The Sun.
London, England, 1809-12-11 00:00:00

LAW pEPORT.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH; Dec. '9.

CRIM. CON.

BOYD V. Wily-TB.

'• This was an atlion brought for the recovery of
darnacres for criminal conversation with the plain-
-6
Wife.
.- • . . .
• Mr. ATTORNEY-GENERAL,. SS Counsel torJtel.; e I
Cegretted that it was his auty' to present
the Jury this day With another cash of a similaf• de-
crirtion toy that *of yesterday ; it was, however,
orne consolation, that it was not. marked by the
same circumstances of atrocity, although it was at
attended .with the same loss at happiness to the ;
4131aint'ff. The plaititiif in this a6tiou was the son I'
tf..the,Honourable Charles Boyd; who was lineally
desCended tiom the Earl of Kilmarnock, whose 1
title and estates were forfeited, in the Rebeilion
of 1745, and the means of the fainily were of course
,gre circumscribed.' This Mr. Charles Boyd had
Married, and had a
.(;,on by his first wile ; but his wife
d,y i shortly after., he again united himself to the
aughtei of Lord CovinKton, a Scotch . Judge. In
Aoing abroad some time Idler, he left his son, the
.Pl-clintiff,, in the car of his step-mother,. who. had l
tivenhim the best education her limited means would i
allow; and on hiS growing up to. manhood, so tar
consulted his inclinations as to. put her whole for- 1.
t'pe'i►ito'liis hand.-,, to embark in trade; by which
beans it was completely sunk. Thus they were both I
left destitute in the world. The Hon. Mrs. Boyd, how.. 1
ever, had good -friendseand through them got an an-
unity of 2001. a-Year, and a place in theCustorn-house
for the plaintiff,and again they were raised to a satia-
tion of comparativetiflueuce. Id Some time after I .
the plaintiff became acquainted with Mr. Hide i
and his family, and beceiii'ing attached to the /laugh- !
;ter.of thisGentlenian, an 4.;:ithecary at Lambeth, pro- t
;I),csecfor and married her, fie being then 26 years of tt.
and she about 20,- Such Was the anxiety :of the
.flori. Mrs. Boyd fur the hapii)ipess oti the young ,
''nuple, that though immediately Efilicited toliye with
she declined,' lest it sln be-disagreeable
in Mrs. Boyd, promising at the same
.thne, that if t
after the first six months they rtineated-their rtquest, ;
ishe should readily constint. After the expiration 1
nf this period she was invited agars, and came tOflive.
with them. They lived happily together till within
the last six months; the -only fault on the part 'of
the plaintiff, 'if he had any, being that he was toe
Indulgent to his wife. The defendant, Mr. Whyte;
Was a merchant. (His Connsel said he was only a
.11)cl-chant's clerk.) Be it so. He 'had, however, full
I.lans'of being a merchant whenever he should so.
°dine, it •.appearing that he kept a servant and,
• horses, which, m , times like these, were net sup-
,sijnrted on a 'trifling income. Were the ,case •So-or
howeVer, if the defendant chose to assume the
appearance he had 'done, and to corrupt the wife of
a_aother, lie must Suffer for ii..--There dot, bow-
e"r, in this case any extra'ordinary aggravation, nor
ny viotation of the rights of hospitality.
The plaintiff bad observed a change in the manner
and deportment of his wife,which gave reias m to Sus-
Ped that all was not right. He accordingly procured
leave of absence from the Custom House Board, in
ovtiose employ he was, and pretended that he had oc-
`Asion to goto the country for a few days; went to th"e
o; a friend resolved to watch his wile's motions..'.
vies on the 7th September. His wife ate( ed to
'Jo inwteolable at the plaintiff's absence; but on the
lead follow ir day she was observed, by a person who
.14121 been set ter husband to watch her in March-
..`9oM-street and e;01, man-street,
_being part of the
141,ew buildings behind Gray's-inn-lane, hanging on
the arm of the defendant, with whom the plaintiff
Avis
ahogether unacquainted. The defendant lived
In ilinau-street,and the plaintiff in Stdrnutiiii-street,
ciulki see each other trout the windows ut either
. oreccueekted signal, as it N,t ould seem,
evening, at 7 o'clock, the
%wife havine. ciowu,to her own door just
it was et „ ..• Le opposite side of
y leined eac... end ofthe
.'irs. Boyd toot,. hold ut tItL.
Ll street they called a haekuey
into it were traced to a notc-

;r,

:;l~l~i

.. . . . .
- ! ,:::. .;R: 1-,,...y, i - Ch indoszstreet,Covent-gor;.
-"t-i. -- • 'f- illey di-,cll.oged the coach. One of V.ll-.
~;.rvauts, who hid W'ati:i)t cl their. muttons,
. - _ 1,,1e s one coach, dr4e to the CiastouVhouse,
F 1::,.; , i,,rtn.i 11.1 master, who stepped into the coach, ;
L!,.. drove to !..he Kuy. On
.askil,g tor his wife, Mrs.
Dark , Ge mistress of the house, denied that Nile
Bari )eeti there, : bur she was detecteil'iw,mdeaiour-
I.lig to escape by the back way ; on which the plain-
.1
If exclaimed " Tnat's myThe Lady,
t'ilt.i—" Oh, Charles,. he -has not injured Mel"— 1
.4'tie defendant. escaped.. . -. ,
Tire marriage ' in :August, 1807, having been
truved, Mr. A. Lockhart was called. He stated trim-
klt to to a relation of the late Lord Covington, and
Isiie mtpriew of the Hon. Mrs. Bold. Of course he
~iad' (Alen visited in the family, and observed that
`qr. Boyd and his wife lived together very happily
1-1 d affectionately. . .
. . .
~ Mr. Tupan Ryder, of the Custom-house, and Ma-
i°r.AloeS, of the TOwn Veteran Bat taliun,.depcoed
t" 'Be same effect. ' They had . sometimes visited at
Mr. Boyd's, and had met him and his wife at other
plices, when they .always seemed to live happily to-
r'iier ; and Mr. Boyd had every ap?earance of a
iii; and affettioSte husband.
Mrs. Laylafid, adducedi)y the plaintiff to prove
‘‘!at he and his wife liVed happily together, said she
skl not wish to say any thing against Mr. Boyd, but
t knew Mrs. Boyd to be an unhappy young wo-
Il tlan ; they had always however, appeared happy in
)Tillpany, with third-parties, and she knew tlistlgrs.
, qd was unhappy, from what she had said herself,
'4(t that since Vebruarynr March last. She never saw
4 Nvt'Y thing in t-he behaviour of ' Mr. Boyd' to give his
'le the least uneasiness ; but it is not common for
Illarried people 10 disagree belote a third party.—
'Vartha Woodward remembered Mr. Boyd leaving
18 house on the 7th of Sept. last ; she was sent to
Iltch Mrs. Bi.;;d by his desire. Mr. Boyd lives in
.4ittionth-street, Gray's-inn-lane, and she under-
-8
' i'44ts that Mr. Whyte, the defendant, has lodgings
an Millman-street, near the • Foundling Hospital,
4 keeps a groom, On the Bth of September the
taw Mrs: Boyd walking with Whyte near Brunswich-4,
.11'1:Ire ; they went into theToundling Fields, where
4-q -parted. About 7 the same evening; she saw the
6
-,,,f •
14:'.11clant • come into ihe fields at the back of Sid-
'Ml-place, in,;,o which Mr. Boyd's house looked.

Lord Ef,LO,TBOROUGH stated this to be.a crime 1
which would admit of every. possible degree or shade
of 'Morality, or rather immorality. The case now
presented was one of the most lenient kind. It ap-
peared that the Plaintiff's wife, from whatever cir-
cumstance, was not a L'appy woman. If he pos-
sessed a wife of perverse habits, and vicious inclina-
tions, he could not be entitled to the same damages
as if his wife had allowed him every cOmfort, and he
had posSessed her entire affections. On the other
hand, however, as the Defendant knew that Mrs.
Boyd was a resident in that house where Mr. Boyd
lived, though he might not have direct evidence
that she was his wife, he saw her residing in' a re-
spectable abode ; and-, if he chose, with that evi-
dence before his eyes, to enter into amillicit.conoC-
tion with her, taking no pains to acquaint himSolf
with her situation, he took ' the peril on himself,
leaving for the Jury to weigh all these things, and
.to say _what damages ought to be given.-- -The Jury,
after deliberating--for a few minutes, found for ,the
plaintiff-2001. damages.

. .
!qrs. Boyd almost immediately cameont and joined,.
Whyte, laying hold 61 his arm-, on winch witruYss int- 1
..
.. .
rnediately inforthe.d Mr.. Boyd of what she had seen. I . . . . ,
4e- PORTSt:OUTW, DLCe 10..-Tbii day arrived his
Two constables, of: the name of Millet atidMatthews,, t •
were also set to watch them, and folletvecit he parties.. .
IV4jessy's.ship Partridge fforn Ply mouth.
Mr. G. Millet knows the person of Mr. Whyte. . • -. ISailatis Majesty's ship Sarpedon with a convoy
.On the Bth of September, he followed Mrs. Boyd and'. of at,
out twenty sail for the Downs, principally mer-
him up Grays Inn Lane into Guildford-street, where . -
they took a coach, which -drove iM thtut /ships. mediately to the .
. . .........,.....
Key, in Chandes-street ; wit tress followed, and there .•
the parties alighted, witness observing toe gentleman .' PLYMOUTH, DEC. B.—Arrived the London Packet;
get out first, and then handing the lady (Jut, This of Aberdeen, Rrcitse., master, from Beneearlo, put
was at a door under the gateway ; there is qlSo-a :in here for convoy, and in distress ;' also arrived, the
back d6or to.the house. Witness waited abOut• till .
Mr. Boyd came.with a peace Offict-r„ when they all , Thomas', BALL, from Londlsn.
went into the . house., Mr. Boyd demanded his i Dec, 9.—Arrived the .Cr'ocus., sloop of war, from
- -
wife, deScribing her person. The people of the house 1 Falmouth ; the Eciiii'e and Hardy, from a cruize ;
denied. there was any such lady there, or that any ! 0 / •
• the Contest; Lionel GacoottY., from' the Westward.
coach came there that night. Mrs. Clarke, who I
.1
keeps the house, said there was no such person His Majesty's,ship 'Gibraltar was paid Wages this
there; they might stop if they . pleased, and were morning.
welcome to-see any one collie out of the house. In • and the
the mean tithe witness saw Mis 4 Clarke, the:l:laugh- The 4wethysi wtiS unlocked yesterday,
ter, go up stairs, two or three rimes-;' Some. one Pheasant, sloop Of war, decked. . , ..
came down stairs; they. were attempting, to get her .Arrived the bonne Ciloyenne,
outitiy the hack way, but the,door of the room being SheernesS ~. . sloop of war, from
. •
open, Mr. Boyd said, ." There is my wife," on, • .
..::: , . . •
..,,...
which she cried, and said, " 0 Charles forgive rne,
n.
.. . . .
for he ha 4 ot _injured me." .This was all that pas- • .
. . . .
. FALMOUTH, DECDEC.' B.—Arrived are Queer Ciza-
sed.--"Witness did not see Whyte in the house, but i 1. e, NS' with Mail from Ca-
lotto pacaet, Cape. ~.,,unoE,
be saw him a little way from the Key,,after the
bustle was over, jiAt as Mr. Boyd Was getting into, a 1 dig,4 In I`)7 "laYs 'Pass'*ge',.
,
CdilCil. The 'lames tnigt4 be-an hour and a hidfitl
the hoUse before Mr. B. got there.

A. •••• 4
•
NA VAL-,N W .

DoYER, Vr:C. the Austrian
Messenger, came over yesterday from France, in
a flag of truce, and was landed at a short distance,,
(ions hence, and:bout o'clOL'k set 'tiff for Lon-
don.
_ .

,
Mr. PAR-E. then addressed the-Jury in etigatibn
of damages. Some of them had bell upon the dial
'of 'yesterday ' but he begged them not to imagine
that because he was to conduct the case of the pre-
sent Defendant, that therefore he was the advocate
of ; in that place he must discharge.his
duty to those that asked 'for his assistarice.—He rose
novt7 with very ditiereift ieeling4 from those which
had posSessed. him yesterday, wheh be addressed the
Jury in a cause ot a similar nature to the present. He
had seen his client,, and he had foUnd him a very
cancP.d-, elegant, and he should add, but for the pre-
sent action-, modest young man. JHA, , scorned to
deny the fact of his having been with the lady in
question at the Key, in Chando'S.Street. The Learn:-
ed Counsel was conscious therefore, that. a verdict
must go against his client, but he hoped it woull he
Such a verdict as Should, not prevent him' fi=otn be-
'coming one day ea ornament to hiS'country. His
'ciieut was a yery young roan, and by no means in
indqe'rolent circumstances. He was learning. the
business of metchant in a retipectahle West India
'house, and hiS father, who is a Gentleman in Scot-
tif stnail prOperty, allovvs 2001. or 3001.
a year. • The otily reason why he kept a horSe
was, that he was a Member of the corPs of Lon-
don Light Horse. -He was instructed to 4preis
the sorrow of biS Client for" she situation of Mr.
Boyd ; but, at the same tlifie, the conduet of the de-
fendant had been just Such as that ot any other
young man might have been 'in siniiiartcirturri-
stariceS, falling in with such a wtirhata as Mrs.- Boyd,
in the streets of this great uretroooliS. His client
did not pretend
,to know. how Mr: Boyd and his
wife lived,. but Qne of the Plaulti:s own wit-
nesses had informed him th;:t 'Mrs. B. was In SMITHFIELD MARKET, DEc. ti.
happy young woman. There 'was .no proor of fire -I •
This day's Market was amply supplied with prime
Defendant's being acquainted with Mr. B. till the. Beast,,,
or 3 and 'the show of Cattle in other respects was
very day in question; Mid yet it appeared, that in the d
; eel, anon, or c, and , were
Febtuary or March preceding, ords- duhapp%,' r
-I dearer ifiarr our last report; and the trade. in gene-
She therefore looked abrOad for pleasureS. Was
ral wars rather brisk.—The sales in the Hay Market
there a tittle of proof that previous to this day the , • • 1 .
A were scirnewoat lively ; Hay sold at last price
ndant had known Mrs. B. and tlos being the Stram and C,l6V,r fetched better erices.. We annex
case, had nut the .L.ry reght. suppose, that . •
an accurate stweinent of prices and numbers :
this handsome young Man w4ing about the , . • - -
Street, this dissatisfied wife fixes the !•ye of lust; I To sink the 001 per stone of Sib. • • •
•._2O.
ed. to is. Mhtt6n 4s.' 4d. to 6s. od. Veal ss.
and that She, ci; course; is the seducer ? How too 1 te f c:d. to 7s. t)d. Pork cs. c.d. to 7s. ad.
did. it appear that
.he knew her to be a married Bessts2,sv: Sheep o,
woman ? 'There was.nd evidehce Whatever of that ' • SAlfifirtELD. FIAYMAIIICET. ,
fact, Was he, then, the person who drew her 1 adtl. ay_.-Litor 5,.,.0d. to 61.t0 os. od.
OS
toye 71. 7S: . 11. I es. od. td 21. OS.
•
Out ? .No; the moment he sees him she runs down
stairs, throws' herself, as' it .were, into his arms,
and attizts him at the
.door, just as he is cross-
ing tl,e field. He avealed to any man of 'feeling,
if the Defendaht had not, in these circumstances,
been seduced, rather than been the seducer'?. There
was not ,sufficient ptoot
.of the domestic felicity of;
the 'parties ?
.Wily were not the servants df the
"house called, in order, to. see _whether they lived
happily behind the curtain ? Besides, it appeared
that the Hon: Mrs-. Boyd always lived in the house;
and he would put it, 'how was a young wife likely
to feel when another always sat at the head of -the
table? From what he had seen; he- knew that no
woman liked, or possibly could like, such a situa-
tion. Mrs. B. ,had something on her risibd that
made her unhappy. She was unhappy so far back
as March last. What was the consequence of this ?
she looks forforeign pleasures abroad from her own
hone. It might possibly happen that this woman
fixed the eye of lust on his client, when seeing him
exercising in ,the fields-near the Foundling Hospital.
His client was not to' know that she Was a married
woman. Was it not common for women, who,
according to the -false language of fashion, were tin-
der protetilion, to give up that to Others which
they pretended to reserve for one; and his client
might think ^this woman• of that description. He
hoped 'he had said enough for his client—he trusted
he had not said
_any thing to oflend his Lordship or
the Jury.

The brig-norough, of Pottstno-uth, came in to-
day, with the lois of an anchur and cable ; had
. • •
be.r) eaptured,by a Trench privateer, which after-
:
wards reitnquished her.
•

SHEERNESS,- DEC. 9.—Came into harbour,. and
pY(iceeded up to Black 'Stakes, his Majesty's ship
lithlitagenet., :• _

Arrived. Miijity's -sloop, Bermuda; with the

Cosa of her bowprit;

Came dov:11 f.rpm the liver his Majesty's ship

Agif=urt. 4
b •
,Saildd his Majesty'sship S,frenuous to Leith.

DFC. 1 o,—Arrived the Redpale sloop of
war; Cap4a.in IMAcDoNALn, with Le k?:1::1.T French
privateer, of 16 guns, and 85 wen, which she.capL
tared off Dunge.ne.ss early this morning, after a chace
of thrce hours. The privateer was from llonlogne.,
aad had made no captures this cruize.

Sailed his Maitstyi:s.ship, Lion, for Sheerness.
• -
Atrivvd the Desir6?; frdrri 'the Westward.

The ootwardbound rt•waio.

81111‘ NE WS.

bR AV/SEND, DE.CEN2BCR. 8.

ArriVed—the .Nancy, Syrnson, from Quebec,; Black
Prince, Frazer, Betsey, Hirisly, Caledonia; Reed, and Sal-
ly, Green, from Oporto; Lively, Chele§, froth : Valentia ;
Transfer,. Pullen, iforn Ginoltar ; Betsey, Rorie, frOm Sr.
Oomingo;, Lively', Dixon; from Malaga: and tlie Minerva,
Repley, from Malta.
Sailed—the Commerce, Kalavtar, for Limerick.