The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-25 00:00:00

SOUTH WALES ClRCUlT.—Carmarthen,

March 21.
NISI PRIUS COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice WIONTMAN.)
BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE AND SEDUCTION.

OWEN V. WILLIAMS, CLERIC.
In -this action,- Margaret Owen was the plaintiff, and the
Rev. William Williams defendant ; and the action was
brought by plaintiff to recover compensation in damages
from the defendant, for the non-fulfilment on his part of a
promise to marry her.
Mr. E. V. Williams, and Mr. E. L. Richards, appeared for
the plaintiff; Mr. Chilton, Q.C., and Mr. Wilson, for the
defendant, who pleaded that he had not promised to marry
plaintiff, in the form and manner stated.
Mr. V. WILLIAMS addressed the jury on the part of the
plaintiff, who he said was the daughter of a person in a
humble though respectable condition in life, carrying on
business as a farmer and master carrier, near Lampeter, Car-
diganshire, The defendant was a clergyman of the Church
of England, residing near Lampeter, and about five miles
distant from the place -where the plaintiff's father re-
sided. "'The plaintiff had the misfortune to lose her mother
at a very early age, and the management and care of the
family had been left to Mary Owen, plaintiff's eldeq sister.
The family consisted of three sisters, besides plaintiff, as well
as two brothers ; and the plaintiff and another sister were
engaged as confidntial servants in respectable families in
the neighbourhood, The plaintiff at the age of seventeen
was employed in the family of a gentleman named Davies ;
subsequently in that of a medical gentleman named Thomas,
and in 1843 she was engaged by the defendant's brother, who
was a bachelor, in a confidential capacity, as a housekeeper,
having the entire management of his household, the disposal
of farm produce, &sc. It was here she first met the defen-
dant. The plaintiff, then about twenty years of age, was,
unfortunately for herself, a young woman of considerable
personal attractions, and she was not long be-
fore the defendant became enamoured with her
charms. He was a few years older than • the plain-
tiff, and had then taken orders only as a deacon, but
not priest's orders. He continued paying marked and
constant attentions to her until the spring of 1844, when she
became pregnant. The defendant, upon being made ac-
quainted with the fact, so far from being disappointed or
surprised, expressed the greatest pleasurei and said that he
would marry her, but also expressed a wish to delay it for a
time, alleging that the circumstance of his marrying a
woman in that condition might prove an impediment to his
obtaining priest's orders. He (defendant) therefore proposed
that the plaintiff should take private lodgings at some dis-
tance in the country, he (defendant) offering to pay all ex-
pensee, to provide an attendant, &c. Soon afterwards he
met the plaintiff 'a sister, and communicated to her the cir-
cumstances, when she was of course extremely shocked at
the intelligence. The defendant, with a view of alleviating
her grief, assured her that he would marry the plaintiff,
adding, " We are already married in the sight of .Gre:l,
and what takes place in the church is unimportant,
being merely a matter of form 'before men." Could it
be wondered at that a girl placed in the plaintiff's
situation, when addressed in such language by a clergy-
man of the Church of England, had given way to temp•
union ? Could 'it be wondered at that in an hour of
weakness her virtue had not been sufficiently strong to
resist his importunities? Fur some reasoes, hirwever, the
proposed arrangements bad been abandoned, aed the plain-
iff in August, 1814, was delivered of a son in her father's
house. During the time of her confinement the defendant
repeatedly visited her, and expressed as much pleasure as
:ley man owniu large possessions would on the birth-of an
heir apparent. he evinced great tenderness, and on the occa-
sion brought her a copy of Welsh verses written by himeelf,
a literal prose translation of which he begged to read to the
jury. [The Learned Counsel here read the verses, a speci-
men of which is given below, and which excited some mer-
riment from the quaintness of the plira,eology.t Tho plain-
tiff's education had not been such as to qualify her to inter-
mix with. sncletee in.a. creoVable, manner, as a elegyinan's
wife. The defendant therefore proposed at Itie should go
to school at Aberystwith, and, in order to enable him to cor-
respond with her without the mistress knowing that she
had a pupil carrying on such a correspondence, he addressed
her as his cousin, although it was well known that the
plaintiff and defendant bore no blood relationship towards
each other.
The following is a specimen of the prose translation of the
Welsh poetry, written by defendant on the occasion of plain-
tiff's confinement :
"Dearest Margaret—Be not grieved ; better times than
these will come again, when you and myself shall be quite
light-hearted. Many times I have sorrowed and groaned
heavily, because I bad been the instrument to grieve you,
my darling. The only comfort I can give you is to leve and
cherish you after having united our hands. . . . For all
who behave unkindly to thee, my dear, there yet remains
misfortune, woe, anguish, and long sorrow, with very great
repentance.
above everything, is to comfort thee. Therefore raise up thy
heart and be again full merry Marg'ret ! Margret
Diarg'retl Margret I—(Laughter.) In me thou hest put
thy trust ; trust again for a while."
The Learned Counsel then proceeded to read the first letter
of defendant to plaintiff after her arrival at school. The fol-

lowing are extracts :
" My deat‘Cousin,--Nothing but the sight of you, and
talking to you face to face, can be a greater pleasure to the
than writing to you. It is most pleasing that lam able to
make known to you that all your relatives are in health,
especially your most dear love, Thomas James Williams. I
will pay you a visit before long; all with whom I converse
about you give you extraerdinary praise, by commending you
more and more, and stating many good qualities you possees,
while I listen to them with delight, as I always do to hear
my relatives praised, especially you, my dearest cousin, Mar-
garet. I can never make known half my love to you, were
Ito write a year. . . Ido hope, for the sake of your dear
lover, that you do not make any acquaintance, in the shape
of love with any one, as that would be the perfect breaking
of the treaty of your dearest."
The Thomas James Williams alluded to in the above, as in
several other letters, was the plaintiff's child, whom ale de-
fendant had called after his own name. The manner in
which he is spoken of was undoubtedly used to blind the
schoolmistress. Two other letters followed, in which the
defendant expressed the most ardent affection towards the
plaintiff, and made the most affectionate reference to the
child. Its another letter, dated January 8, 1845, the plain-
tiff,gives the defendant some news of the courtship going
on in the neighbourhood, and the information conveyed was
anything but chaste or, delicate. In reference to the plain-
tiff's child, he writes:—" I cannot possibly conclude without
saying that your dear love, Tom James Williams, Esq., is
doing well; he is getting fat, and begins to grow red. I
suppose he drinks hard—(Much laughter)—you will not be
able to know him when you next see him. He becomes a
bigoted gentleman like his papa. I shall write a long letter
soon again ; believe me to remain your ever affectionate
Cousin, W." Several additional letters were read, all breathing
the most ardent affection ; but (observed the Learned Counsel)
the jury would perceive, that although he had promised to
visit the plaintiff at Aberystwith, he had never done so—
she consequently walked a very long distance for the purpose
of meeting him. In a letter written by the defendant subse-
quent to this, he expressed regret that she should have un-
dergone so much fatigue. She appeared to have suffered in
health. In his last letter, dated Feb.B. 1845, defendant
writes :—" I am very sorry to hear you have been unwell,
but with feelings of tender love I sincerely hope you have
recoverPd from your illness, and are quite as well as ever.
NiY Cledg' 1 " 110 Man row dimitortiglieta Attu