The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-13 00:00:00

HIGHWAYS BILL.

Mr. DEEDES wished, in the absence of the right hon.
gentleman the Secretary of State for the Home Department,
to ask the First Minister of the Crown what the Govern-
ment meant to do this session with the Highways Bill. It
was an important measure, and he was anxious to know what
course the Government meant to pursue in relation to it.
Lord PALMERSTON said that on Monday he would
undertake to state the intentions of the Government with
regard to the bill.
The house adjourned at 25 minutes to two o'clock.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT.-HERTFORD, JULY 12.

:Before Mr. Justice Williams and a Common Jury,

HEDGE V. BARNETT-BREACH OF PROMISE OF
MARRIAGE.

This was an action brought by Anne Hedge, a
minor, who sued through her next friend, her
mother, to recover damages from the defendant for
breach of his promise to marry her. The defendant
pleaded that he did not promise to marry the plain-
tiff, and also that a reasonable time had not been
allowed him to perform his promise.
Mr. Montagu Chambers, Q.C., and Mr. Joyce
were counsel for the plaintiff; Mr. Hawkins, Q.C.,
and Mr. Archibald were for the defendant.

Mr. Chambers, in opening the case, said that the
plaintiff was a young woman, 19 years of age, pos-
sessing considerable personal attractions, and the
daughter of respectable persons, but in a humble
condition of life, residing at Surrett Green, near
Watford, and the defendant was a small farmer,

living on his own property, in the same neighbour-
hood, and who was very considerably older than
plaintiff, and this action was brought by her mother,
her father having died during the interval, to re-
cover damages from the defendant for having broken
a solemn engagement to marry her daughter. The
learned counsel then proceeded to state the circum-
stances under which the action was brought, and it
appeared that the parties had been acquainted a
very great many years, and the defendant, in the
course of the year 1858, paid great attention to the
young lady, who was at that time only 17 years
old. At length, on " Gunpowder Plot Day," in that
year, he opened his breast to the girl's parents, and
expressed his wish to make her his wife, observing
that he had entertained an affection for her ever
'lr..n oho wc.-s a child. when he had seen her trip-
ping across the green, dressed in a nice white frock
and blue jacket. The relations of the young woman,
who appeared to have exercised a good deal of pru-
dence in the matter, remonstrated with the defen-
dant upon the great disparity between their ages,
and the father told him that he should leave the
matter entirely in the hands of his daughter to de-
cide, but the defendant treated the question of the
age very lightly, and said he was determined to
have her for his wife, and it was with difficulty that
he was induced to wait until the young lady was
18 years, he himself being on the wrong side of 60.
After this the defendant was received in the family
in the character of a suitor to the young lady,
and he visited all her relations, and he was

looked upon by them all in the light of a fu-
ture bridegroom, and things went on smoothly
until the beginning of the year 1860,
when the defendant suddenly ceased his visits, and
in consequence of something that came to the know-
ledge of the family, Mr. Pugh, a highly respectable
professional gentleman at Watford, was requested to
write to him upon the subject of his promise; and
shortly after he had received the letter he again
visited the family, and renewed his intimacy with
the plaintiff. Her mother then had some communi-
cation with him upon the subject of the marriage,
and reminded him that the young lady had arrived
at the age fixed for the ceremony, and requested to
know what his intentions were, and the reply he
made was that he intended to marry her daughter,
but he would not do so until he chose, and that no
lawyer in the world should make him marry until
he thought proper. He continued visiting the
family until the 6th of July last year, and after that
day he never again made his appearance at the
plaintiff's cottage, and although several letters were
written to him, asking for an explanation of his
conduct, he took no notice of them, and at length
the present action was brought against him to re-
cover damages for his breach of the engagement he
had entered into.

Several members of the family were examined in
order to prove the above facts, and in the course of
the cross-examination of one of them Mr. Hawkins
pointed to a little old man who was sitting under
the jury-box, with a fiery red head of hair, and
whose general appearance certainly did not seem
calculated to create very ardent feelings of affection
in a good-looking young girl of eighteen, and asked
whether he was the defendant and the intended
bridegroom. The eyes of every one in court were, of
course, immediately turned upon the party indicated,
and when the witness replied that he was, there
was a loud burst of laughter, in which the learned
judge could not refrain from joining.
Mr. Chambers, in summing up the plaintiff's
case, observed upon what he called the bad taste of
the defendant in coming into the court and mak-
ing an exhibition of himself, solely for the pur-
pose of saving his breeches pocket. He said
that, although there was undoubtedly some dis-
parity in their ages, and the defendant did not ap-
pear to be quite the sort of man to captivate the
heart of a young girl, still there was no accounting
for tastes, and it was very probable that this
young lady, having known hiin from her child-
hood, might have entertained feelings of regard for
a man in his position, and she very naturally
looked forward to a marriage with him, as a means
of improving the condition of herself and her
family. He urged upon the jury that the defen-
dant had not given any excuse for his conduct, and
called upon them to give such an amount of da-
mages as would mark their sense of the miscon-
duct of which he had been guilty,
Mr. Hawkins made a most humorous speech to
the jury on behalf of the defendant.
The learned judge having summed up, the jury
returned a verdict for the plaintiff. Damages £l5O.

MANCIIESTER UNITY OF ODD FELLOWS.—This
week has been an unusually busy one with th© members
of the society in fetes and the celebration of anniversaries.
On Monday, at Aston Park, Birmingham, nearly 80,000
persons were present at a varied entertainment; and the
Pimlico District had a large muster in Baron Rothschild's
grounds at Gunnersbury. At Tottenham, on Tuesday, the
Bruce Castle Lodge had a dinner, cricket-match, and ball,
in good style ; whilst at Chertsey, an influential festive
gathering :was held in the Town-hall, presided over by
P.P.G.M. Filsell, assisted by P.G.M. Roe. On Wrednes
day, at Eye-house, the Waltham Abbey
ihe largeLodgenumber
o fassembled
'e
their members and friends, including the Government
workers at Enfield Factory, and a numerous and happy
party
membersha d a
in
v thorougholuut
odear uniforms rnys rio
was rather surprising.
Great preparations are being made for the metropolitan feto
%list, when the
at the Crystal Palace on the 6th of
A
whole of the fountains will be displayed, and a grand pro-
cession
accompanied by a dozen
rifle
.1\ ir? Liverpool,
weii Bristol,
will Bir-
mingham,
also
make -
bands of
at hued et rbd ee r
regaliatake
of place,
the
m ing h
a a m
balloon, a nd
ascent.Dartford
Thedistricts
pilauand
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jair4endin
lall cases given
to the widow and or