The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-16 00:00:00

bad struck him. The plaintiff, probably, must have a
verdict upon the question of loss of services and ex•

penses.
The CHIEF BARON was of the same opinion; and,
therefore, it would be quite unnecessary to occupy the
pablic time, and unnecessarily wound the feelings of the
parties without any object. He added, be was sure that
Mr. Chambers would be the last man who would wish
to do so.
Mr. CHAMBERS proceeded—He quite concurred in the
observations of his Lordship, and he should, therefore,
merely address himself to the facts of the case as they
already appeared in evidence. The Learned Counsel
then proceeded to state that it appeared plain that the
young woman had thrown herself in the way of the de-
fendant, and her conduct led to a very strong inference
that he was not the only man with whom she bad been
intimate. The circumstunces showed that she was a
young woman of easy access. She saw a young man at
a ball, and then meeting him several years afterwards
at night the intimacy was renewed, and she at once con-
sented to meet him, and walked with him night after
night, without the knowledge of her mother, and until
this unfortunate event happened. Her conduct put him
in mind of n verse from an old poet—
" Whene'er ye meet a fool that's fou,
That ye're a maiden, gar him trow,
Seem nice—but stick to him like glue."
—(Laughter,) And she did stick to him like glue.—
(Laughter.) He could not go anywhere but the glue
was sticking to him.—(A laugh.) Whenever he came
to market she was watching for him, and it was very
evident that she had brought the disgrace upon herself
by her own misconduct and want of caution. Limier
such circumstances he was sure the jury would not en-
courage such au action, for if they did there was hardly
a village or a town in the country where young girls
chose to walk out, either with farmers or labourers, in a
moonlight night, that would not furnish plenty of
similar actions at every assizes. If the young woman
had been so modest and virtuous as she pretended to be,
was it likely that she would so soon have yielded to the
persuasions of the defendant, or having done so, that
she would have eonsented to be a party to the sort of in-
timacy which she admitted to have taken place between
them afterwards? He submitted that there could be no
doubt as to her conduct, and that it was quite plain she
was as willing as the defendant to consent to what had
taken place. It was a misfortune, no doubt, for a
mother to have a loose daughter; but the ques-
tion here was, what damages ought to be given,
and although he did not deny that the de-
fendant had been guilty of a high moral offence,
yet, if the jury believed that the young woman was
equally guilty in the transaction, they would be injuring
the cause of morality if they were to give any more
than nominal damages in such a case, as it would hold
out an inducement to other parties similarly situated to
act in the same manner. In conclusion, he admitted that
the plaintiff must have a verdict, but he called upon the
jury to give her no greater amount of damages than
would pay for the medical attendance and the actual ex-
penses she had incurred.
The CHIEF BARON in summing up said, that he con-
curred in many of the observations of the Learned
Counsel with regard to the nature of actions of this de-
scription, and he said that if he had to write a panegyric
upon the law this was certainly not the particular part
of it which he should choose as the theme for praise.
No doubt the origin of the law was to give a master
a remedy when he sustained an injury by his servant
being enticed away from him, or if any one
wounded a man's servant he might bring an action
far the loss of his services. The present form of action
had no doubt arisen out of that state of things, and
the law held that damages might be given commensurate
with the injury that had been imilicted upon the feelings
of the party. The Learned Judge then alluded to the
circumstances of the case, and said that it did not appear
to be anything like a case of deliberate seduction. No
hospitality had been violated, and it appeared to be
merely an exhibition of profligate morals on both sides.
Ib appeared to him, that under those circumstances,
although the mother was certainly entitled to a verdict
in strictness of law, yet that she ought not to recover
more damages than would reimburse her for the expense
she had actually been put to; and as to the loss of ser-
vices, that must have been very trifling indeed, and would
not amount to more than a few shillings. The Learned
Judge concluded by stating that it was the duty of the
jury to look at all the circumstances of the case, and
having done so, to say by their verdict what amount of
injury they considered the plaintiff had sustained.
The jury, after a very short deliberation, returned a
verdict for the plaintiff.—llamages 201.