Star.
London, England, 1809-12-27 00:00:00

• ..
•' - .
it
• Lillie INTELLIGENCE. th
to
; COURT OF EXCHEQUER, DUBLIN, DEC. t. . tin
ELIZALETH MADDEN V. D. MgEUAN. . Pi
i This was an action brought, by the plaintiff for da- t/
Ottlages against the defeudant, for a breach of promise 1)4
irk marriage.at
! Mr. Jens stated the case. He said..it was an tc- it
tiou brought by the plaintiff t 9 be reprised in damages a
!for a bmtch of promise of marriage. She was a fe- .11'
pale of tender years, tiot being at present more than jvi
(between 15 and 16 years of age ; a matter of fact jai
!which he called upon the Jury to carry in theirmind 1 Y'
!dining the present investigation, in case the base and I h
iiiinmiliabk defence, which he was instructed the de- n
tendant intended to make, should be resorted to. The ! si
defendant had been originally intended for the pro- `a
Session of an attorney, and had been, for some time,
in the office of one of the moot respectable practi- n
.tioaeis in• Dublin; he afterwards changed his inten-
tion as to his professiona.l pursuits, and obtained a °
commission in the army. The acquaintance between n
the plaintiff and defendant commenced about four or
fire years ago ; when even at that early age there I
was an attraction of personal charms in the plaintiff, , P
which made a serious and an honourable impression In
*a the heart of the defendant. The parties were in jti
; the habit of meeting at the houses of their common lel
fritnds ; and the impression which the lady's charms a
I made upon the defendant, at a time when her youth 0
rendered her not a fit object for matrimonial connec- d
; tion, induced him to press her to become his wife, j I
1 when years shottld have rendered her age proper, and P
accordingly, from that period to the month of June d
last, he continued his attention ; and in that month, I
h.: made a formal proposal to her father, having first r
o ,rained the lady's consent. The match was an eli- d
gible one—the defendant had a sufficient fortune to d
s ipport her; and her father consented to the mar- r
stage, provided his daughter's consent could be 01.- 'd
t tined—that had already _been procured ; and so" P
soixious was the defendant to prevent delay, that he s
proposed to have it celebrated on the 7th of that T
month, this however, the plaintiff as well as her parents t
objected to, in consequence of which,the nuptials were d
, postponed until the 11th. The ring was purchased; t
the wedding clothes were bespoken ; the relations F
were informed of the intention ; every necessary pre- t
paration was made to carry the wishes of the parties 3
into effect. The defendant's mother conceived an anti-
pathy towards the intended wife of her son. She was F
unwilling he should engage in any matrimonial con- t
nexion ; it was not her wish that such a connexion C
should be formed as might eventually deprive her s
daughter of that property which the defendant pos- r
sessed. . In order to explain the case, which would' r
be proved, it would be necessary for him to read two_ r
letters, one of them dated on the 3d of June, and the t
other on the sth. These letters would fully explain /
the reason why the defendant had broken the engage-
ment he had made, and satisfy the Jury 9f the nature of I
the engagement. The Learned Counsel then stated 1
the two letters to which he had alluded. The first 1
of those letter's was written to the plaintiff ; the second I
to her father, and were to the following effect : i
"My dear Bess-e-I canuot describe the situation I feel myself
at this moment in, when I reflect on the deranged state my mo-
' ther left this, this teeming, going over to your father, knowing ,
tier to possess so unfortunate a temper, lest she might say any
thing that would have hurt the feelings of you, your father, or
mother. But be assured of this, that you shall never experience I
the slightest cruse of your repenting your having fixed your cktsice 1
on the son of a woman that, I fear, must has's: conducted herself ,
so insane, as I fear the has done this day. Although it is a see 1
rity for me to retrain at home this evening to settle some busi-
ness, but I will be with my angel early to-merrow. lqtercede
with your mother and father fur my mother, who, notviithstan-
, ding her viol= temper, is good natured ; andyou know, fless, she I
is my parent. With the sincerest love believe me to be, dear
Bess, B. hillEoaN."
" Driest Salt—lt is with the utmost sorrow I feel myself bound i
to communicate to you a circhmstance, although the recollection
of it must can .e a pang to a parent. Nevertheless, from the situ*. I
Coo in which I am placed, I feel it necessary to do,'and think it 1
3 iortunate circuinstanct: for both 'parties, that I was acquainted
• with it so timely, us it must be evident to you and the world,
bow I would have acted afterwards.
" I think It sufficient to call your recollection to a love scene,
acted in Hudson's Demesne, last summer twelve months. I shall
i pot wound you further to say between whom; but of this be as.
`fired, that although I would net ally myself to any woman on
' earth that the slightest gale of suspicion ever touched, you may !
depend of its being buried in the darkest oblivion with me. Ido i
I then decline the bchwer intended for me, and leave it to your good
sense to satisfy your daughter, without letting her know the rea-
son why I beg leave to decline the honour of her hand. I am,
dear Sir, your 's sincerely, " B. MIGAN."
June .5, lao9.
The Learned Counsel then said, he was not certain
whether the Defendant had instructed his Counsel to
make that base and false defence, and whether they
had been directed to blast the cleracter of a female
scarcely fifteen years of age, or not: but, if they should i
,
ti resort to so shameful an alternative, it would be
proved incontestibly to be as scandalous a calumnia-
-1 tion as ever proceeded from the lips of falsehood. .
John Salmon was then examined by Mr. GooLD ;
slid he was a bookbinder, and lived in Cope-street,
i in the neighbourhood of the Plaintiff, who lives in
Anglesea-street, and follows the lace manufactory
—the Plaintiff's father and mother are both alive,
i i an,i hare no other child but the Plaintiff, who, he
letlieved to be between fifteen and sixteen years of
i all. 1-las known the family about five years ;
'i i when he first knew rte family she was a child; she
appt.ued to h;.ve been brought up in the most vir-
taus manner. Knew the defendant about five years;
. 1 whoa he first knew him, heard he was a gentleman
of fortune; he appe:lrs now to be about the age of 25
. or 25 , mec the defendant frequently at parties in the
house of the plaintiff's father—he was very attentive
to the plaintiff, and preferred dancing with her. Saw
the defendant in or about the month of June last, and
had a cenversatinn with him—on the 3d of June, be-
t
tv C;in :6 and 9 (Mock in the evening, witness called
on the defetniant at his lodgings. There was no per-
son in the room but the defendant and his mother,
who was standing at the window, and seemed to he
abusing him. After the witness was there about 15;
or 20 minutes, the defendant desired his mother to
tg ) up stairs ; in a little time after she went out of the
li - roam. Witness then said, he was sorry to have been
tit? innocent cause of producing a qtnirrel is the fa-
mily, by telling them about the intended marriage,
i ' which he had presumed the defenclint had already in-
formed the family of. The witness had mentioned
the matter to his cousin, the defendant's brother-in-
law. Witness had heard that the defendant bad pro-
paled for the plaintiff through her father. The de-
endant desired the witness not to make anyapology,
fog he did not want it to be kept a secret, and wished
_
-1-•=-4- .ierkLz;A:....L....,__,—.....