catnrally expect to find tvhatever could solace or
pilievate his griefs, ant[ upon this
_subject,' as upon
c,very other part of the tragedy he ivas represent-
3ng;_Sir.Fienry should be hi, witness;
he should be the speaker, and the Jury shot! Id
j1,44e of 'hint if his own iangun.,,tre and semi_
And, said . the Learned C"""sel, when
ihcz :;ttri Jim( heard that exidencT, they would
:•,11:t- not him .oikly, but the justice of
c.,tia;ry, if they del not distinguish this
taraliskird in its .atrocity, by
ct-ling the it‘ll extent of the damages

Ineuts

ase,