Star.
London, England, 1824-04-16 00:00:00

NAI'AL I.‘I'ELLIGENCE.

MELANCHOLY SHIPWRICK.—Tuesday morning, the 23d ult. the
schooner Hero, CHRISTOPHER Harm:Err Master, from Swansea for
13rixham, after experiencing a strong gale and a heavy sea the pre-
ceiling night, was found to be water-logged, and nearly unmanage-,
able. In this state, the crew endeavoured to reach Padstow har-
bour, lout just as she came to the entrance she sunk, and as from the
state of the weather, no assistance could be afforded, every person
on board perished.
Powrimotrrit.—Arrived off the port, the Sophia, Captain Surma,
front Bengal—sailed from thence December 13, and from St. He-
lena, February 21, bringing the following passengers J. Mrs.
and Miss Maria Colvin ; Master Charles Jackson ; Captain John
Hay, Bengal Native Infantry •; Captain Sebastian Land, ditto; Mr.
Henry Abbott, Mrs Abbott, and four children ; Mrs. Alimuty and
three children; Mr. Henry Watson; Mr. William Maxwell and
tyro children ;,Masters George and John Tandy ; Miss Catherine
Hunter; Miss Matilda Ilarriott, and nine servants.

General VIGo, the late Governor of Corunna, has
arrived in London. lle is about to present a memotial
to the French Government for the recovery of his pro-
pry, which has been confiscated by the Spanish Go-
vernment. The name of the French General who deli-
vered him up to the Spaniards, in violation of the con-
sention, is Ca NOEL. It is understood that his conduct is
disapproved of by his own Government, and that the
memorial of General Vico, therefore, is likely to te-

ceive attentions •
COLOMBIA.—The El Colombiano of the 28th of Ja-
nuary, states, that fortifications were about to be con-
structed at Maracaibo, fur the more complete defence
of that place. A decree had been issued for the esta-
blishment of public schools on the Lancasterian plan.
Letters from Gibraltar have been received to. the
2Ltli ult. By these we are informed that his Mainty's
brig ALACRITY was to leave that port, and cnnv9y to
3lalta such vessels as were bound to that island.. Tile
opening of the Lisbon ports for wheat had occasioned a
}peat stir in Gibraltar, and large quantities were pre-
paring for shipment, when the subsequent accounts from
the Portuguese capital stated that the ports had again
been closed, on account of the immense quantity of
'rain which had been poured into them from Vigo, and
w:lith was sufficient in one week to render the further
importation unnecessary. By these accounts we learn
-that the Government of Malta had allowed vessels
bound to the westward to sail without convoy. No
.mention is made of Algerine cruisers in that quarter.
A considerable sensation has been excited amongst
'the importers, merchants, and dealers interested in rum,
.at Liverpool, horn its having been ascertained, that the
Lt rd; of hi. Nlaksty's Treasury had, in their minute of
!the Si instant, excluded the whole of the rum imported
pi or to the Ist March, amounting to about 40,000
pancheons, from the relief granted to subsequent im-
portations, namely, exemption from payment of duty
on the wastage and evaporation in strength whilst under
the King's locks. A meeting of the West India Asso-
ciation took place on Friday, when it was resolved, that
a memorial upon the subject should be immediately
transmitted to their Lordships; and on Saturday another
memorial upon the same subject was adopted by that
'body, arid, being most respectably and numerously
signed, forwarded on Tuesday to the Lords of his Ma-
jesty's Treasury. The memorial prays that their Lord-
ships will'allow all rums in bond to be placed in the
same situation as those imported after the Ist ult.
Tuesday morning, about three o'clock, the inhabi-
tants of Derby were thrown into great terror and
alai m by the discovery that the Shot Tower of Messrs.
Cox and I'oyser was on fire. The Tower is one
hundred and fifty feet in height, divided into seven
stories by floors or stages, with a circular opening in
the centre from the top to bottom for the manufacture
of the shut, a spiral stone staircase leading to the top,
where the lead is nicked and the shot cast. The work-
men had been engaged in the manufactory the preced-
ing evening, and the file is supposed to have been occa-
sioned by the caster having incautiously left some wood
too near the furnace, in consequence of which it was
communicated to the floor. The burning fragments
falling down, conveyed the mischief to the stories below,
and it descended with so much rapidity, that notwith-
standing the active and unremitting exertions used to
stop its progres-, five of the floors were consumed be-
fore it could be overpowered. The weighty apparatus
and machinery used in the manufacture of the shot and
the winding up of the lead, de.cended at intervals with
great violence, breaking in their course the massy, and
partly consumed beams of the building, and forcing
many of the stone steps from the wall, and, in conse-
quence, the two lower floors were completely broken
down and destroyed.
Yesterday several Licensed Victuallers and others in-
terested in the property of public-houses, met at the
Freemasons Tavern, in pursuance of an advertisement,
signed by Messrs. WILLIAMS and GODDARD, solicitors,
and calling a Meeting, for the purpose of considering
the measures now before Parliament for legalising the
sale of beer by retail by persons who are not licensed
by Magistrates. The Meeting was appointed for two
o'clock, but it was nearly three o'clock before there
were twenty persons in the room. Mr. WILLIAMS then
addressed the Meeting, and suggested the propriety of
adjourning until a more full attendance could be pro,
clued. After Mr. Wiwasis had made a speech, and
had been followed by a Mr. Sat.'', it was resolved that
the Meeting should adjourn. Mr. SELF then hinted that
the interference of Gentlemen of the Law was not de-
sirable at any future Meeting.
Mr. REM'S BEAUMONT, who was thrown from his
horse while taking a kap with the Farley hounds, and had both hie
h.: broken, died of mortification on Tuesday. Ile was in Lis
hity-sixth year, and refused to undergo amputation. He bad been
a toz.huuter from a boy, and was a bold and experienced rider.
The flatteiiug and distinguished patronage Disox
and Co. have secured to themseltes by the production of nu-
merous Novelties, induces them to call the attention of Ladies to
211 entirely New and Elegant Dress, adapted for Court and Evening
Attire. It claims a decided superiority over the French Tulle
Dresses in style and durability. and can only be seen at their Baas
blishnienr.-.4 .uprb collection of Blonde and Chantilly Nitrifies
Veils, and laws just imported.--1:57, Regent-street, facing the
Argyll Moan,

TAW REPORT.
• ••
COURT OF KING'S BENCH, APRIL Is.
HOLDER V. COLLETT. I
Mr. TUESSIGER stated, that the plaintiff in this action
sought to recover damages for criminal conversation•
had by the defendant with Ifis wife.
Mr. SCARLETT said, it was his duty to open the pain-
ful circumstances under which the plaintiff's case was
brought before them. He was in partnership with Mr.
Shepherd, in the iron trade, which was carried on in
Union•street, Borough, where he resided. About thir-
teen years age, he married the Lady who was his pre-
sent wife; she brought him no fortune, but great per.
sonal beauty, and was the mother of four children. They
lived together in great harmony and domestic comfort
until the unfortunate time when Mrs. Holmer became

acquainted with the defendant. He was a hop-factor
of very considerable fortune—a man at once of business
and of pleasure, and who, as the sequel of this cause
would shew, had no repugnance to enjoy his pleasures
at the expense of his neighbours. Mr. Hairner was com-
pelled by his business to take frequent journies horn
home ; but on those occasions he was accustomed to re-

ceive letters from his wife, expressive of her affections,
some of which he read, as furnishing unanswerable
proofs of the happy terms on which they lived. Mr.
Collett, who kept several horses, occupied stables near
to those rented by Mr. Holmer, and had an opportunity
of knowing when he would be absent from home. To-
wards the close of the year 1822, she was walking with her
children and nursery-maid, holding one child in one hand
while the servant held the other. At this moment, Mr.

Collett rode by: struck by the appearance of Mrs.Holmer,
he rode by again to look at her, and traced her home.—
There he obtained admittance under a fictitious name,

the name of Dundas ; and though his appearance under
that name, when he was known to bear another, excited
suspicion among the servants, yet none of them were
then able to solve the mystery. He repeated his visits,
always in Mr. Holmer's absence, and circumstances oc-
curred which would appear in evidence, and vk hich
would satisfy them beyond all doubt that the criminal
intercourse was completed. Mr. Holmer observed an
alteration in the conduct of his wife; she became less

gentle to him, and less tender to her children ; until, at
last, he was induced to make inquiries, the result of
which convinced him that he had sustained the most

serious and irreparable injury. As the claim of the
plaintiff to a verdict would be established beyond all

doubt, the single question to the Jury would be the
amount of damages. There WAS one topic, which lay,
indeed, on the surface, and which his Learned Friend
the Attorney-General would doubtless urge with all
his power,-e-that here there was no vestige of previous
f. iendship between the parties,—that no violation of
confidence aggravated the violation of the plaintiff's
bed,—that no hospitality was abused, and no trust
broken. This was true ; bUt there was another view
of the case in which the defendant's conduct might
be viewed, and in which it would appear stained with
no common guilt. It would sometimes happen, where
time and opportunity concurred—where the friend of
the husband was-allowed daily to see and converse with
the wife—that passion would glide in unawares, and
that parties, from the frailty of human nature, might
fall under temptation entitling them to pity : but what
excuse was to be made for a delibera:e systematic man
of pleasure, who prowled about, watching for his prey
—who, possessing all the means of gratifying irregular
passion without breaking in on the happiness of stran-
gers, yet chose wantonly to invade it ; and whose case,
though stripped of the colouring of ingratitude, and vio-
lation of friendship, had yet incidents, perhaps, which
rendered it even more odious? What palliation was
there for a man, who, without any intermixture of sen-
timent or generous feeling—without any desire to shel-
ter or protect his victim—merely seeking the temporary
gratification of his appetite, cast his eye on a mother,
surrounded by her children, and determined to make
her his prey ? Surely the conduct of such a person re-
moved him farther front our sympathies than that of a
young man, gradually led to cherish a fatal passion iu
the house of his friend, and tempted to gratify an af-
fection too strong for his virtue to controul, at the ex:.
• pease of all his hopes and prospects in life. He would
now shew that the defendant had sought the acquaint-
ance of this Lady in order to seduce her—to add her,
perhaps, to the number of his victims; and having proved
the case, would leave the result to their justice.
George Willoughby, clerk to the plaintiff's attorney,
produced the certificate of the marriage of the plaintiff
and Miss Colburn, at Bromley, in Kent, in Jan. 1810.
Mr. Colburn, father of Mrs. Holmer, was present at
the marriage of his daughter; she was at that time 18;
the plaintiff was then clerk to his father, but is now a
wholesale ironmonger in Union-street, in the Borough ;
the letters now produced were Mrs. Holmer's writing.
Cross-examined—Had frequently visited his daugh-
ter; they did not live comfortably. Mr. Holmer called
on witness about Christmas, and a conversation took
place between them respecting Mrs. Holmer. He ac-
knowledged that he had treated her ill, but said he would
act differently in future; had not heard from her that
Mr. Holmer treated her ill. He did not visit them some
times for six months together; did not hear plaintiff say
anything about a person named Oliver till last Christmas.
The letters of Mrs. Holmer to her husband, written
to him whilst absent on his journies, and couched in
terms of the warmest affection, were then read. They
commenced in 1821, and continued down to the latter
end of 1822; they throughout spoke in the strongest
terms of affection, and expressed the most anxious
wishes for his return.
Charlotte Bingham deposed that she lived servant
with the plaintiff—went into his family at Michaelmas,
1822. Mr. Holmer was frequently absent on journies,
but when in town lived constantly with his family, in
Uniun-street. There were four children, three of whom
were daughters. When witness had been abbot three
months in her place, she was walking with her mistress
and two of the children, when she observed a gentleman
pass them on horseback, who turned on his horse to look
at Mrs. llolmer—and afterwards turned his horse round
and passed them again—he smiled at Mrs. Holmer, but,
she took no notice of him, and he rode on. Witness did
not at that period know who the gentleman was, but
she since knew it was Mr. Collet. Mr. Holmer was at
this time in town, but soon after he went out of town
fr:r his January journey, and during his-absence witness
saw Mr. Collett two or three times at the house in
Union-street; the way to the private dwelling of the
plaintiff was through the warehouse, at the back of
which was a private door; Mr. Collett used to knock
at that door, and was admitted sometimes by witness,
and sometimes by the other servants; he never came
when Mr. Holmer was in town ; when he came he used
to stay about an hour. Witness then proceeded to nar-
,rate the growth of the intimacy between the defendant

and her mistress, and its consequences. She observed
that her mistress appeared very uncomfortble, and very
much agitated in her mind. Mrs. Holmer became so
unwell that she was obliged to keep her room. Mr.
Collett called during the time she was ill, and seat his
card up with his best love. Mr. Collett continued to
come frequently, but always when Mr. lioliner was out
of town. From this time Mrs. Holmer became very
violent towards her children, and much less affectionate
towards Mr. Holmer.
On cross-examination, witness admitted that she was
married, but did not live with her husband. She had
not told Mr. Holmer of her meeting with Mr. Collett
' in the street, because she did not know it was her place
to do so. She had had some quarrels with her mistress
lately, but would not therefore speak against her.
Being re-examine.l, she stated that she had told Mn.
Holmer more than once, it was a pity she did not de
dine Mr. Collett's visits. She had a quarrel v ith her
mistress about six weeks after Christmas, and was dis-
charged, but Mrs. Holm.er afterwards desired she would
come back, and w itness said she would not, unless
Mrs. Holmer would decline Mr. Collect's visits. She

did, however, afterwards go back.
Wm. Cooper, porter to Mr. ilolmer, proved that in
the beginning of January, 1823, winless saw Mr. Col-
lett and plaintiff's nursery-maid together in the street,
talking. Soon after Mr. Collett came into the ware-
house, and asked if there wAs any answer to the note
Ihe had sent just before? Witness was sent up to know
whether there was any answer ; and the nursery-maid
came down and said the Gentleman was to walk up gaits.

Benjamin Boison, the plaintiff's warehouseman, Mary
Ann Ayres, a charwoman employed in the family, and
Richard Dickenson, the plaintiff's shnpman, corroborated
the testimony of Charlotte Bingham in its material part.
Mr. Shepherd, the plaintiff's partner, and Miss M.irs-
den, a visitor of the family, proved that the plaintiff and
his wife lived on affectionate terms until Mr. Collett be-
came acquainted with Mrs. Holmer.
The ATTORNEY•GENERAL then addressed the.lury for
the defendant. He relied chiefly on the absence of all

the evidence that might have been ptoduced to prove
that the parties lived happily together before the alleged
intimacy between Mrs. Holmer and the defendant.—
The Learned Counsel contended, that in such a case as
that which was then under their consideration, the Jury

ought to be cautious how they inferred the commis-
sion of the act, and before they awarded damages they
must be morally satisfied that the guilty intention was
executed. He admitted the existence of that inten-

tion, but that was not sufficient grounds to justify a
verdict for the plaintiff. But even if their verdict was
to pass for the plaintiff, to what damages was he entitled?
What loss had he sustained from the solaces of one whom
be had so seldom seen—who fell an easy conquest, and
was actually the seducing matron, and not the pursued,
and persecuted, and tardily surrendering wife. In this
case, too, there were no aggravations. It was not pre-
tended that any friendship existed between the plaintiff
and the defendant, or that they were even known to
each other. It was altogether divested of aggravation,
even if they believed the adultery to have been com-
mitted. A verdict for moderate damages would more
than compensate the plaintiff for any loss that he would
have sustained by the faithlessness of so worthless a
woman.—The Loan Collar Jusrice summed up the
evident*, and the Jury having retired for about half an
hour, returned a verdict for the plaintiff—damages £3OO.