The Sun.
London, England, 1812-12-15 00:00:00

LAW II EPORT.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, GUILDHALL, D. 14.
%WESTERN V. TI-10:MPSON.

This was an action to recover compensation for
-a malicious. prosecution instituted by defendant
against plaintiff, and. the damages. were laid at
50001.'
Mr. Serjeant BEST, Mr, Serjeant VAJzonAN, and
Mr. AhnEy;appeared for the plaintiff.
The.eircaurstances of the case were as follow
In the early part ,of :the: -year :I 810; the plaintiff,
wllo is a young: woman'of -creditais*Connections,
resided with her sister in Old-street„Spital-fieldS.,
On Palm Sunday, while at St. Paul's Church she
win. accosted by the defendant, Who professed'
himself to he; admirer'. Sonic conversation.
took place, which ended in an invitation to defen-
- rTant to call upon her at,,her sister's. 'This he pro-
Mised,to- do, and actually did afterwards..visit her.
as a suitor for_ her hand: It was then understood
. that he was a Goldsmith and Jeweller by trade,
and carried on,hnsiness both in Birmingham and
4ondon.. T-he courtship continued -from their first
'intimacy, down:to the .9th of August,..lBlo, on.
which day a marriage was .soleninised between
defendant a.lO plaintiff, in St. Bride's Church ; the
banns having been previously/published at defen-
dant's own express
,desire. After:the :ceremony
- bad been performed, the parties proceeded to the
house of the sister of the plaintiff, where-they
lived as Alta anti Wife for some short tinre ; they
then went on a visit to the mother. of the.plaintiff,
who,lived-at Portsea, and plaintiff introduced-the
defendant as her husband, and sheaved, at the
same time, the regular certificate of her marriage.'
Underthese eireumAances, defendant was receiv-
ed by the old lady with great satisfaction, and was'
by her presented to her sons and other-relatives
' and' friends, who also recognised him as -one of
the family. Some 'time subsequently 'defendant
became less affectionate in his attention'to his
„wile, and hir finding her pregnant; he for a short
while deserted her he sOon, however, returned,
and treated 'her with- rene‘t'ed kindness. About
this time a report had reached the ears. of Plaintiff's
mother, that the defeddant 'hail a' Wife 4iviug• at
the time be married her daughter i'alarnted at this
intelligence, she questioned him upon the Subject,
and,he eonfessed-that such _indeed was the-case;
apologising, at the same time, for the deceit he
had practised upon her family—observing,
ere r, that-his first Wife was a. very infitm woman,
and not, " likely to live loin;; and faithfully pro;
mising, when she died, that be would again marry'
plaintiff. Upon this promise plaintiff Was, Of-
Conyse, constrained to rely. At the -..;pproath of het:
• accouchement, however, defendant totally abandon-'
ed her. ,His first wife having died soon after- ,
wards, application was made to him to fulfil his
- promise •by again marrying
however, be made answer, that he was- then a sin't
gle man; andbe was resolvdd to preserveltisliberty:
Exasperated at this unmanly -'Cotidact, sorite
threats were rtimonre.d of an intention to pro Se.-
cute: hiM -for bigamy by the fanrify of plaintiff, 'to
evade which-he determined to Commence the 'pro---
secution which was the: subject of the present-
action. His plan -Was soon forthed, and; with-
out delay, be prefe,i'red a Bill of Indictment
against plaintiff and het Sister; charging them
with'having- entered into a' conspiracy to prove;
, Contrary to fact, that he bad married plaintiff;
urging, also, • that -in pur.stiane of thiS plan, a •
, p.orson had been *procured to 'marry .Plaintiff, in
his'"-mitnee; at St, ' Bride's Chinch; in 'order .
that the evidence :of the marriage' register might.
not appe-ar against 'him .so as. to .-;fol-ee_ hint to
maintain plaintiff: Upon- this eharge'plaintiff and-
her sister fool:- their trials at the
,Old Bailey in Fe-
bruary last,: and in support' of the prosecutor's
ca-.c a servant. Wotridn ofhis was'broitght up from
Bhmaingham, -who swore that on tee-9th Of Art
iust, 181-0,. defendant was at: his ou-ii house- at '
..e,h-minghain, from which 'it was'Of course to be
inferred,' Oat no -*Marriage 'between` hiin and 1
had ,been have taken
place on 4rat day,. This fact Was further .e"o7
robhrated- by the testimony 'of h tWo perionS,
who • travelled with- Liter in - the Birminghain-
coach. on .the night of the'Sth of Aiignst.;. but*
these persons could not s that-he •bad One'
all the way to Birmingham,_ as theyleft the shack
at the' end of twenty miles. Upon the ;matt' of the
two horvevef, • sii"rlear and' inenntroverti
bled easeAshasVrOved by the iiroductitht 'of a vain-,
ety bf evidence' to thejact of- the -marriage; and'
the stbsegnent cohabitatio'n,of the'pa-rties; that the -
'Common Serjeant expressed his abhori-ence of the -
conduct of the pipsecuthr; and -directed that
might be' taken into'custody.before. he quitted the
Court. fly- a- hasty retreat/•howeva: he' - •
vented this order froth being 'earriedintnexecution.
Thetwofsisters were ticen.4equitied, and by ad: ice
of their ffierias the present' action -,,"vas coinh-2
metteed. - - '7 -.•
• -
-After- the case had Teen state% the.defentiant' .
himself appeared in Court, and' called the name
of Mr: Seri cant-Shepherd, as-the person "Who was
retained a,•; his Counsel. '
. Mr, S'erjeant StiEeiliißD. however, said he had.
reeeiveWria hrief,-,and 'had. heard-nothing of the-
ease whatever.
The defenffant:then:,Statect; that he had been

with his Attorney a fell' days ,;;iii.cet.4iind had de-
po,ited 150 r. • in his -banclS,.*r6.- cal.ryi
leuct ; but-that he' lad yesterday'ealle4 onitirn •
ptltain--when he told hiin thift he Ivo-Ult!.have
thing to do with him or his. eau,•7.
Sir J YlAtiSF'fi:LD" 6en pl-oeeei.'.eri to- sian •
the eviden-ee.• •Lordsicii) under.
ail the-circumstances of the case, there; could lief
no doubt that a marriage had tab en pl:we.
the worst-of dife., he hatrite're'i'h'eai.d of siiLsizi
g,nlar a transaction. - His Lorql,shilid4'o. observed,
lin-It •aS defendant intist.7have'wstirn 'that he' had
not nowried .'the• unhappy wontan; he '.l,Vas nOt',
alone liable to Ino.4ecutiOn torperju'rV, hui'alsO for
.Wasnot, lio‘%-(!vr, 'for th a t.O . ourt-'
punish tar offender for these ofenCes 3. it reinained*
tml fOr the:Jury tii say whatAaMages the
tiff:lnld'a right to receive' for the 'B6'ribusinjur she'
had sustained:- •
The Jury retired for *about hair' air hour; and'
Tdturned • with - a'' verdict :far" the plairititiDa-'
Two Thousand Poimds. -• •

LONDON
lit tilt SUN- 01:::I6

. • ,
UNITED ST.'ITI;;S.

FROM THE NATI(MAL INTELLIGENCE! .

I);•Tatch from I.la,inr• General Van, Iteir3,selaer, who cons-
. in.d:letithe American forces :it-the attack.un'Queenstoi-n,
a more partkeniar accoant of the op-eratiuns there,
his hitherto heen pt blislied
• .
" The success of : Captain Elliot, at
Black
,ROck- (of which, howeVer; I have received
no Official information) began, to excite a, strong.
disposition in -the troops to act. This was ex-
pressed to me through various channels, in the
shape ol an- alternatiiie ; that they" must:i:l've or,
dens to act ; or, at all- hazards, -they ;mould go
home. I forbear berecommentingnpon the obvi-
ous .coweiplnces to me personally of longer
withholding- my orders under 'such circuM-:
stances. Having obtained. -.such information
from the other side as warranted an imme-
" (-Hate attack, the best preparations • in-my power
were made to dislodge the enemy front -the
heights of Queenstown, and posses ourselves of
the village where the troops might be sheltered
om the distressing inclemency of the weather;
notwithstending this-result, on the morning of the
12th, such was the pressure upon me from all
quarters,-that 1 became .satktied that my refusal-to
act might involve me in :Inspicion-; yonsequently
• every precaution was -now adopted as to boats,
-and -the most confidential and experienced men
employed to manage them. At dawn of day the
trosups comMenced embarking, under cover of ,a
commandingvbattery, mounting- two 18 pounders
and two sixes.. The boats were somewhat em-
barrased with the eddies, and by a- brisk cannon-
ading from three . battterieS ; but Colonel
Rensselaer, with 100 men,- soon effeeted his land-
ing amidst a: tremendous fire directed upon him
from every point, A- few minutes after landing
the :Colonel received ,four- severe wounds, Col.
Nran Rensselaer, howevor, still able to- stand,
with great presence of :mind, ordered his oflicers
to Storm thefort.: This service was gallantly per-
' formed, and the enemy driveddown the hill in
every direction.• For-some after I passed over.,
the.victory appeared complete; but very soon the
enemy were reinfOrced bya detachment of several
hundred Indians, they eiommenced a furious attack;
but were promptly. Met and routed by the rifle and
-bayonet : by this time I perceived •my troops were
embarking slowly. ,
•" Lieutenant-Colonel Feriwick'S flying artil-
lery, and a detachment of regular troops- under
his command, Were ordered to be up in season for
Fort-Niagara. Orders were also sent to General
Smyth to send dovin from Buflaloe such detach-
Meats of his brigade as _existing circumstances in:
that vicinity might warrant.... The attack was to
have been Made at four o'clock in. the_ morning of
the flth, by, crossing over in boats from the Old
Tully opposite the heights. To-avoid any embar-
rassment in Crossing the river, (which -is .here a--
sheet of violent eddies) experienced boatmen were
• procured, to take the boats from the landing
below to the place of embarkation. Lieut. Simms
was, considered the man of greatest-skill for this
service. He went a-head, and in the extreme dark-
ness 'passed the intended place far. up
.the river,
and there, id a most extraordinary- Manner, fas-
tened his boat to the shore,. and abandoned- the -
detachment. In. this frOut boat he -hod carried
nearly every oar, which was prepared for al/ the
boats. In this agonizing dileinma, stood officers
and men, whose ardoeir had not been cooled by
exposure • throngli the
,night, to One. -of the 'most
tremendous north-east storms, which continued, -
unabated, for .28-- hours, •and deluged .the whOle
camp. The approach of daytlight extinguished -
every prospect of success, and the -detachment
returned to camp. Colonel Rensselaer was to have
commanded the detachment.,.,
" 1-passed immediately over to accelerate their
movements ; but to my utter astonishructit,
found that, at the very-moment when complete
victory was in our hands,,..oeardour of-the- Linea-
gaged troops. bad entirely absided. J- rode in -all-.
directions, urged them by every consideration to,
pass, - but, in vain: Lieutenant-Colonel. Bloom,
who-had been wounded in action; returned, mount-!.
ed his horse, and rode thron,..,(rh the army, as did-also
Judge Peck, who happened _to.be here, exhorting .
the companies to proceed, but all in vain, Finding, .
to my infinite mortification, that no reinforcement
would- pass over; - seeing that another seVere con-
flict must soon commence,. and knowing that the _
brave men on the heights' were quite exhausted,'.
nearly out of amMunition, all I could-do was
to send them a freslrsup.ply of cartridges. At this
critical 11101)1ent I-dispatched a note to Germ. Wads-
worth„acqnainting him with'oursituation„leaving
the•course to he pursued-much to his own. judg-
ment, with assitrances, -that if he thought best to
retreat, I *gold endeavour to send as many boats
as I could- comtvand, amicover his retreat by every"
fire could safely make :.but-:time boats were dis-
persed ,hriany of the boatmen had fled, panic-struel,;
and but few, got. ofl. -But my note could but little
more than havercached-. General W. about four
o'clock, when- a -most-severe- and obstinate conflict
commenced, and, continued about half an hour,
with a tremendouS fire of cannon, flying.-artillery,
and musketry. The enemy
.succeetled . in repos-
sessing their battery,. and -gaineki..advantage' on
every side ; the brave men who
,had.'-gained the
victory, exhausted of strength and. ammunition,
and grieved at the unpardonable neglect of their
fellow soldiers,.gave ups-the conflict:•
can only -add that the victory was -really.
won ; • but-lost for want of- a-small reinforcement:
One third part of the idle men'might hart' saved
all"

'The King's ,Stag-hounds met on Friday, at
Barrov-hill, near Bracknell.

The ,llatfield hounds. met on Thursday, at New
Mill End ; and Saturday, at Prae. Wood, at half
past ten o'clock. ,
The Essex hounds m
eet t6-morrow.at Hatfield.

A few. days ago., some workmen, employed in a
quarry at Byker-hill, on spli!ting a block of free-
stone, about three tons weight, found a Ilve toad
In the centre of it. There was no passage t&the
cavity that contained it. •
Sunday last, Mr. Winter, farfner of Wexham,
Bucks,
;lost two fine colts, worth4o/.each, from
the poisonous effects of some. year tree which they.
were discoVered to have -eaten.,

. . . .
VOot, of tridies-Istreet, Co%eirt-Farcien; atad Publishtd by WILLIANI ARMIGER SCRIPPS, Soli:
No. 112, t-,1..a11,1.., where addveriifenzetits, Ordcfs for the Poker, Letters for the Editor, &c. (post paid),