The Sun.
London, England, 1811-10-05 00:00:00

SCOTCH MAIdiI4GES.

The lodgment ptonottnced by Sir William Scott
on the' inint•rtatit case of- the marriage of -IV.. H.
ljalryAnple,..Esri. wish Miss Gordon, is so imp tor-
tent, tttt,i sia.es the law on, the qh,ltion of Scotch
mat riages so deafly, that we lay 'an abstrad of the
case belbre one readers tr---
In Match or April 1804, Mr. John William •
1-I,:itry.litirrople, -then nineteen years of- age, ac•
companied the sth Regiment of Dragoon- Guards,
in t bids he •A as a Cornet, to the neighbout hood et
Edinburgh. Mr. Dalrymple is of Scotch extraction,
bu frotn ho 4 eat hest, yens he had been 'nought up
.in En: lat.d, At Edinburgh, 'he, shortly after his
arr:val, oecame a, quainted with Mills` Johanna Pop.
_dots, the daughter of a Gentleman in a respedable
situation of life : and in consequence of a intiteSl
at .eliment, he visited, her ireipiently at her father's
Imo! in Edinburgh; and 'at Braid, his seat in the
LOU 'try.
papA., withatt a date, Mr. Palrymple
promises to marry ',,Miss Gordon as soon ass it is in
his. power'.
This paper is subscribed by both their names,
and indorsed. " A sacred premise." Another pa.
per; dated on the 28. h of May, 1804, contains
these words..." I. hereby declare Johanna Gordon is
my laa,ttil N tfe ; and I hereby acknawlegge • John
Wiliam' Henry Dalrymple as my lawful husband."
Anoth r paper contains a reiterated declaration on
the parr of Mr. Dalrymple, accompanied with a pro-
false " that he will acknowledge Miss Gorden as
leis I.4wtul wife the moment he has it in his power."
In this paper she makes no repeated declaration, but
promises' " that nothing but the greatest necessity
(n cessity which ---- situation alone can justify),
shad ever force. her to declare this Marriage." It is
signed by him arid by het', describing herself J.
Gordon, now J. Dalrymple, and is dated July 11,
1804 ; and.noth these-two last papers are inclosed
in an envtlope, inscribed " Sacred prornises and en.
gagements."
it a; pears that Mr;Dalrymple had strong reasons
for supposing that his father would disapprove of
this connection. He ,wrote many letters to her,
coneoived in tetrn s of the mess warm and devoted
affection, in which he applied to himself and her the
terms of huStrind and wife ; and they were in the
habit of having Clandestine nocturnal interviews
both at Edinburgh and Braid, to which frequent al-
lusions are made in these letters. One of the most
Jematkable of these interview. took place at Edits-
.burgh on the 6th of July*, 1804,, when it was
prayed he remained with her the whole of the
night.
In one,of r the letters, which has the. Edinburgh
Post mark, 2t7th e f May, 1804, he insists that she
shall draW upon him for any money slits may stand
in need 0f,—.4 for it is her right," and, in accept-
ing of it she will prove her acknowledgment of it."
Her sister he calls his sister.
In another letter which lass the Yost-mark of May
jo, tie says,..." You are my wife; to ratted is-
possible; stud ever shall be i I have proved,my legal
4lit-io prole& you, which I have most fully est 4
Wished ; nothing in this' 'world shall- break thesis
ties." Another letter 'has these expressionser-i-
Rerneri,ber you are mine, that God Almighty
may preserve my wife is the prayer of her husband.
At another time he wrote....“ It grieves me to suffer
you fivelnittures from your husbat.d nothing can,
change my sent:Meats, independent' even ,ot those
tced ties which -unite us,pothing ever can or
sitc.u..4 (if it were possible) ahnul them. Put that
confidence in me which your duty, requires. That
God may ever preserve my wife, and inspire her
with the priresL love for her husband, is the first
wish of her adoring
He continued to write 'misfit of a passionate, and
even conjugal and to pay maternal and clan.
destine visits duritig the whole or his stay in Scot.
14+pci ; bat shoes WO no COliabirtiiiioll, Of a more vi.,
sible reiture, nor any habit and repute, as far as, ap.
pears, but what existed iu the surmises of the ser.
vain% arel cif the sisters.
fits tether, ..1. tined bohe report of what was
eing oft, removed him to England about the alit
of July, 1804, where he continued till 1806, when
he sailed for Malta. His last letter-, written to her
on to eve of his departure, reinforces his, injunc.
lion; of secrecy, and conjures her ,to withhold all
crertir from any reports of lite transfer •of his affix-
'io, to aaolter.. -He continued abroiel till May,
1808, Wllll the exception of a Month or two in the
Anturm, ait tso6, when he reunited for purposes
Dot coimericed with this trial. He then first dis-
004ed to a friend, Mr. Hawkins, the alteration 'of
h;s Offeelion ; 'and commissioned him to intercept
all letters from Miss Gordon,' addressed: either to
himself Or Gen. Dalrymple, his father. In eonse.
quente ef the steps taken by 'Mr. Ilawkins, a mi.:.
respondence ensued between him and Miss Gordon,
who, on the death of the General, in Spring, 1807,
asserted her mart rage rights, and furnished him with
crii,ir.s of- Iter marriage fines, but took no legal steps
to eaferce, tier claims. On Mr. Dalrymple's return
itn,Mr;y )808, Mr. Hawkins communicated. to him
what had posed between himself and the lady, and
dissuaded' hint from embarking in any new .matri.
sn'Orrial CO01106011; but within a very ,few days
alto wards Mr.Dalrymple married
,Mires Laura Man.
tiers, in the most' formal and regular manner. On
teceit ing intelligence of this, the anion against Mr.
' Dalrymple was immediately commenced. .
By the law of England, the validity of a mar.
tinge must he. tried with reference to the law of the
country when.: the marriage rights had their origin,
and consequeptly this question came to be judged
by the prieciples of the law•of' Seotland, the law-
of which country was copionaly transmitted-
.to th Court. Accoldirig to the judgment of all the
Ledi heti (..;"hilettien ;who were exaMined, the law of
,SLcalliid binds Mr. Dalrymple, though a minor, a'
, arid a foreigner, -as effectively as it
,would do
lijrl hr both an adult, loving in a civil capecity, and
v an establi4ted denticile in that country.
By e c„,„„ Low, although marriage was re...
vett mit ti yet 'when the.natural• and
t ►it • oor wasp,turinect, it hail the 'full essence of
, •
wi, hoot toe _intervention: of the priest;
.4.114 two par.ses, expressed in words,
t Ire a tit teuro it t!c-...eonce, constituted an admit
a d 4 ,afrl,6e, ie• lit really ki•ii.v-n by the statue