The Sun.
London, England, 1807-03-20 00:00:00

IRELAND:

COURT OF KING's BENCH, MANtI4 5.

FULF.AM V. EtUTCHINS

This kens an Aaiori brought by the Plaintiff to re-
cover damages. from the Defendant for the seduction
of his daughter. The damages were laid at 50001:
Serjeani Moore: said, the Plaintiff was a person
who, having failed in trade, resided with his family
on Constitution-hill, near the. Royal Canal: HiS
family 'consisted of, a wife, three detighters, and
two sans, the elder of whom was an .:leterney, and
lived jnst opposite to the residence of the Defendant.
The Defendant occupied a lucrative post in the Re-
venue, .was a married man, and the father of a fa-
mily. :was
vicinity, a degree of intimacy took
place between him and Mr. Fullam, son of the
Plaintiff, and in consequence he became acquainted
with his sister, Anne' Fullam, the cause of the }re-
seal action, who happened to. be on a Visit with her
1 brother?' From the age, situation, end general de-
portment of the Defendant, the younger Mr. Fullain
(' was very far froni apprehending any danger to the
I hpiiour of his sister. Hutchins, however, pretend-
edthe most violent attachnient to the young Lady,
• but when she reminded him of .his being already
married, and consequently not. at liberty tceenter
into any lawful eonneeion with herself, he assured
her...that she as" well as the world was mistaken in
1 that opinion; that the woman with whom he-Co-
-1 habited was not his wife ; and that, although she
had borne-him many children, he was determined, to
leave her, and to marry herself, as the paramount
'9bje6f of his choice. Prevailed upon by these and'
such like representations, the unhappy daughter of
the Plaintiff consented to accompany her seducer,
and took refuge with him' in an intain Aungier's-
street. .Three days after, her parents were eine to
trace their unfortunate daughter to her retreat at the
end, and having found her, to bring her back to the
bosom of her faMily and friends.
The repentant child assures:them that her mind
only had been seduced, 'that her person was nude-
bauched ; and these assurances were the 'occasion
that she ,was received by her family, not with re-
proaches for her fall, but
.congratulations at her es-
tape. No effort was left untried by her father and
mother to reconcile her to herself, andeo inspire her
with a just horror for her seducer; no effort was
left untried to deter hirtrfrom the prosecution of his.
profligate designs. But he was too skiltni in 'his art,
and too obstinate in hie intentions, to be baffled by
their contrivances. He way-laid a servant who
lived in the family of the Plaintiff, and by giving her
some money, and the prospect of more, he pre-
vailed upon her to promise that she would de.-
liver a letter he comtnitted to her charge immedi- .
ately to the obje& of his guilty passion. The set=
vans promised what she bad no intention to perform.
She delivered the letter, not to Miss Ann Fullam,
'but to her mother, who, 'provoked, as she well
might be, at the obstinate perseverance in iniquity
of this rank debauchee, wrote him a letter conceived
in such terms of resentment as bis condat deserved.
He, however, was not abashed; but ceeceising him-
self now the injured party, mode a solemn vow of
revenge,_ in terms worthy but
.of the occasion and
himself. He swore "ByG— he would scald the
old h--'s heart," a prediaion which his subse-
grient condu4t has but too fatally verified. For, with
a diabolical fertility of invention, he now called in
a coadjutor to his schemes, and having associated his
worthy nephew in his designs, he enlarged his plan of
sedation, and the second daughter of the unfortunate
Pfeihtiff became the reward of the 'pander to his lust.
Under pret6nce of honourable leve. for the second
daughter, the nephew pillar admission to the
house he lostno opportunity to ingratiate himself
into the affections of the younger, and the confidence
of the elder sister : one evening, at a late-hour, the
two sisters seized an opportunity of eloping from
their father's house, and, accompanied by' their pare-
Mours, escaped, one pair into the county of \Vex-,
ford, am) the other into the. county of Wicklow.
For a long time the wretched parents were ignorant -
of the fetreat of their equally wretched children.
The perseveranc-e.of inquiry et length traced out the
lurking-place of the present Defendant: Mrs.
Killen], accompanied by her brother-in-law, imme-
diately repaired to the house where she heard the
-daughter -was lodged. She found her there ; but
she was prevented from taking her home by the in-
tervention of Hutchins himself. He tore the child
from the arths, of her mother;, he not only did so,
but he abused both by words and blows that mother
-whom he had already irreparably .injured. He beat
her in a most barbarous and schoeking manner, and
after his unmanly treatment, leaping front a window
with . the daughter, he disappeared, and since that
;not:Gent, neither of them bad been heard of.
The first witness, Margaret Passenger, declared,
that she nursed both the young
Ladies. The De-
fendant, after Miss Fullain s return from her first
elopement, had sent for witness by his own maid :
she met hint in Cuckoo-lane : be gave tier two dol-
lars to engage her to give a note to Miss Fullam,
and protniSed her ten guineas it she week' complete
the business i she gave the letter to Mrs. Fullam,
who wrote him an answer : she brought this answer,
upon-the perusal of which be exclaimed," by G—d
I will scald the old bawd's heart." Some time after
the two young Ladies eloped, and witness saw them
join Mr. Hutchins, and his nephew, Mr. Pear, in
King-street : they departed in their company. Upon
cross;examinatian, it appeared, that witness accum-
panied the Ladies in their flight as far as a huxter's
shop in Kineestreet, carrying their clothes, for which
she received two dollars from Defendant, and gave
them her blessing on their departure.
Several witnesses, amongst others, Dr. Rooney,
an Accoucheur, and. Mr. Murphy, a Catholic Priest,.
were produced to give testimony as to the ge-
neral charaeier and conduct of the young wo-
men previous to their sedation. Mrs. Dulite. Mis-
tress of a Boarding-school 'near the Roek, proved.,
that the elder had been her pupil for near tvi9yeari,
and had behaved herself as children of her age (be-
tween 12 and 13) usually do. That she was remov-
ed from her superintendapce before her education
was completed, hut witness never heard any reason
given for her removal. . ,
P. Fullam, brother to the Plaintiff, deposed, that
he 'accompanied his sister-in-law to Ballyboughi-
bridge, where they understood that his niece lodged
with her seducer. The witness took his station