The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-03 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 180.

-- -
to another world by opium. I efeeeels:a G est elnno
km- ws howT -,,,..6g1vd-to subdue this criminal. at-
,eseeeeet, and to recover sufficient tranquillity
of mind to enable me to perform my duties as
your wife. I wrote to him declaring my resolution to
conquer my affection for him ; his good feeling and real
regard for me prompted him to acquiesce in this course,
and he expressed his entire approbation of it. I tried
it—l failed—the struggle almost cost me my life. I
now became fully convinced that I was for ever in-
capable of discharging towards you the duties and offices
of a wife, save by the adoption of a course of systematic
dissimulation and unremitting hypocrisy, from which all
my better feelings revolted with loathing and disgust.
I felt that the attempt would render my life one con-
tinued lie. No course then remained for me by which
I could be rescued from the horrors of my position ex-
cept either self-destruction, or to withdraw myself
' openly from you, and resign myself to him who engrossed
all my affections ; to have adopted the only intermediate
measure by indulging in his society, and secretly com-
mitting infidelity to you, while I continued to profess
the feelings and perform the offices of a wife, was one
of which I was altogether incapable. I therefore, after
viewing my situation and examining my heart, deter-
mined to abandon a position which I could not con-
scientiously maintain, and I did accordingly on Friday
last, deliberately and advisedly, and not in a moment of
excitement, or under any sudden impulse of feeling,
leave my house and placed myself in the hands of him
to whom my affections had been surrendered.
" Need I assure you, that up to the hour I quitted
your door I was never guilty of any act injurious to
your honour or incompatible with the vows I had made
you. What I have done, I have done openly, and have
not added the meanness of falsehood and deception to
the sin of infidelity. While by this formal confession
I place in your hands the power of releasing yourself
from the tie which binds me to you, and of preserving
the rights of our children frem the possible consequences
of my act, I am prompted as much by feelings as by
duty to declare, most unequivocally, that what I have
done has not been caused by any absence of kindness
and affection on your part ; that on the contrary, from
the day of our marriage to the day of my departure
from you, you have been most kind, most tender, and
most affectionate, and I am deeply sensible that you
have deserved a very different return from any that it
has been in my power to make.
" As I believe and trust that my own conduct as
well as that of the person to whom I am now united
has been, up to the hour of my separation from you,
such as to afford no grounds for objection and suspi-
cion, you cannot, I presume, have any means of know-
ing who that person is ; it is necessary, therefore, that
I should inform you that it is Dr. Lardner. Neither
he nor myself desire to offer any extenuation, much less
defence of our conduct. We feel it, however, to be
only justice to ourselves to say, that we are prepared
to suffer all the evils attendant upon a total change in
pecuniary circumstances as the inevitable consequence
of the step we have taken ; I have come to him desti-
tute of any means of support, and bringing nothing
with me but the few articles of dress I had upon my
person. He has surrendered a large income which he
has for many years enjoyed, arising from his profes-
sional labour ; banished, as he must be, to a foreign
country, damaged in character by the very measure
which gives me to him, removed from all those connec-
tions on which the profitable occupation of his time has
hitherto depended, he is at this moment uncertain where,
or how he may obtain even that very small income
which will suffice to supply our most moderate wants
and wishes. Not foreseeing an exigency like the
present, he has not realised any considerable amount
of property—nothing, in fact, which can materially aid
us in our present position. We were both fully aware
of these formidable difficulties and sacrifices ; but he felt
that any sacrifice, however great, would be most willingly
made by him to soften the evils attendant upon the po-
sition which I must assume. Now, in conclusion, allow
me to express a hope, that after the first anguish attend-
ing this misfortune has been assuaged, you will see that
your peace and comfort will be more promoted by losing
me altogether, for retaining me without retaining my af-
fection, would be irksome to you, and you would have
the pain of seeing me daily consumed by a hopeless at-
tachment to another, which would eat into my heart
until I should be reduced to the mere shadow of myself,
and which must after a brief period have brought me to
the grave. It is not likely that you will feel any dispo-
sition to communicate further with me ; but, as we still
have some common interests, I feel that it is my duty to
supply you with the means of such communication
should it be necessary.—Anyihing which is addressed
to Mrs. Williams, No. 17, Old Burlington street,
be forwarded to me.—Believe me still your most sincere
and grateful friend,

" MARY HEAVISIDE."
" It is my wish, if you have no objection, that this
letter or a copy of it should be sent to my father."
The Learned Counsel proceeded : On the 4th of April
the plaintiff's wife wrote another letter to her father,
which also contained ample evidence of the cool and
calculating baseness of the defendant. It was to this
effect

" Paris, April 4,1840. Hotel Tronchet,
" Rue Tronchet, 21.

"My dearest Father—The considerate kindness
which pervades your letter of yesterday, and the more
than parental tenderness which breathes in every lint
of it, have deeply effeczed me. if Ido not coincide

ail your views, or adopt your suggestions, it is not from
the absence of that sympathy of feelings whisk has al-
ways existed between us, but, because yoe do not in the
present case comprehend the state of my mind and heart
as perfectly as you have always done in the ordinary.
occurrences of my life. That neither yourself nor any
other relations really understand my feelings, is abun-
dantly proved by some parts of your most kind and
affectionate letter : you say that yourself and every
one who knows me consider that what I have done
has been the effect of a ' momentary fit of in-
sanity,' and look to be convinced of this by my
sudden repentance, by my desertion of the person with
whom I have united myself, and my immediate return
into the bosom of your family. Were I to allow you,
my dearest and most beloved parent, to remain under a
misconception so gross, I should do injustice at once
to you and myself. Can you suppose me, your daughter
—arrived at my present time of life, having moved for
so many years in the world with eyes to observe, under-
standing to think, and heart to feel--can you suppose
me to quit my home and family, to expose my husband
,aid childr,n to the pain which I knew to be the in-
evitable consequeece of the step I took, to afflict you
and my mother, and to resign the many advantages
attendant on my own position fur the mere gratification
of momentary
,fixling ? Reflect how base such a feel-
,in must be, if it existed at all! How unworthy of me,
and how incompatible with everything that you know
of my character and previous conduct. If I could have
been guilty of taking such a step as I have taken,
prompted by afeciing so gross and momentary asthat which
ycu describe, I should indeed be most deservedly an oh-
ject of execration and contempt. Were I now to adopt that
suggestion which your lore for me rather than your better
judgment had induced you to make, I should be sign-
ing my own condemnation, as well with the present
generation as with posterity. I am sensible that my
acts are before the world, and that they will be re-
corded after lam laid in the dust. Whatever differ-
ence of opinion individuals may entertain respecting his
merits, Dr. Lardner has held so conspicuous a position
in public life, and is so well known in every part of de
world, that one connected with him, as I am, must ex-
pect to be subject to more than ordinary scrutiny. How
would my conduct bear such an examination, if I should
leave it to be inferred that, in resigning myself to him,
instead of being swayed by a profound end unalterable
attachment, arising from feelings inspired by better and
nobler qualities. L have been influenced by nothing but
those licentious motives which so often influence worne.e
and that 1 should prove this by deserting him with that
levity and want of consideration which always attends
such feelings. I feel it necessary here to repeat
what I stated distinctly and emphatically to my hus-
band in the letter which I desired should be shown
to you. I struggled for many weeks to subdue the
attachment with which I had been inspired. Absence
was tried ; but struggles and absence were vain. Be-
fore I had decided upon the step I have taken, I be-
came convinced that the state of my mind was such
that further resistance to my feelings would have cost
me my life. I felt that nothing short of this conviction
would even extenuate in my own eyes the act I have
T committed, and in this feeling Dr. Lardner fully agreed ;
and it is but justice to him to assure you, that before I
quitted Brighton he expressed to me in writing his
strong opinion to that effect. If you are disposed to
give me credit for the truth and sincerity of what I
now express (which, however, has been still more fully
stated in my letter to my husband), you will, I am
sure, perceive that, by adopting your suggestion, instead
of improving the moral position which I hold, I should
deprive myself of every just claim to indulgence and
extenuation which I can ever hope to advance. You
say that a special clause will be introduced into the Act
of Divorce to prevent my marriage : you must, in cern-
mon with every well-informed person, be aware that
such a prohibition is not customary ; and, if it were in-
troduced in this case, it must be done on some special
grounds, or through the exercise of some special influ-
ence. No special grounds exist for such a prohibition :
and if any sinister influence should be exerted to de-
prive me of the means of rectifying my position, and
receiving at the altar the vows of him for whose sake I
have made so terrible a sacrifice, 1 have no refuge, ex-
cept in the consolation arising from the reflection, that
the state in which he and I will be compelled to live
is one which we should use every means in our power
to avoid. We feel that we are already as strongly bound
to each other by every tie for which we entertain respect
as any marriage could make us, and we look forward to
that ceremony hereafter. It was not for the sake of
ourselves, but with a view to the opinion of the world,
and to the interests of those to whom we may give
birth. It is therefore with those feelings that I trust
and hope you will yourself, after more serious and deli-
berateo n t
hthis
considerationpainful
subject,
thane t, use
s you o
your
nhave i
influence
aebl et
ot to
preventbestow
any such unusual and mischievous restriction as that

o which you refer. As to my marriage settlement, to
..lieh you advert, I am quite content to leave it and
ill other interests of a like kind at your absolute
liseretion. When we took this step our eyes were
ally open to the disastrous consequences which must
attend it, so far as property and income were concerned.
I surrendered, as you know, a position of affluence, and
sacrificed the enjoyment of a considerable fortune. He
s well known to have been for many years in the pos-
session of a professional income, amounting to several
-housands a year. Being unencumbered with family,
tnd feeling assured that whenever he was disposed to
marry he might always expect an accession of fortune,
he did not provide by saving for a contingency like the i
present. The consequence has been, that in uniting
himself with me, and consequently withdrawing himself
from the place where alone he could exercise his profes-
sional labour, he has surrendered nearly his whole in-
come ; that which he can now expect scarcely amounting
to what will be sufficient to obtain for us, even on the
suost moderate scale, the requisites of life. Short as
the period is which has elapsed since the step we
have taken has become known, he has been already
made to feel its consequences ; you will see, I am sure,
how cruel and unnecessary any proceedings will be
which can tend to aggravate the difficulties of my po-
sition. On this subject I shall add nothing, trusting as
I do entirely to your considerate affections, only im-
oloring you to believe (what sooner or later you will be
convinced of), that our fates are irretrievably identified,
and that my well-being can never be separated from
his. In the agitation of mind under which you have
evidently written, you have omitted all notice of a sub-
ject which to me is one of the deepest solicitude—l
mean the children. On this subject, I must of course,
be supposed to entertain strong feelings, and to have
wishes the object of which can only be their welfare.
I have no right, however, to express any wishes, and
must therefore entreat you, whenever you are again
disposed to write to me, which I trust will be very
soon, that you will inform me how the chil-
dren are, and more particularly in what manner,
it is intended to rear and educate dear Ellen. I cannot
feel myself justified in concluding this letter without en-
deavouring to express to you how gratefully sensible I
am of the tone and tenor of the letter you have ad-
dressed to me, and how much I am awaro that no one
parent could be found, in the thousands of thousands
who, at the moment of smarting under the consequences
which I have brought on you, could ever bring them-
selves, by any exertion of self-control, to adopt that
tone of indulgence which is with you only the sponta-
neous result of you own affectionate nature. Well as I
understand your character, and long as I have experi-
enced your untiring affection, I confess that it was not
without feelings of unmingled astonishment at your pa-
tience and forbearance, that I read your letter this
morning. May God Almighty bless you, my dearest
parent, and believe me always
Your affectionate and grateful child,
" MARY HEAVISIDE."
He (Mr. Thesiger) would call their attention to the
extraordinary circumstances which characterised all the
letters. They would observe that none of the letters
threw any obstacle in the way of the plaintiff to pre-
vent him obtaining a divorce, and be (Mr. Thesiger)
was entitled to say, from this fact alone, that the mo-
tives that influenced the defendant in pursuing the im-
moral course he had done, was the desire to obtain at
any cost, and under any circumstances, however repre-
hensiisle, base and filthy lucre. The plaintiff's wife, as lie
had stated, was entitled, at the death of her father, to
13,000/.; but the defendant could not grasp the
money unless the plaintiff obtained a divorce, owl
thereby enable the defendant to marry her. This to his
Thesiger's) mind, was evidence most clearly sho x-
ing that the most corrupt, sordid, and mercenary mo-
tives, influenced the defendant. But if any further
proof were wanting, let them direct their attention to a
letter on'the same;subject, written by the defendant him-
self to Mr. Divett, the Member for Exeter. The let-

ter was to this effect :
" Great Green-street, Westminster, March 14,1840,
"My dear Sir—Before this letter will reach your
hands, you will have learned the circumstance which
has produced it ; it is, therefore, unnecessary for me to
inflict on you and on myself the pain of its recital.
Your old and attached friend Mrs. H. suppicates you,
by all the sentiments of regard you have entertained
towards her, to exert your influence to urge her husband
to pursue with all possible expedition the steps neces-
sary for the dissolution of their marriage. This course
he ought to take for the sake of the rights and interests
of theirchildren, which her present situation endangers ;
hut what she implores you, as her for ever valued
friend, to consider is, that such a proceeding on his part
is the only chance she has of recovering, as far as it can
be recovered, her right position, by having it in her
power to unite herself in niarrieg-e with him for the love
of whom she has made so terrible a sacrifice. It is, I
hope, needless for me to say that I impute no part of
her conduct to impurity of mind, or to any quality
which renders a union with her less desirable to me than
it would be were she now an unmarried woman, with a
reputAtion the most unsullied. Whenever she shall be
capable of contracting marriage I shall be most proud
and happy to make her my wife, and until then she
shall be cherished by me with as much tenderness, and
treated with as scrupulous respect, as if the word which
unites us had all the sanction and force of marriage.
You will not suppose that I would of myself take the
liberty of addressing this letter to you. It is done
altogether by the desire of Mrs. H., who wishes me
to say to you, that if you should have any commu-
nication to make to her, it will reach her by being
addressed under cover to me. She has written a full
disclosure of her feelings and conduct to her husband,
which she hopes his long friendship and intimacy with
you will induce him to show you.
(Signed) .‘ D. LARDNER,"
After reading this letter, he (Mr. Thesiget) would ask
if he was not justified in arriving at the conclusion he
had done, that the defendant's glittering &eject was the
20,000/. and the 13,0001. to which the plaintiff's wife
would become entitled ? It was unnecessary for him to
make a single remark upon the conduct of the unhappy
lady. If the grave had closed upon her, heavy indeed
would that calamity have been ; but the plaintiff would
have borne it with resignation. Tears would have fol-
lowed so heavy a loss, but he would have had the con-
solation of entertaining tlis lt,t pe that the object of his
care and of his affectioe 1! i , sod into a better world,
and he would with- (el ;
" have bowed to that rod
by which they were,, t
.1 times stricken by God,
and siould have ;Anti ti (fond hope that at some
distant period they
Lave met in a happier
place. But 71"' • !l.is case, their joys were
adulterer—when! r I ergs were wounded in the
the withering acts of the
n
nipped in the )l ;; ,
most poignant s if those feelings of bitterness
and of anguish • - a whew every thought bad a
scorpion's;sia , rs eelitg was madness—where
the pity of t'es eiTY was turned into scorn, and
the dishonour of tlee adult( rer still remained and
rankled in the breast, and no time could obliterate
it—where, as in this case, all this—aye, more than
this, the plaintiff had sustained from the defendant,
was it not a mockery to the feelings of insulted
honour to be obliged to resort to the contemptible
and paltry course of asking for pecuniary cempen-
cation ? Nevertheless, in proportion to the amount
of damages the Jury awarded, it was ge aerally es-
timated the relation in which the plate tiff and his
wife stood, the loss he had sustained the character
which he had borne, and the station odd in society.
The Jury might be told that the de «- dant was not in
affluent circumstances, but he (Mr " nesiger) could not
understand upon what principle eeen a line of defence
was usually adopted. If a tre lesser spoilt his goods
would he not be entitled to r .cover without reference
to his pecuniary circumstances? and was it to be said
that if he sustained a deeper injury—if such an irrepa-
rably injury was inflicted upon him as had been
upon the plaintiff, the damages should be awarded
upon a different principle ? If any proposi-
tion had been made to the plaintiff to barter
away Mrs. Heaviside—to consent to the annihilation of
his domestic comfort and everlasting peace, was it to be
supposed that he would have accepted the paltry con-
sideration which he now sought at the hands of the
jury ? If it was proposed that his wife should bring
down disgrace and dishonour upon his children for the
paltry 10,0001., at which his damages were laid, what
did they suppose would have been his answer ? Could
there be the slightest doubt but that he would have re-
jected such an offer with scorn and indignation ?
Again, let him advert to the fact of the plaintiff having
been deprived of 13,0U01., the reversion to which she
was entitled, and in the position of obtaining which the
defendant had placed himself. It was, he (Mr.
Thasiger) confessed, with shame that he referred to
such degrading circumstances, but the many anomalies
with which the case abounded required it. The plain-
tiff's home—that word, which struck upon the heart
with a thousand tender associations, where he
had been living and having everything he de-
sired had been rudely broken into by the
1 adulterer, and nosy Captain Heaviside appeared. before
them wretched add heart-broken, with every joy shat-
tered and annihilated. The plaintiff's children, at a
time when they most required It, were deprived of the
protection of a mother, and that tender care, which a
mother could alone afford. If ever there was a case in
which exemplary damages ought to be given it was the
present, and he implored the jury to give the plaintiff
every farthing that he asked in his declaration.
The following witnesses were then called ;
Anne Smith, attendant to Mrs. Heaviside, confirmed
several of the facts as opened by the Learned Counsel
for the plaintiff. The letter produced was in the hand-
writing of Mrs. Heaviside,
and was left upon the table
in the drawing-room on the day of the elopement.
When Captain Heaviside returned and heard the Intel-
ligence of his wife's departure, he became insensible,
and remained so for above two hours. On recovering
his senses, he went to bed, and during the night, was
seized with a fit of ague—he suffered dreadfully—wit-
ness read to him part of the letter, but he could not
peruse it, or bear to hear it read through.
The letter was then read as follows :
" The pain which I shall inflict by this cannot exceed
that which I feel; we are parted for ever. This step

is my own, taken spontaneously, and not by th a insti-
gation of any other person. You have witnessed what
I have suffered for the last six weeks, but you have not
known the cause, still less can you imagine the death
struggles I have made before surrendering myself to the
course I now take ; this alternative has been an eternal
separation, or insanity, terminating i❑ suicide. Can you
condemn me for obeying the instinct of all living things,
and cling to life on the only condition on which life can
be saved? Do not, I implore you, attempt to follow
me or discover my retreat. If such pursuit could avail,
I bad never left my home. Be assured it would be
vain and painful. In three days you will receive a
statement of all I have suffered, a confession of what I
have done, and a disclosure of the feelings and the mo-
tives by which I have been impelled. Farewell !"
Mary Sandford, chambermaid, and Mr. Francis, pro-
prietor of the Adelaide Hotel, London-bridge, and
Richard Peglar, butler to the plaintiff, confirmed other
points. in the Learned Counsel's narrative ; after which
the following witnesses were examined from the Bench,
and deposed to the plaintiff and his wife having lived on
the most kind and affectionate terms during their resi-

dance at Brighton :
Mr. Spicer, the uncle of Mrs. Heaviside ; Mr. Divett,
M.P. ; the Dowager Countess of Carhampton, the
Hon. Mrs. Greville, Mr. and Mrs. Wigney, and Lady

Campbell.
The respective deeds of settlements and the letters
were then formally put in, and Mr. Thessiger said this

was the plaintiff's case.
Mr. Sergeant CHANNEL then rose to address the
Jury on behalf of the defendant, and he observed, that if
his Learned Friend bad felt pain at introducing this case
to their notice, how much greater was the difficultyin which
he (Sergeant Channell) was placed in rising to address
the Jury on behalf of the defendant. He implored them
to divest their minds of all prejudice in the matter, for
the very nature of the case itself was sure to create a
prejudice, and when the facts connected with it had
been stated with so much eloquence by his Learned
Friend, he was fearful of the effect it must have upon
the Jury, and he therefore again entreated them to con-
sider the matter dispassionately, and to deal justly and
mercifully between the parties. An advocate who was
called upon to defend a case of this sort was surrounded
with difficulties. There was so much that could not
be denied in a case of this description, and so much
more that could not be justified, that an advocate hardly
knew what line of defence was the best to be adopted.
From the very nature of the case the sympathy of the
Jury was sure to be enlisted on behalf of the plaintiff,
and the Counsel who appeared for the defendant under
such circumstances had a most nervous task thrown
upon him. It was impossible for him to deny, on the
part of the defendant, that the plaintiff's wife had
eloped with him. He admitted that to the fullest
extent. He would also, therefore, admit that the plain-
tiff was entitled to a verdict, and the only question he
should touch upon in his address to the jury would be
the amount of damages. That the plaintiff was en-
titled to compensation in damages for the injury that
had been done him he did not deny, but he did confi-
dently state that the circumstances of the case were
not such as to require the enormous amount of damages
that had been demanded by his Le: rned Friend. With
regard to Mr. Heaviside, he was not instructed to say
one single word in his disparagement, or in reference to
his conduct to his wife ; that was no part of his de-
fence, and he was ready to admit that he had treated
his wife with kindness, and that there could be no com-
plaint against him on that score. He begged the jury,
however, to recollect that this was not a case where
long friendship had been abused—the elopement had
evidently sprung from some sudden impulse, and it did
not call for the severe punishment upon the defendant that
was required at the hands of the jury. They had it in evi-
deuce that Mr. Lardner had not been introduced to the
family of the plaintiff until December, and the unfortu-
nate occurrence took place in March ; therefore, he
considered it could not be said that there had been a
long and systematic plan of seduction pursued by the
defendant, and this was the most serious portion of the
charge that was made against him. With regard to the
lady, she could not be said to be young and inexpe-
rienced—she had arrived at a mature age ; and it could
hardly be said of her that she was a likely person to be-
come the victim of seduction. She had been sixteen
years married to Mr. Heaviside, and during that period
she had constantly mixed in society, and must have ac-
quired that knowledge of the usages of the world as to
render her a very unlikely victim of seduction. When
he considered the lady's age, the circumstances under
which she was placed, and the fact that after an inter-
course of only three months, she had thought fit to
elope from the house of her husband with the defend-
ant, he could not help thinking that there was some-
thing more in the case than met the eye of the Jury,
and that there must have been some reason in her own
breast for inducing her to quit the protection of her
husband, and throw herself into the arms of a
comparative stranger, and that all idea of any delibe-
rate plan of seduction was entirely negatived by the cir-
cumstances of the case. Although he admitted that
Dr. Lardner had eloped with Mrs. Heaviside, be was
prepared to contend that there was no proof that this
result arose from any deliberate plan of seduction on his
part. He must also submit to the Jury that they could
not believe, from the circumstances, thdt that complete
and perfect state of happiness existed between Mr. and
Mrs Heaviside that had been spoken to by the wit-
nesses. If that state of happiness had really existed
down to the moment of Mr. Lardner visiting the family,
could they believe that a lady of this age could so sud-
denly have forgotten that affection and the duty she
owed to her husband, and to her family, by giving her-
self up to a stranger ? He did not think the Jury
would consider that this was very pro'sable. It was in
evidence that Mr. Lardner had only been to Mr. Heavi-
side's house ten or twelve times, and in that
short period of time this melancholy affair was
brought to effect, and he submitted to the Jury,
that they ought to repudiate altogether the
imputation that the defendant had made use of any
arts or that any deliberate plan was executed by him
to seduce the affections of the plaintiff's wife. With
regard to the evidence that had been adduced for the
purpose of showing the happy state of life of Mr. and
Mrs. Heaviside, he must with great deference to those
witnesses, say that their evidence did not satisfactorily
establish that. position, because in his opinion they had
not sufficient opportunity of judging of the real state
of the case ; it was true they bad met the plaintiff and
his wife at parties and other places, but these occa-
sions, he submitted, were very unsatisfactory to show the
feelings of the parties when in the privacy of their own
homes. The jury would else recollect that some of
those parties had not seen the plaintiff and his wife for
two or three years. Upon such evidence he therefore
considered the jury ought not to say that it had been
proved that the plaintiff and his wife lived in a state of
happiness. Another point that had been urged against
the defendant was the fact of the letters that had been
written by the plaintiff's wife, and which letters
it was alleged had been concocted and dictated
by the defendant. He did not think that this ought to
weigh with the, Jury, for although under the peculiar
circumstances of the case the defendant might perhaps
have known of the letters being written, yet he con-
tended that they must be considered as exposing the
genuine feelings of the heart of the unhappy lady. In
those letters did not she say that the unhappy occur-
rence would not have arisen, if her husband had devoted
more time to her than he had, and had paid her more
attention. Was this not corroborative of the opinion
that the plaintiff and his lady did not live in that per-
fect state of happiness that had been described by the
witnesses ? He did not mean by this to cast any impu-
tion upon the respectable persons who had been exa-
mined, but he considered that they spoke without that
accurate knowledge which should have guided them
upon the subject. There was not, therefore, the
slightest ground for imputing to the defendant that he
made use of any arts and practices to seduce the
wife of the plaintiff. The Jury were called upon
to do justice to the parties, but he hoped that
they would not allow their minds to be excited, and
that they would not give an amount of damages
that would tend to the utter ruin and destruction of the
defendant, who, it had been proved, had no other re-
source than the talents he possessed to provide a sub-
sistence. The Learned Counsel proceeded at some
length to argue these points, and concluded by express-
ing a hope that the Jury would take into consideration
all the circumstances of the case, and that they would
give such damages as would vindicate the honour and
character of the plaintiff, without entailing utter ruin
upon the defendant.
Mr. Baron GURNEY, in the course of summing up,
observed that one point that was argued in favour of the
defendant was, that he was chastised by the plaintiff ;
and if he had put the defendant's life in danger, it cer-
tainly would go in mitigation of damages ; but under
the peculiar circumstances of this case, the conduct of
the plaintiff in this respect, he (the Learned Judge)
should leave entirely for their consideration. The
Learned Judge concluded by saying that the Jury were
not to estimate the damages according to the pecuniary
resources of the defendant, but in reference to the
injury the plaintiff had sustained. He had lost an affec-
tionate wife, and his children were deprived of the in-
structions and example of a mother ; and the plaintiff
could not look his children in the face for the future
without pain and anguish.
The Jury retired for upwards of an hour, and, upon
their return,
The Foreman asked his Lordship if Mrs. Heaviside
would be able to leave any of the reversionary interest
of 2.0,000/., to which she would be entitled upon Cap-
tain Heaviside's death, to any future children she
might have ?
Mr. Baron GURNEY said that, in the case of the
present children dying, she would have the sole control
of the money.
The Jury also put some further questions respect-
ing the disposition of her property in case of her
marrying Dr. Lardner, and his taking the benefit of
the Insolvent Debtors' Act, with which the Learned
Judge told them they had nothing to do. They were
about retiring a second time, when
Mr. Baron GURNEY observed—" There is one fact
I forgot to mention to you, and that is, that this con-