Star.
London, England, 1819-11-15 00:00:00

EAST-INDIES.

CALCUTTA SUPREME COURT.
COMBERBACH V. CROFT.
The following suit, for the seduction of a daugh-
ter, was tried before the above Court, on the 17th of
March last. The circumstances, as detailed in evi-
dence, are of a singular and aggravated character,
exhibiting the most incredible infatuation on the one
side, and unparalleled hypocrisy on the other. The
damages were laid at 50,000 rupees.
Mr. Frotoussow addressed the Court on behalf of
the plaintiff. The defendant, who was a married
man, had come out to this country with his lady and
her family in the year 1813, on board the same ship,
with the two daughters of the plaintiff. An inti-
macy was formed during the passage between the
young ladies and the family, high in rank and situa-
tion, with whom the defendant was connected by
marriage, and which continued after their arrival in
this country. Some time after their arrival, the de-
fendant became the partner of the plaintiff in his
profession, and from this time he was looked upon
and treated by the plaintiff and his family as a mem-
ber of it. The young lady hirself, the unfortunate
subject of that day's inquiry, Was also treated with
the greatest kindness by the family. The defendant
upon all occasions professed the warmest friendship
for the plaintiff; he showed the utmost concern and
interest for the plaintiff during his frequent illnesses,
and waited upon him with the apparent tenderness
and anxiety of a son. The plaintiff was not insen-
sible (who could be insensible ?) to such conduct.
He repaid it with the feelings of a father towards
the defendant. The Learned Counsel here adverted
to the conduct of the deluded young lady (tutored no.
doubt for that purpose by her abandoned seducer) for
some time previous to this day, as being calculated to
raise great anxiety in the minds of her parents, par-
ticularly of her mother. Her demeanour on several
occasions was strange, and in particular she dwelt
more than once on the subject of the lunatic asylum,
and the state of the unfortunate beings who are the
objects of that institution. Knowing, as we all do,
the sequel of the story, the purpose of this device,
hatched in the depraved mind.of the defendant, is
apparent; but to proceed. It would appear that on
the day in question, upon the separation of the fa-
mily, about ten o'clock in the evening, Miss Com-
berbach took leave of her sister as if they were about
to separate for ever, but which did not then excite
any extraordinary feeling of surprise in her sister, as
she had for some time previous appeared to be much
depressed in Spirits. Mr. Fergusson then went on
to state, that on the following morning, the 4th of
June, the plaintiff, as usual, came early into town.
That about seven o'clock in the morning he was
called to the gardens by a note from his wife, de-
siring that nothing might prevent his immediate re-
turn. On his arrival at the gardens he met a friend
upon the stairs, from whose countenance be per-
ceived that Emething dreadful had occurred. He
would leave to those who heard him to imagine, for
he would not attempt to describe what must bare
been the agonized feelings of a Boating father upon
learning that his favourite daughter had come to an
untimely end, and what must have been the horror
of both the parents when they learned that the cause
of this dreadful catastrophe was a fear of approach-
ing insanity !
He then proceeded to state, that soon after the
plaintiff left his garden-house for Calcutta, the Ayah
of Miss Comberbach entered the room of Mrs. Com-
berbach, exclaiming that her young mistress was
gone, and put a letter into the hands of Mrs. Com-
berbach, which had been left on a couch, conveying
the dreadful intelligence of her daughter having,
through the fear of approaching insanity, put an
c.d to her existence by drowning lier,elf.
He then proceeded to state the conduct of the de-
fendant through the whole of the scene of villainy.
the the moreing of the 4th he appeared,at the gar-
dens, with all the outward signs of grief and of sym-
lathy with the agonized feelings of the unfortunate
parents. After shedding an abundance of tears, he
returned to town with the declared intention of wait-
irg upon Commodore Hayes, for the purpose of ob-
taining the assistance of his boats and divers to wait
14 and recover the body; and at the same time re-
quested that he might be allowed to take with him
the letters and papers that had been found, in order
to shcw to his family and the other friends of the
plaintiff. He returned to the gardens in the evening,
and, with his usual expressions of anxiety and inte-
rest for the family, said, that they ought not to be
left alone in such deep affliction, and that he was de-
termined to remain all night. He slept in-the bed
that had so lately been occupied by the lost young
lady, the only bed then vacant in the house. Upon
meeting Captain Maddock the next morning, he cle•
dared that nothing should induce him to sleep in
that room again, as Louisa had appeared to him in
the night, and questioned him as to his being in her
bed. When the defendant next appeared at the gar-
dens, which was the Sunday following the day on
which he bad witnessed and triumphed over the scene
of desolation he bad occasioned, he appeared in deep
mourning, saying that his relationship to the family,
tllrough Captain Maddock, entitled him to appear
so, and that he mourned her loss as deeply as he
could that of a beloved sister. At that very moment,
this wretched young person was living with him in
his house, the object and victim of his brutal sen-
suality! Was there any thing like this to be found
in the annals of human depravit/ ?
Mr. Faaoussoe said* he would gladly quit a sub-
ject so disgusting, and would proceed to call the
evidence in support of the case which he had stated.
The defendant had fled from justice, but he could
never fly from the pangs of a guilty conscience. A
whole life of remorse and penitence (if such could
ever reach a heart so steeled and hardened) would be
iniufficient to atone for such complicated wickedness.
The first witness called was Captain Thomas Mad-
dock, whose testimony corroborated the statement
made by the Learned Counsel. He spoke of the im-
pression entertained by the young lady's family that
she had drowned herself, and deposed to her having
been, after some time, discovered in a house belong-
, iag to the defendant. He stated that the following
1: tters were in the hand-writing of Miss Com berbach 7
Parent,