Star.
London, England, 1825-05-21 00:00:00

I

1
1

V
t
I; .

~


soon made up his mind that all he was told of her was
false, and that it was wily the contrivance of the defer-
dart and his agents. He was in her bed-room one day,
but the painter was then mending the window ; she was
lying o the bed with her clothes on. He was in her
room in Sloane-street, but then there was always a
ruing girl by ; he used to give her the medicines and
attend her as her servant. He attended her in Sr. limes's-
street. He wed afterwards to go there for money she
owed him. !tensed to walk by her side when it rained
Lolling the umbrella over her, and the she might take
hod of his elbow. She went to lodge hi Nylon-
square ; he went into service there.
Mrs. Mills keens the King's Arms, Sloane-street. She
recollects in A tigust, 1823, the defendant brought a lady,
Iry farce into her parlour. Soon after two women and
a man came, and they put her in a strait-waistcoat, ancl.
she Was removed in that condition.
Catherine Rogers was servant at tht plaintiff's.
O'Connor was-there frequently; he never was in Mrs.
Smyth's bed-room; he might have been alone with her
in the sitting-room, hut that-was accessible at all times
to the company in ere bons's.
Mr. Frow, the solicitor of the plaintiff, said, part of
the mbney for the former maintenance of Mrs. S was_
paid to him by the defendant's attorney, at the rate et
two guineas per week.
This was the case for the Rlaintiff.
Mr. Serjeant VAUGHAN, for the defendant, said, the
seeson was now arrived, ss;ren it became his duty to
address them on the part of the defendant. Tiie case
was opened to them as one imputing adultery to the
husband, a most wicked suggestion, and that, too, with
a woman of 50 years of age; and they were led to sup-
pose that to gratify that passion he treated with cruelty
and inhumanity the womsti he had the misfortune to
be married to in 1822, and all that without any cause.
The question was, whether the husband was bound to
pay two guineas per week far. his wife? In some of the
general principles he agreed with his Learned Brother,,
because the husband was bound to provide suitable ne- ,
cessaries for the wile, according to his situation in life.
In this case they would have the Jury to believe the
defendant to be a very beast, committing adultery un-
der the very nose of his wife; that he cruelly beat her,
and actually made his house a brothel ; and that he
exercised his cruelty and inhumanity to such a degree,
that she cculd not remain any longer. There was
one very important fact kept carefully out of the
cause—that the defendant had sent notices to the
different tradesmen at their peril to give his wife ere.
dit, and that the plaintiff himself was served with one.
Mr. Sheppard, Register Clerk of the -Consistory
Court, proved the proceedings of the Court in Smyth
v. Smyth, and the Court's decree of alimony.
Thomas Payee—ls a Police Officer; he paid the
defendant's wile 15/. as alimony, in December, 1824.
Ile knew and saw her in April, 1823. He saw her
first in bed in her husband's house. Mrs. Neale was.
in the room. Witness was •here to see that nothing
was removed out of the house in the defendant's ab-
sence. She sent down staits for him ; when he came
and knocked at the door, she asked if he was the
officer? he said yes ; and then she told him to come
in. She was lying in bed, with the clothes below her
waist. She said to Mrs. Neale, that it would be • •
• • a • He told her such language was very
improper. She left the defendant's house that night,
and the defendant gave her a ten pound note. She
i.anted to kiss her husband befote she went to the
lodgings she had taken.
The notice to the plaintiff not to trust the defendant's wife,
failed to he proved, as the person who served it on the plaintiff
could not speak to the contents of it.
Mrs. Neale knows the defendant and his wife slnce April,lß23.
She went into their service. She never thought Mrs. Smyth a lady,
nor a married woman, she put on so much paint—(A laugh).
Mr. Serjeant VACUIIAN.—I believe many a married lady does
the same.
Witness.—But she had a double portion—(A laugh).
Witness always thought from her convetsation, and her
scolding and abusing her husband, that she was a strange
sort of woman, and that she was cracked. She used
often to curse and abuse her husband in his absence,
calling him a brute. She, on a Sunday, used to be
singing and making a noise in the house; and seeing
her husband with a •.ertain coat o, she used to call
him Guy Faui—(A laugh). She usned to lay often aTh
day in bed, and wanted witness to tell her her fortune
on the cards, to some of which she gave ridiculous
names. She vets not ill, she used to eat double; wit-
ness has taken her np a beef-steak and a bottle of wine,
of which she used to 'see no more than the empty dishes
and bottle. On the first of May once, she wanted to
make a large pot of broth and have all the sweeps into
the parlour to dance. Witno-s told her, if she did, all
the people would think her mad. She would keep wit-
ness in her room all day reading love-letters to her, and
afterwards she would complain of witness's being idle.
She never saw the defendant angry with her, except on
the night she was going to set the house on fire. She
never received ill-treatment from hint ; his only fault
was that he was too kind to her. She tan away three
times before O'Connor came. The d Pendant, about
that time, fell from his horse on his head, and was very
ill. All that O'Connor said was false ; there was nothing
snore between the defendant and her, with respect to
improper liberties, than she had with him—(meaning
the Le rued Serjeant)—(A laugh). O'Connor did say,
if Mrs. S. was his wife he would mend her or end h, r,
so d— his tags. He often abused her and called her a
.faggot, and said defendant was to be pitied in having I
such a wife. Dr. Richardson saw her before • she was
sent to Kelly House. Her husband being then ill, she
-..vs she would wear when

1
talked about the pretty weepers she wouiu wear violet'
'' ;he was gone. She used to talk to witness of her beauty,
which got her two husbands. She was fond of strong
1 . beer, and one day she mixed some fly-poison which was
it on the mantel-piece with some of this beer and gave it
.
to the boy who lived in the house. He was near dying
of it, and Dr. Thorrias attended hin..
i Cross-esamined.—Hir name is Julia, and she is a widow. She
) Is an Irish woman, and does not wish to deny
eme her country—
She
(A
laugh). She never was before so many Gentln before.
does not pretend to much modesty. The defendant was a pattern
1 . ,
of kindness to his wife. When witness was in his room the door
was .never locked.
Two or three Medical Gentlemen gave evidence as to the state
of Ws. Smyth's mind, which did not directly impeach her sanity.
Anne Baskerville—ls a married woman, and lived
with the defendant and his wife in November, 1822, till
• March, 1823. They were then living in Milbank-
street. Mr. Smyth attended his office from ten till one
:o'clock. • During his absence several Gentlemen. used
14
• tici call on Mrs: Smyth. About twelve o'clock, a Gentle-
: loan called, Mr. Clarke. He generally called about
half-pact eleven. He was shewn into the drawing room.
, " Mrs. Smyth asked her for some coals;
forgot t' bring
a. them. 'Brought them up in ten minutes. Found the
. . , .
-• • ' first doer fastened. He came once afterwards. Ile
"usia to 'collie-
two or three times in a week. She-had
i‘fc.. - •
''-'• ailiiilis„,