The Sun.
London, England, 1802-08-09 00:00:00

iso infa'rnous and impudent an action as the present
one ; xt,ti, referring to Ole, experience of his Lord-.
ship, he was persnided 1n would say he' had never
before witnessed..one of -a similar `nature : it was-
certainly die most audacious exhibition of human
?depravity ever heard of. If the condo &of MisS
'Roberton, in obtaining the goods of the Defendants
;could be surpassed, is was by the means to which
'she had resorted to .get them hack *again. How did
the case stand ? A -tradeStnan in a great line of
business was ordered to furnish her house he had
One so, aud had given credit to a person who
never had paid him- One shilling—a person who
never had the meanS: Or the' intention of paying
him. Having discovered-her-real character, he had
been. fortunate eni3tigh to- get possession of his pro-
per) y, and this- attion called-upon him 'rto pay da_
mages for having- retaken that of which he bad been
defrauded. Theeffea of the action, even if the Plain.
tiff should be succesgful.,watild only be, that she would
receive a sum of money, • which she would apply to her
own 'use, and rthe Defendants would be. obliged to
bring a counter action. If she recovered a verdict,
the Defendants would instantly lay a detainer against
her for the whole value of the goods. It was an'ex-
traordinary argument his- Learned Friend had made
use of, relative to the tad of a Bankruptcy: 'lf
the Plaintiff beenTei'ipable -of being made a Bank--
7ruPt, and by thesbye a statute of Ilankruptcy ,was
mode of swindling which he wondered She had not
had recourse to, the. Defendants must undoubtedly -
have returned the goods, which the Plaintiff, in an*
extraordinary fit of' hOnesty, perhaps. .he only one
in her. life, had delivered up to him. Hvpily for
the public, the Defendants had spoiled; the Haim iff's
trade—a fine Coach,,a fine house, and fine-furniture,
.not paid - for, was the stock in trade of an arrant
swindler. With such means, added to the reputation
of the Fascally estate, the
,acquaintance with the
Bishop of London, the expeaed marriage with Col.
Cunningham, the relationship with Mr. Dundas and
Lord Glenbervie, the guardianship of Lord Ellenbo-r!
rough, and the supposed fortu::e of the grandfather
and Mother, she would have launched into the world,
and swindled every one on whom she could have
imposed. Miss Sharpe had described her as a very
_reserved Lady ; she dillst have , been reserved in-
deed, if Miss Sharpe could not disco'ver ltec cha..
rater. No
.wonder Mr, qakley had been so corn-
pletely, hunibOggd; when she had been able to de.
,
ceive even her boson friend. It reminded him 'Of a
story in a celebrated Farce, in whiCh the principal
charade!' had an irresistible propensity_to a sort of
poetical prose, bordering on the riiiiryellons. He
had told his serVAni. Tiot 'to be surprized if he
should catch him 'no*. and then exceeding the,-
bounds-of probabililty. It hacPened that his father
wished him to Matry,'and in order tb get 'rid of the
parental injunction, he. fell on his .knees, told a long
story of a pretended courtship, and his being forced
•
by the brother Of the Lady to marry her—the father
was deceived=iheservant; who was 'present under
the assumed- character of a Marquis, sail, " Lord,
Sir, this is a had piece of business; you-never told
me of yotir', being married."—" Lord !" said the
other, " was you humbugged...t.ori as well as my
father ?" So with regard to ihe Plaintiff, she must
have had art enough to hive deceived the Devil,
when she could so' easily deceive her friend, MisS
Sharpe. The , Learned Serjeant proceeded, to corn.'
anent upon she, whole of She condua of Miss Robert-
' son. 'The scheme of taking a grand. houSe at the
Paragon would not have done witut going into
mourning for a supposed rich grandfather. The
Defendant, Mr. Oakley, having, atnong.mothers,
become her dupe, she was invited to-dinner, and
was amused by a- fictitiouS t'ale of .anonyMous
letter; she artfully 'said, if you have any doblit of
your money, I will satisfy you. His.suspicionS were
luilekto Test, but shortly afterwards' he began to
sub his forehad, and think there must be some,
thing more- in ail this than-he knew of; he, inquir.
ed Lord. E4LEtirtokot.7oB, and the Other tiohlg
persons whose name's had been used, and discovered'
that the•whole was a complete swindle; he then made
an affidavit of his 'debt to arrest -Miss Robertson, and
upon the whole circumstance being make known to
her other.: Credifors, they were of 'opinion he
ought to have his goods back again. In a fit of
honesty she said
.he might -take' them ; •he was
still a loser of near 7001. fOr he had been at the
•expence of fitting up the house, and.embellishing
it wish pAintings, which could not "be taken away.
With .resped to the goods fOr which the Ito': had
heenTaid, they had been claimed by Miss Sharpe as
her property, and thereote could not be the subject
of this ;talon. fie read her letter to the Defendant,.
Mr. Oakley, to this effect :--=;" Sir, I:eing infortned
that your man has, removed by m.istake the furniture
paid for with my money, I hope ;you will not refuse
to make me some compensation." The goods were
taken out ,of the house in the month 'of February,
and in the March following Miss Robertson wrote
,this note to the Plaintiff, which he humbly conceived
decided the cause—" Sir, if anything was taken
out of
,the house -al Blackheath, that- was not had of
you, Of which was paid for, and you chase to make
a compensation to Miss Sharpe for. the same, this
shall indemnify you." By this she clearly adini tied
a previous consent that the Defendant should have
the liberty of taking away his property. He should
read this document. in evidence,-and if- the Jury had
any doubt, he would examine witnesses, who
would state that Miss Robertson, in conformity
with the recommendation of,her other Creditors, had.
expiessly authorised the Defendant to take-away the
, goods: He agreed with his Learned" Friend, that if a
Tradesman, haying_ agreed to give a fair credit to a
young man, should require pay/Met:lt before the expi-
ration of the tithe,stipulated, it would-be an ;la of.
oppression, But was such a case -like that of a Woman
pretending,to be a Ludy of fortune, and to support
the delusion, mating of honourable names, which
were contaminated-by coming out of such a mouth ?
.Upod the.' whole,. he considered this as the case of,a
commori swindler, who, 'when
_discovered to the
world, had been advised she had better deliver -up
:the, goods- she had obtained by fraud, and had done
so. She had written to the Defendants to make her
friend MisS Sharpe a' compensation, and thereby
had defeated her right of aaion. If she had really
had fair expeaarions Of a fortune, and had been dis-