The Sun.
London, England, 1857-07-30 00:00:00

(Bef)re Mr. Juat ice Cres.:well anda Common Jury.)

SWIFT V. COPLEY.

Th7B also was an action of bftrt,,.;h of promise of
marriacro.
Mr. °Macaulay, Q. 0., and Mr. O'Brien appeared
for the plaintiff. The defendant conducted his own
case.

The plaintiff was in the service of 14,rd Wham-
cliffo at Wortley, and the defendant works for his
father, who is the head carpenter at Wortley. It
appeared that an intimacy had existed betwe -n the
plaintiff and the defendant, the result of which was
the birth of an illegitimate child ; and in respect
of the maintenance of that child the plaintiff in
March last had accepted a sum of 23/ , in full sa,!is-
faetioa of all claim upon the defer dant. That ply-
ment was made in pursuance of a formal written
agreement drawn and engrossed by a lawyer, and
which the defendent pr.,duee.d, and pr )veci. as part
of his case, contending that it operated to release
him from liability iu the present action. It was
pointed out, however, that the terms of that instru-
ment were very carefully confined to claims of the
plaintiff in respect of the illegitimate child. The
defendant also denied that be had made any pro-
mise-of marriage ; but several of his letters ad-
dressed to the plaintiff after she had left Wortley,
and gone into another service in Wales, were read
in evidence, and there were many expre,sions in
them pointing to au engagement between them.
They contained many allusions to the apprehension
that sbe was in the familyway ; and in one the de-
fendant reproached her severely for not having com-
municated the fact to him before, and called upon
her solemnly to declare whether he was the father.
Upon that point he was afterwards satisfied, and
frequently expressed a desire that she and the child
should be properly cared for, promising to pay the
expenses to which she mightbe put at afutura time.
As to his having engaged to marry her he used in
one letter a singular expression, describing himself
at the end as " my wife's husband ;" and in another
letter he expressed a hopethat if an old man who had
previously visited her should again make her an
offer she would take it, as it would be better for
her than waiting for him, because it was uncertain
when he might be in a situation to marry. Sub-
sequently bis letters became cooler and cooler ;
and at last the intercourse was broken off, and the
defendant married another woman.
The learned Judge summed up ; and
The jury found for_the plaintiff—Damages, 501.

JULY 28.
(Before Mr. Justice Cresswell and a Special Jury.)
HIGHMORE, CLERK, V. THE EARL AND COUNTESS
OF HARRINGTON.
This was an action of slander for words spoken
by the Countess of Harrington, imputing miscon-
duct to the plaintiff, the Vicar of Elvaston.
Mr. Macaulay, Q.C., and. Mr. Field, were coun-
sel for the plaintiff ; Mr. Mellor, Q.C., and Mr.
Bell for the defendants.
Mr. Macaulay, in his opening address, stated
that the plaintiff had with" great reluctance been
compelled to come into court for the vindication of
his charact=r from the very serious aspersions which
had been most industriously cast upon it by Lady
Harrington, and he hoped that the jury would give
him such an amount of damages as would satisfy,
every one of their opinion of the utter groundless-
ness of this charges which had been made.
The following witnesses were examined :
The Rev. Thomas James Jones—l have been
curate of Elvaston since the Ist of January last.
On Sunday, the 2d of February, I went to the
-Castle to lunch. I saw the Countess of Harringt
in the drawing-room. After the ordinary compli-
ments of the day Lady Harrington asked me who
way liksly to administer the sacrament next Sun-
day. I answered, I did not know, but would ascer-
tain and let her know during the week. Lady
Harrington said, "We never take the sacrament
from that man Highmore, because he is so wicked
a man. Whenever I take the sacrament Igo to
Alvaston or have it administerel to me at 4aws-
worth. I never take the sacrament here because
of that man Highmore." She thee went on to say,
" He keeps the sacrament money and never gives
any to the poor, and pocketed the money the Dake
of Leinster gave for the rep siring of the church."
Her Ladyship also added, " Re is so low and vul-
gar a fellow, and such a drunken character, that
Lord Harrington cannot receive him. He is always
playing at cards and gambling, and encourages the
people in the village in all kinds of gambling, card-
playing, and debauchery, and he and his wife are
constantly rolling drunk on the fib ,r." She con-
cluded toffs lit le harangue by saying, "I should
coneider it sacrilege to take the sacrament from se
wicked and bad a man." Afterwards I asked Mr.
Highmore whether he would be able to administer
se
the sacrament on Sunday, and he said he hoped to
do so himself. After the service at church on Ash-
Wednesday, Lady Harrington sent for me and
asked who was likely to administer the sacrament
on Sun.-lay. I said I di 1 not know, but would
ascertain. On the following Thursday morning, I
again asked Mr. Highmore, and lie said he was so
much better that he hoped to be able to administer
it himself. I went to Lady Harringtou and told
her. "I said I trust you will not stay away be-
cause you may think a man wicked ;" and I added
ROM observations on the ministrations of the
wicked, which I took chiefly from the Articles.
Her Ladyship argued the question quietly with me,
and added,. " No, it won't do • I should consider
it sacrilege ;" and aided, "Ile is always telling
lies, and never speaks the truth." Several state-
ments of this kind had been male. I made
inquiries, and on the eve of Ash-Wednesday I
inquired of himself as to the disposal of the
sacrament money. On Easter Sunday I had an
invitation to lunch at the Castle. I found the
prirate gate from the church to the Castle
locked. lin consequence lunched with Mr.
Highmore. After service, in consequence of a
message, I went to Lady Harrington. She asked
me who administered the sacrament, who collected
the offertory, and howit was I had not gone to lunch.
I told her I came but found the gate barred against
me, and that in consequence of having a friend w;th
me, I had gone through the village with him,
and afterwards lunched with Mr. Highmore. She
said, " How can you lay yourself under an obliga-
tion to those Highmores ? If you go to those High-
mores you will not be acceptable to the Castle.
He keeps a rim t disreputable house, and you must
take care of your character as well as of your
fiends'. They are always playing at cards from
morning to night. They are a set drunken peo-
ple. I know the truth of it, for Sir Francis Stan-
hope said he saw all three of them drunk upon the
floor." The third person alluded to was the Dow-
ager Countess of Harrington. I told her I feared
she had been sadly misinformed, as I had told her
on previous occasion. I said, " I have found
Mr. Highmore's house nicely or respectably con-
ducted, and Mrs. Highmore a lady of considerable
talent and good manners." I said, also, he had
been very kind to me, and that I found him very
charitable. Her ladyship replied, "Oh, no, it
cannot be ; it is impos-dble.' I said I had bad
plea,ing evidence of the fact, for I had seen him
give both wine and money to the poor. She said,
"Oh, no, it won't do ; he is a bad man and she
is a bad woman." I again said I feaae 1 she had
been misinformed, and, as a funeral was waiting,
I must bid her good day. Since then I have not
been to the Castle. Between the conversations
which I have detailed I had several others, at
which statements to the same effect were made.
She has called him an ac`os, a mountebank, and
a rider at Astley'e.
Cross-examined—On the Monday afterwards I
wrote a letter to a gentleman in Derbyshire, but
,otherwise I took no note in writing. Nobody
else was present on the first occasion. It was
in the drawing-room 'before lunch. I learnt from
Lady Harrington that there had been a curate
there named Collins, and from Mr. Highmore
himself. He said he had had a curate who bad
been drunk, or alleged to be drunk. He did not
say he had forwarded complaints to the bishop.
Lady Harrington said he had been found drunk
in the parish, and been continued as curate. I
was told by Lady Harrington that Collins owed
for his lodgings, left the parish in debt, and was
frequently drunk. I heard also that there had been
curates named White and Barratt. She did not say
that White andßarratt were in the habi t of accoun ting
for the sacrament money according to the rubric.
She did not say Mr. Highmore never rendered any
account of the sacrament money, as other clergy-
men did. She mentioned a Mr. James, who she
said had come as curate and left in debt, and was
charged with swindling. I can't say whether Mr.
Highmore told me he had. She mentioned to me
Mr. Collins as having been drunk, but not James.
When she advised me to take care of my own
character she had not immediately before men-
tioned Collins's drunkenness. As to the Duke of
Leinster's contribution, she did not say that Mr.
Highmore had kept it several years before the re-
pairs were done. I learnt that Mr. Highmore had
received 101. towards the repairs. She did not say
that Mr. Collins was curate during Mr. Highmore's
absence from serious illness ; but, in fact, he was
curate during that time. Mr. Highmore was ab-
sent for three years on account of serious illness.
He is prohibited from taking stimulating drinks,
and bas been in that state for seven years. I men-
tioned in June to Mr. Highmore's advisers about
the rolling drunk on the floor. He referred to Sir
F. Stanhope. She was referring to the time of the
former Lord and Lady Harring,ou. I did not men-
tion the word "debauchery" to Mr. Highmore's
aclvisets. I went over to ask one person whether

a certain statement had been made: That was in
April. Her name is Catherine Jane Smith. I put