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London, England, 1845-05-16 00:00:00

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LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF .EXCHEQUER, May 15.
(Sittings at Nisi Prius, before Sir F. Pot Locx, Chief Baron,
at Guildhall.)
pn.vrr V. BENNETT.—BP.FACH OF PROMISF..
Mr. Cockburn and Mr. M. Smith were Counsel for the
plaintiff; Mr. Jervis and Mr. Lush appeared for the de-
fendant.
This was an action in which the plaintiff, a young woman
of 30 or thereabouts, sought to recover compensation from
the defendant for the breach of that contract which is the
tenderest, and sometimes the slenderest, between the two
sexes—namely, a promise of marriage. The circumstances
under which this case was presented to the jury were cer-
tainly most singular. In answer to the complaint of the
plaintiff the defendant pleaded a denial of the promise, and
also that he was justified in breaking it in consequence of the
loose and immodest conduct of the plaintiff.
In support of the first issue the plaintiff, as is usual in
such cases, relied upon the " love letters" of the defendant,
many of which were read to the jury; but it might not be
amiss to premise that the plaintiff was the daughter of
a most respectalsle man, who had for nearly 40 years
acted as foreman in a large upholstery shop in London, the
plaintiff, his eldest daughter, being a dressmaker by trade.
In 1838 Mrs: Pratt died, and the plaintiff Flaying falleu sick
in consequence of her attejtion to her dying parent, went
into Sussex to pay a visit to her friend, a Mrs. Strong. At
her house she met the defendant, then a youth of nineteen or
twenty, and very soon received attentions from him of so
marked a character as to excite attention. Matters con-
tinued this, the defendant playing the lover most assidu-
ously till 1842, when he openly avowed himself, and the
correspondence commenced, to which allusion has already
been made. The defendant, it would appear, was the eldest
son of afarmor, who was separated from his wife. Mrs. Ben-
nett lived at Camberwell with the second son John, and with
them the plaintiff became acquainted after the attachment
had sprung up with the defendant. This being the state of
the parties, the first letter written to the plaintiff was in
January, 1842, and that, which was of an ordinary character,
was followed by several others, all of which breathed un-
mixed love and affection to the plaintiff, prose being accom-
panied by verse in delightful variety. Of these the following
effusions are samples:—

" Plurnmer's-plain, Nov. 20.
"My dearest Louisa,—l am happy to say I have had the
pleasure of receiving your kind and affectionate letter, but
was sorry to hear you have been troubled with tooth-ache. I
have been told that is a sign when a person does not love
true, but I am sure that is not the case with my dear Louisa;
for I am quite convinced that her love for me is sincere, and
I hope lasting. My dear, you wished to know if I returned
home on Tuesday. I did so, or I should have come and seen
you again, for that is the only pleasure I have or desire. I
hope soon to have the pleasure of being with you for ever.
How blest shall I be when that time comes, for it is very un-
comfortable for us both, situated as we are, with two unfeel-
ing patents, that studies to make us uncomfortable; but be
advised by me and keep your spirits up, for I hope there will
be a change for the better soon, for I am cornpletly tired of
being a bachelor any longer. Don't you think it is time I
was? And the cold weather is coming on—what shall I do?
Buy a pair of blankets or cuddle with you? I only wish I
had a comfortable home to take you to, I would not be a
bachelor any longer ; but I hope soon, to have a comfortable
place where we shall enjoy ourselves. I long for that time to
come. I was at Horsham fair on Friday last, and bought
some more pigs very cheap. lam sorry, my dear Louisa, I
did not see, you at Smithfield when you were there. . . .
I forgot to tell you in my last letter that John (his brother)
said he thought it very strange that you had not been once
to see them (John and his mother) or wrote. I hope you wilt
go and see them, for you know he is a strange chap. I know
you will go to oblige me."
" P.S. Excuse haste. Please write by return of post, and
let me know how vou are."
This was relieved by some verses of the following calibre:—
" Let me hold thee to my heart,
And every care resign;
And we shall never, never part—
My heart and all is thins."

IThen again, in another letter, the defendant thus apostro.
phises the fair milliner:—
"Art thou not dear unto my heart?
Oh, search that heart and see;
And from my bosom tear the part •
That beats not true to thee.
"But to that bosom thou art dear—
More dear than words can tell—
And if a thought be cherished there,
'Tis loving thee too well."
On a third occasion the defendant presented the plaintiff with
some stanzas, of which the two first ran as follow :
"All hopeless of relief—
Incapable of rest :
In vain I strive to vent a grief
That's not to be express'd.
"This rage within my veins
No reason can remove;
Of all the mind's most cruel pains,
The sharpest, sure, is love."
__ _

So the correspondence continued 'till October, 1844, the de-
fendant constantly visiting London, on which occasions he
took up his abode near the lagings of the plaintiff, who re-
sided with her father, in Lisson-street, New-road. On these
occasions he took his meals at her house, and continued his
addresses till the 4th of October. On the 17th, however, of
the same month, he actually married another lady. On this
the plaintiff, naturally enraged, wrote to his father, threaten-
ing legal proceedings—a communication which elicited from
the defendant the following extraordinary letter, the circum-
stance, alluded to therein being the accidental firing of Miss
Pratt's bed one night by her father's incautious use of s
lighted candle :

" Jana, 184.
Louisa Pratt—l have this day seen a lettu ry2o
er you wrotes to
my father some time since, saying you intend taking law pre..
ceedings against me. I now tell you that you had better be
cautious what you do, for so sure that you act as you say
you mean to do, you will with' your father have serious
cause to repent it. You have, perhaps, forgot I have some
letters of yours. Were they exhibited to certain parties,yeit
and your father would be 'placed in a most awful situation.
One in particular, dated the 25th of February last; wherein
you state the particulars most fully that your father set fire
to the bed in your apartments. You claimed of the insurance-
office the money for the articles that were burnt, and had
the money for them, and that the inmates, of the house sup.
posed that the fire was accidental.
" Now, I must tell you the law punishes crimes of this Sort
with death. I have no wish whatever to have the crime
made public, but if you drive me to it, I will take your let-
ter to the insurance company for them to act on it, although
it would be most painful to my feelings to do it. YOU had
better, therefore, send me a letter signed in your full name,
saying you never will take any law proceedings whatever
against me, but if I do not receive such a letter from you,
addressed for me at my father's house by Saturday, the 25th
instant, securely sealed, I shall then say I am justified in
acting as I have said I will. Therefore do not deceive your•
self, for you have caused my father to refuse me what I had
witnesserisiersvtioncgd betoewnardscalleato other,
8 defence defendant, w
hoped for, and should have had ; but now my prospecta°ll*
blasted, and I intend taking a situation in London directly.
As it regards your conduct, I do uot intend to say mu*
now, and I hope you will not, by your condUct, comfeonil ms•
to expose you now, as I can do, and whiche‘c7ould
every prudent person to discard yon.-
1"
G. BiNNETT."
tigmeenrecreammtiensedett weirifthtl.l
This letter, which th;
rLufnealnnielCohuneshaeldme
most heartless piece o
the history of such cases, led to the com thle
taheetiofeotien ; u4nd
r tey ft?.
,ru pt oh ne
ceient • but in the
onag;heircalh the pa _
othbseecasfrvingforththate phleainfetilitf
reluctantclsei tho d.
13.0
which
by
ordLthaeryr aallltderyneattiel•wen
vthann e nt
go presentanswer
wJEasm-siusb:ietnteaddtdor.eshsiendl
which dis-
tlathe
eie°uvfreYhr intsh- calesumtyosht madee e xht
to rda no
such an action in the annals of the
law. The Learned Counsel then proceeded to state that he
would accept the challenge given to him by his Learned
Friend, and prove to the satisfactiOh of the jury that the
plaintiff was a most immodest and improper person. Few
people would suspect that at the time she was allowing the
defendant to address her in the passionate strains they had
heard, she was actually engaged in can, ing on the moat
familiar, if not illicit, intercourse with his own brother, John,
of whom mention was made in the letters of the brother. •Shir
was actually herself writing to his in terms quite as strong
and passionate as those which George was addressing to her;
and her letters to him would show that she was carrying on
the same game with both brothers. These letters the Learned
Gentlemanspoke
of the
ttreonthreera,d
John,hurriedlyln terms to the
which bespokethemjuwryh,andshee h
t
warmest interest and attachment. In one she writes to hiss',
so , but time will
" You say in your last note that 1 enjoy G.eorge's society
moreew than Ido yours. Perhaps you think
In another she speaks of herself as his poor_
Louisa," and always signed herself as his " attached Linsa,"
or in terms equally significant ; while in another, speaking
of John's jealously of his brother, and of her ovinleelings to-
wards him;she'says " I shall ever esteem and respect George for
his_kindness towards me p but my happiness is to be found in
your society." This correspondence was unknown to Mrs,
Bennett, or to any one else, till this action was brought, when
John, hearing of the letters to and from his brother, gave
up his own to the solicitor. These and other circumstances
which would be proved, would go to she*: that' vilether the
plaintiff was actually guilty of misconduct or not, yet the de- _
fendant was jiistifieln refusing to marry her. The Learaed..
Gentlethan then called Mrs. Bennett and a Mrs. Kell to•prove .
e abetaia but
from as the cause came' to 'in abrupt
certain acts of familiarity on the part. of the plaintiff to-'
twearmrdisnajtoiohnii
w Bennett,
,giving'. further Publicity to.,
Tedimht.ethLeocitlposec OlifikllFlrs.BßAßbennNeitnt'ters examination,esedwith
.
vie* to bri'
*hick
about an arrangement between the parties in a Mann& *hick showed that, in his opinion, great blanks was .atitibutible them both—to the plaintiff for carrying on the' a.
et:Tuell- • dente with both brothers in-the way proved, and to the ler
fendant for the letter of January, 1845, which was *batty
unjustifiable, especially as he had treated the affair at the
time as an accident. Under all the circumstancera, it was • ,
very desirable that nothing more should be Said
side, while it could nOt'be 'denied that it was a very lOW- •
nate thing for the parties that they did not intermarry.
Mr. COCICBURN begged to assure the Learned Judge that
the letters of the plaintiff to John could many of them 'bi
explained, •but still he would gladly listen to the en.
of the Court if it had not been for the stigma which' h..
laid on the plaintiff by Mr. Jervis—imputations foi..whick,
believed there was no foundation. • • -•

Sir F. PomocK—l asked Kra: Bennett whether she had
ever observed any indecency in the plaintiff's conduct;
she §aid, "No ;" so.that there is Only the, an/Vial:II epg.
correspondence with the brothel' of the defendant.
Mr. Jarvis would withdraw the observntinni:hOilr
made, and the plea of immorality, if his Liarnistftrier.
would consent to withdraw a juror In the action .gener&UT. "
' Mr. Coe/till/RN having assented to this course.
His LORDSHIP expressed his unotualllled approbatiOn of
the course by the Learned Counsel, and the cause
yis

_

~,--.--------7'---- -",--
7A.
•
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The detailed Prospectus will be published in a few days.
JAMES WHEELER, Solicitor, Manchester.
CHARLES E. DEACON, Town Clerk, Southampton.
May 15,1845..