The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-04 00:00:00

JURY COURT, EDINBURGH.
GERRARD OR KAY V. WILSON.
This was an action of damages for seduction, in
which Mrs. Mary Ann Gerrard or Kay, and Joseph
Kay, her husband, residing in Edinburgh, were pur-
suers, and the trustees of the late William Ralph
Wilson, sometime residing in Edinburgh, and after-
wards in Glasgow, were defenders.
The facts of the case, as stated for the pursuer,
were—that in the year 1839, while living with her
maternal aunt, Mrs. Banks, of the Crown and An-
chor Tavern, High-terrace, Edinburgh, the pursuer
(then Mary Ann Gerrard) became acquainted
with Wilson, at which time she was only fifteen
years of age. Two years afterwards Wilson paid
his formal addresses to her, and obtained her consent
to marry him. He continued his visits for a con-
siderable time, and often accompenied Miss Gerrard
to church, the theatre, and other public places, for
amusement and recreation, and introduced her to
his friends as a lady for whom he had the highest
respect and the most honourable intentions, and
whom he intended to make his wife. In consequence
of indisposition he went to reside at Seafild Cottage,
near Rosin, from which he addressed a letter on the
30th of September, 1844, pleading guilty to a great
negligence in not writing, and Ening Miss Gerrard
would excuse him, and he " would be a better boy in
future." He requested in this latter that she would
meet him at the theatre at one o'clock the next day,
and then, says his epistle—
" Together we'll commune,

As lovers do when standing all apart;
No one o'erhears tho whispers of their heart
Save the all silent moon."
lie proceeds :—" slave any of my kind friends been
giving you any further accounts of my (to you) in •
visible visits to town? If so, I hope you have more
sense than to pay any attention to them. We only
require to have confidence in one another to place
them at defiance, even with their mighty catalogue of
hints and insinuations:—

" Thrice happy is that bumble pair
B ,neath the level of all care,
Over whose head those arrows fly
Of sad distrust and jealousy ;
Secured in as high esteem
As if the world had none but them.'

" It is now eleven o'clock forenoon, so I will walk
over to Roslin, and post this note myself; if you do
not get it to-morrow morning, therefore, the fault is
not mine. The road is a pretty one, so I promise
myself a small extra amount of enjoyment from the
walk. Would you were with me.
"'For now, my love! my Mary bright!
The merrie lark is up!
The sun hath kissed with lip of light
The daisy's silver cup.
All pretty things are moving now,
I‘ke dreams in gzorc light;
For none are half so sweet as THOU!
'ris true my wee—wee bright.'
"That will do for a finish, I calculate ; so adieu
till to morrow. Yours ever, W. R. W."
The intimacy of Miss Gerrard and Mr. Wilson
daily increased, and Mr. Wilson frequently informed
the servants in Mrs. Banks's that they were married,
and when he called he asked for Mrs. Wilson. In
October, 1844, he expressed his distress and unhappi-
ness at the delay which must take place in the marriage,
in consequence of some pecuniary matters which re-
quired to be arranged. The intimacy still continued,
and issued in the birth of a female child on the 24th of
July, 1845. As her confinement drew near, Gerrard
became anxious to get formally married, upon which
her aunt wrote to Wilson, informing him of her
niece's situation, and pressing upon him the necessity
of marriage. To this letter Wilson wrote an answer,
addressed to the pursuer, in which he assigns his de-
licate state of health as the cause of the delay, and
states that his doctor had recommended him not
to marry, and upbraided them for the feeling they
showed in pressing a man from what seemed his death
bed to be a principal agent in a marriage ceremony.
lie adds, "I think your plan of getting over the
matter quietly at your aunt's, and then proceeding
home, is the best and wisest plan for both of us."
Several copies of verses were included in the corre-
spondence, among which is a " poem addressed to
Mary Ann," by her lover, concluding thus :
" Dear Mary Ann, then remember me,
Remember all I've said to thee;
And my responsive pledge shall be,
I'll love but thee."

Several other letters passed between the parties re-
lative to the marriage, until Wilson died of consump-
tion at Glasgow, on the 11th of June, 1845. In the
case of multiple-poinding, brought by the defenders
against the pursuer and others, the pursuer, inter
(Pia, claimed damages for seduction ; but the compe
tency of investigating and assessing damages in such a
case was disputed, and the present case, therefore,
became necessary. Several points in this statement
of facts were disputed by the defenders.
The case went to trial on the issue, whether the
pursuer, being a virtuous person, was seduced by
Wilson. Damages were laid at 1,0061.
The Lord Advocate addressed the Court for the
pursuers, and after the examination of several wit-
nesses in support of the claim, the Dean of Faculty
replied for the defenders.

The Lord President then summed up, rind

The jury having retired, returned in a few minutes
with a verdict, unanimously finding for the pursuers—
Damages, 201,—Edinburgh Courant

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

Lord John Hay, C.B. M.P., and the Hon. W.
CJvi per, M.P., have returned to the Admiralty, so
that all the members of the board are now in town.
TUE COAST-GUARD PROMOTIONS.

Captain Robert Kerr, who has obtained the annual
recommendation for promotion entered the navy in
December, 1819, passed his examination in 1826, ob-
tained the rank of lieutenant August, 1828, was ap
pointed to the Arachne, 18, and served in her two
years in the West Indies ; was appointed to the
Conway, 28, in February, 1832, served in her in the
Pacific, and subsequently from the 6.h May, 1837,
served in the Castor, 36, in the Mediterranean ; was
promoted to the rank of commander June, 1838,
since which time he has not been afloat, but has been
employed in the coast guard since 1842. We must
confess that, notwithstanding all the above details of
service afloat and ashore, we have failed to discover
any such commanding claims for promotion to the
rank of captain, over, at least, 500 commanders on the
list.

The lieutenants promoted to the rank of com-
mander are—John Ellis Knight (1815), Joseph
Brown (1825), and John Samuel William Grandy
(1642).
Commander Knight is in the 59th year of his age,
and has served in the coast guard since 1831, being
unable to procure any other employment. Inde-
, pendently, however, of his coast-guard service, for
which he has received numerous strong testimonials,
and especially so for his exertions in saving the lives
of 19 of the crew and passengers belonging to the
ship Bainbridge, of Halifax, wrecked in a heavy gale
off the Isle of Wight, Commander Knight, from his
entry into the navy in 1807, saw some hard service
during the war. According to "Byrne's Biography,"
he was in the expedition of 1809 to the Scheldt, when
he was engaged on shore in the defence of the fort of
Balthz, when in vain attacked by a flotilla
under the orders of the French Rear-Admiral
Massiessey. Previously to the evacuation of
the Walcheren he accompanied Captain Dolling
into the Beagle sloop, commanded afterwards by
Captain John Smith, with whom he continued until
October, 1813, assisting during that period at the
cutting out of two gun-boats under Cape Grisnez, the
destruction of part of a convoy near Calais, the cap-
ture of three armed and other smugglers (services for
which Captain Dolling and a master's mate were each
promoted), and the reduction and fortification, during
the investment of St. Sebastian, of the important
island of Santa Clara. From November, 1813, until
August, 1815, Mr. Knight was further employed as
midshipman and master's mate in the Lightning, 20,
Captains Bentinck Cavendish Doyle and George
Rennie, on the Channel and Cork stations. Being
then awarded a commission dated on the Ist of the
previous March, he was appointed, Jan. 5, 1827, to
the coast blockade, as supernumerary lieutenant of
the Ramilies, 74, Captain Hugh Pigot ; from which,
however, he was obliged, in October, 1829, to retire,
in consequence of a severe rupture of the left groin,
received in the execution of his duty, but for which
he has never been able to obtain remuneration.
Commander Joseph William Brown entered the
nary in 1807, passed his examination in 1814, and
was promated in 1825, and has been almost constantly
employed in the revenue service, either in command
of a cutter or a station, ever since. His last command
was the Portsmouth district
Commander Grandy entered the navy in April,
1823, passed his examination in 1831, was appointed
to the coast guard in 1839, was promoted from that
service at the annual promotion in 1842, Was re-
appointed to the revenue service as a lieutenant, and
has had the command of two or three cutters. Com-
mander Grandy is a lucky officer.

On the, whole, we do not think the coast-guard
promotions for 1849 will give universal satisfaction to
the officers employed in that service.—llerald.
PORTSMOUTH, JAN. 3.—The following is from the
Arrogant Journal of the 18th ult., a newspaper got
up entirely (printing included) on board the Arrogant,
46, Captain Fitzroy, principal-L.}, by the wardroom
officers, one of whom (Lieutenant A. D. Pundits)
has his name affixed as the sole proprietor:—
"ARROGANT V. POMONE.
" Fate has decreed that the Arrogant should be
pitched against that very ship of all others which bas
been held up as a pattern to cur naval architects and a
rror to the Admiralty, and under such peculiar circum-
stances as clearly to demonstrate that if the French Go
vrrnment should possess 20 more' such vessels as the
Pomone, a very much smaller proportion of the Arro-
gant class would suffice to compete with thorn. In the
protect achievements of the screw we sr.° but the dawn
of a new era in naval warfare—far greater expectations