Star.
London, England, 1826-11-02 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, Nev.l.
CRIM. CON.

At a very early hour the Court was crowded to excess.
Mr. D. F. Jw'as opened the pleadings.
The declaration charged, that the defendant bad assaulted Ellen,
the wife of the plaintiff, Thomas Blies, Esq. and debauched her.
The damages were laid at £lO,OOO. The defendant denied the
charge, upon which issue was joined.
Sergeant VAUGHAN stated the case to the Jury.—He
had always been accustomed to consider cases of this
kind, especially when accompanied, as was but too fre-
quent in the present state of society, with aggravated
circumstances, the greatest injuries which could be in-
flicted upon man. They were injuries which nothing
could completely repair, and for which no damages,
however heavy and exemplary, could sufficiently com-
pensate. The plaintiff in this action is a Gentleman of
great respectability, Mr. Bligh, a man of noble birth,
and connected with the highest families. He was in the,
army. in 1815, when be was first introduced to Mrs.
Bligh. The defendant, Mr.. Wellesley, also, is a man
of noble birth, and highly connected. He is the son of
the Earl of Maryborough, and nephew of the Marquis
of Wellesley and the Duke of Wellington. In mention-
ing the name of the defendant, he felt it his duty to re-
commend the Jury to exclude from their minds all ru-
mours which had been previnusly current, and to con-
fine themselves strictly to the facts of the case, as they
would this day be detailed in evidence before them.—
The wife of the plaintiff was the daughter of a Colonel
Patterson. The marriage of the plaintiff with this Lady
occurred in the course of the year 1815, and it took
place with the consent of Colonel Patterson, but in op-
position to his own friends, and a second marriage was
solemnized in the same year, thus making " assurance
doubly sure." The first object of Captain B. was to re-
coned.: his own friends to a marriage, which he had en•
tered into with the bi ightest prospects of happiness, and
with a full confidence that nothing Would occur to in-
rerrupt it. He made efforts to reconcile his father to
the match, and prevail on him to re-settle his estates, in
order to enable him (Mr. B.) to settle a jointure on his
wife; thus proving his earnest solicitude for the com-
fort of the Lady, and the security of a future provision,
in the event of anything occurring to himself. After
repeated efforts, Mr. thigh succeeded in accomplishing
this object in the year 1319. The health of the plaintiff
becoming subsequently impaired, he was recommended

to try chine of air and scene, and accordingly left this
country fot the Continent. In the course of the year
1822 he arrived at Naples, and there became acquainted
with the defendant. Here it was that the cause of the
present action originated, and he would now call the
attention of the Jury to some circumstances of an aggra-
vated character, which would require little comment
from him. It was well known to the Jury that the de-
fendant, Mr. Wellesley, bad married a Lady of immense
fortune, and which, by conduct that he did not wish
to characterize, be had contrived to encumber. In con-
sequence of this, Mr. Wellesley and his -Lady were at,
that time living at Naples. Through the medium of
the British ligiaistea. at whose-house the families of Mr.

Wellesley and Captain Bligh were in the habit of visit-
ing, they became acquainted with each other. A friendly
intercourse of hospitality grew up between them, and
Mr. Wellesley frequently visited at the house of Captain
Bligh. Mr. Wellesley's attentions to Mee. Bligh grew
daily more and more pointed, and he finally succeeded
in seducing her. All this while Mr. W. was living in
the greatest harmony with his wife, who had not the
slightest suspicion of what was going on, and who, in
fact, was unconsciously made the instrument for carry-
ing on his intrigue. Mr. Wellesley's attentions to Mrs.
Bligh became, however, at length so pointed, that Cap-
tain Bligh remonstrated with him on the impropriety
of his conduct. This Gentleman being in a very deli-
cate state of health, was under the necessity of taking a
great deal of exercise in the open air. He generally went
out in the evenings, as being the most genial and
healthy time of the day, and during this absence Mr..
Wellesley availed himself of the opportunity of paying
his visits to Captain Bligh's wife. He also took an active
part in forming parties of pleasure, at which Mrs. Bligh
was always present, and among these was one to Mount
Vesuvius. As the excursions up Mount Vesuvius were
always made in the night, for the purpose of having a
finer view of the Volcano, Captain Bligh very naturally
objected to Mrs. Bligh being one of the party. His ob-
jections, however, were over-ruled, and Mrs; B. did go,
and at this time, if irbad not already taken place, it was
probable that the adulterous intercourse between Mr.
W. and Mrs. B. commenced. The attentions of the de-
fendant became at last so offensive, and his visits so fre-
quent, and at times so unseasonable, that Captain Bligh
objected to the continuance of his visits, which accord-
, ingly ceased, and strange as it might appear, this prehi-
baton of his visits was actually one of the reasons as-
signed by Mrs. Bligh for her elopement on the morning
of the 31st of July. And where did Mrs. Bligh go?
What protection did she seek? She threw herself into
the arms of Mr. Wellesley, and he actually persuaded
his wife, in the simplicity of her hzart, to receive Mrs.
Bligh into leer house. An adulterous connection, un-
restrained by any controul followed on this, and was
continued for several months. So open and profligate
was the cDnduct of the guilty parties, that it became a
matter of the greatest notoriety, and was every where
the topic of conversation. The affair, indeed, was so
buzzed about, that at length the British Minister, at
whose house Mrs. thigh, in company with Mr. and
Mrs. Wellesley, bad still continued to visit, felt himself
under the necessity of telling Mr. Wellesley, a man of
high rank ani great connections as he was, that he
could no longer suffer him (Mr. W.) to introduce Mrs.
Bligh at his house; and that if he attempted it, he
should give orders to his servants to prevent her ad-
mission. Yet suzh was the unsuspec ing character of
Mrs. W—, so great the iefluo cv that her husband ex
ercised over her—that he succeeded in persuading her
that all this was a gross calumny, utterly destitute of
foundation ; and she was prevailed on still to receive
Mrs. Wigh into her house. On the sth of October, they
all lelt Naples for Paris. On their arrival at Florence,
they took up their residence Jt an hotel, where they re-
mained a considerable time ; and here the most extras

ordinary scenes seemed to have taken place. Mrs.
Bligh actually formed a put or the family, and bee