The Sun.
London, England, 1834-12-24 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY FAUX PAS.

The domestic tranquillity of the respectable incumbent
of an extensive parish, in the immediate vicinity of the me-
tropolis, has been mournfully disturbed by the discovery of
a faux pas, which has thrown several highly respectable
individuals, the friends of the parties, into the greatest
affliction, and overwhelmed a devotedly attached husband
and father. The alleged guilty parties are the Rev. Mr.
------, a young and very popular preacher, who, indepen-
dent of being the curate of the husband of the lady, said to
be his partner in guilt, is also evening lecturer in a popu-
lous parish at the west-end of the town. Mrs.
the lady of the Rev. Mr. , and who is the son of
a wealthy, as well as highly influential city functionary ; and
the singular circumstances, as well as the writer was enabled
to collect them, are these :
About four yoars ago the Reverend Gentleman pur-
chased the living of a large and wealthy parish, for which
he paid upwards of three thousand pounds. Being at the
time a single man, he went to lodge at the house of a gen-
tleman, whose highly accomplished daughter kept a respect-
able boarding-school for young ladies. He had not been
there long when he married the elder sister, contrary, it is
said, to the wishes of his friends, as she was without fortune.
After this union, down to the present unfortunate discovery,
they enjoyed the friendship and esteem of all the influential
and respectable inhabitants of the parish. Nothing took
place to mar or disturb the prospects and happiness of the
husband, or cause the slightest suspicion of his wife, until a
few days ago, when Mrs. —, from some misconduct on
the part of one of the female domestics, gave her warning
service. The servant nettled at this, divulged to her
master the conduct which she had witnessed between her
mistress and the curate. It appeared that during the ab-
sence of the husband from home, on a visit to some friends,
his curate took up his residence at his house, and that on
various occasions Mrs. had been seen by her ser-
vants to go into and come out of his (the curate's) bed-
chamber with nothing on but her night-dress. The hus-
band, on being made acquainted with these facts, accused
his wife, and she acknowledged her misconduct, and im-
plored forgiveness. He sent immediately for her parents,
to whom he disclosed the occurrence, and requested that
they would remove her from his sight for ever. They, it is
said, refused to have any thing to do with her, saying, that
she deserved to die in the streets from want. He said that,
basely as she had used him, he could not bear to see her
engaged for her in the neighbourhood of
101 l uo"bas
cast upon the world, and she should not want. A lodging
was subsequently
she at present lives. The Rev. and gal-
liantsLo'tyh7u where
Lothario, finding what had taken place, and being
suspended from the discharge of his clerical functions, used
somewhat extraordinary means to shift the blame from his
shoulders. He placed in the hands of an influential gentle-
man in the parish a number of the amatory letters of the
unfortunate lady—knowing, it is said, at the same time, that
those which he hod sent to her in return were destroyed—
with the view of showing that he was the seduced, and not
the seducer. In addition to these, he went so far as to say
hait' Joseph like, when the lady had first made advances
towards him, he turned her out of his bed-room when she
came there in her night-dress, more than once. The gentle-
man thought favourably of the case from this, but others took
a totally different view of it. The zealous, but injudicious
friend, not satisfied with this, sent, it is said, a memorial to
the Bishop of London, with a view of having the Rev.
Gentleman restored. What the result of this most extra-
ordinary proceeding may be is not known. The unfortu-
nate lady who is the subject of the above has had two sons,
p
who are living, and is at present, it is said, it 4 a state of
preaney.,Normni 4dpertiffr,