Star.
London, England, 1817-12-24 00:00:00

Litre nvrELLiGE,NcZ.

COURT OF CHANCERY, DIX. It&
OPERA-HOUSE.
WATERS V. TAYLOR.
The Souctv o tt-G eh; EX A M y Lord. I have to
request
your Lordship. that a motion in this vase,
which is placed in the Vice-Chancellos's paper, may
he transferred to your Lordship's paper. When I
name the case, I am sure your Lordship and the
Gentlemen around me are faruiliar with it, from the
repeated hearings which it. has received. It is, my
Lord, the case of Waters and Taylor, and my re-
quest is, that this motion for the Receiver passing
'pis accounts may be transferred to your Lordship's
paper, and be hearJ t., morrow.
The Lotto Crimicw.on-0, it is the Opera-
".f.use. Really, Mr. Solicitnr-General, when such
case comes on the close of the Sittings, when will
it end ? It one gets into the Opera-House on the last
day of the Sittings. I don't see how we call get out
The S(metron-Gssiaaat.-1 should think, my
Lord, it wnis't occupy much time to.mortiow ; and
I should fondly hope your Lordship will order it to
be put On the paper.
The Lonn.CaraNcELLon—l'll hear it if I can ; but
i! I were to promise you absolutely, I should make
a very foolish promise, for I believe the motions
specially fired for to morrow; would occupy at least
three days. I know well the difficulty of getting
rid at the Opern.House case when I once hear it.—
IL; tale year mutton—l shall hear it if I can.
FIT LEY v., DUIIAND.
This was an application to restrain the plaintiff
from proceeding to recover at law, as trustee, an
an..uity of £5OO, which the defendant, at the time
of his marriage, had engaged to allow his wife. in
LLe contingent eveot of disagreement and separation.
IL appeared that the detendant' and his wile had
lived together in tolerable harmony about eight years,
when differences having arisen that could not be
amicably adjusted between them, a separation tank
piece. and the stipulated annuity becoming a subject
of fresh dispute. the question was argued in the Court
of Exchequer, and a verdict hound for the plaintiff.
To restrain proceedings on the ground of that
verdict's being irregularly obtained, was the object
of the pretrial application ; which was supported by
Sir SAMUEL Romtwt, Mr. ROUPSL. and Mr. Fangs;
and opposed by Mr. LILACIt and Mr. MARTIN.
The Lotto CHANCELLOR took a learned and exten-
sive view of the subject. and of the laws, both civil
and ecclesiastical, as relative to it. It was not upon
light or trivial grounds, he said, the solemn bond
and obligation of marriage was to be dispensed with.
It did not belong to the parties to dissolve the ties
and duties attaching to the matrimonial state. Com.
pi:Unit- either side might be stated, and redress
- wrongs be legally obtained. How tar
in the Court of Exchequer was right
. not Omsk-inquire ; but if it were er
course to be taken by the plaintiff was
AW by a writ of error. and ultimately,
think fit, to come into that Court for re.
any rate the application -at present tem
Application rejected.
-
b 1 TALE MASTER OF THE ROLLS. •
e•einome. of the general understanding. that
it Gamer would yesterday take leave of
tolls Court top crowded alnioat..-*
opmed.. The crowd consisted
Cilentleinen of the Bar, who attended to
their respect for the truly respectable and uni.
ected individual, who was about to re-
_ station which he has so long dignified;
indeed, he has materially contributed to
proverbial complaint of procrastination and
the proceedings of our Courts of
knowledge and acumen of this pro.
enabled him clearly and quickly to
merits of any case submitted to his
—while his justice and judgment always
unexceptionable decision.
remaining cases which stood for the
Honour were disposed of,
Ptcoorr rose, and spoke to the fol.
A' Upon your retirement, Sir, from
istice in which for more than sixteen'
presided, the Gentlemen of the Bar
Court are desirous of expressing the
which they are impressed, on an oc.
regret and concern to them ; and on
to offer an unfeigned tribute of that
you have so abundantly merited— to
so justly entitled. The promptitude
your decisions have been as highly
benefit of the suitor, as they have been
promotive of the general administration of
performance of your important and
you have exhibited an uninterrupted
displayed a temper never disturbed,
~ever wearied. You have evinced an
impartial attention to those engaged in
their protessional duties here, and who
opportunity and enjoyed the advantage
t conduct in the dispensation of justice,
been- conspicuously calculated to excite
to form sn illustrious example for
Accept, Sir, the cordial and sincere wishes
you leave devoted to the labours of
with the gratifying reflections which
&estimable reward of so considerable a
life, so meritoriously and exempla.
)os mar enlooymhealth and happiness
your secession. business and labour,
Is and anxieties of . a painful judicial sta.
importance and eminence of which you
-4 in so great a degree, and in so die-
manner, mad on which you have cast

1111
, which was delivered in a tone of doll
sincerity, seemed to affect Sir WILLIAM
ly. He attempted to speak several
succeeded, mitt thosgb be laboured to
feelings, they were touchingly displayed
of his coomtenunce, and in the hunt-
tears which be could not controul.
impossible (hr at length said) that I shook&
3tify gratified at the favoispisli agimiss
Lileatiemen of the Bar hays exPellid*
the satiation from which I ant
anis and every other mark of their to
them.
• .time I have sat in this Court, I
sha 110 with the utmost Wisdom',

i

stient:on, and respect. coodset tcoirards them
has been only that to which their merit entitled them.
rhey have•always been distinguished f,r learning in
their profession, and the honour And libcrality which
'they have carried into the practice of it. Tbe ap•
proba+ion ,f such men is truly valuable. I mealy,
it wills pleasure, and I shall remember it with grati.
rude. Gentlemen, farewell I—My bast wishes shall
ever attend you."
Sir Wir.r.tAm then left the Court, and the solem-
nity Of the occasion scarcely checked the spontaneous
expression of that admiration which was felt by every
one present. and which was so eminently deserved
by thus distinguished ornament of the Bar.
JURY COURT, ECJINEUROH, DECEMBER 1.1.
Cillhl- CON.lltlitlC O OUTHIllE•
_

This was the first action for Crim. Con. that ever
came berme a Scottish Jury, and therefore it created
a good deal of interest.
Mr. SANDFORD opened the case, as junior Counsel,
for the plaintiff: He stated that his client, who sued
in forma jureperio, was a private soldier in the Royal
Artillery, stationed in Leith Fort, and the defendant
was a Mr. William Guthrie. a writer (attorney), in
Edinburgh. In the year 1807, the plaintiff, then a
private iii the Dumfries Militia, was married to a girl
named Elizabeth Cairns. who bore to him two chil-
dren. Having volunteered into the Artillery, he re.
moved to Woolwich, taking his wife with him, where
they resided tu.tether happily and affectionately for
some time, when lie, having been ordered on the ex-
pedition to Walcheren, and no women having been
permitted to accompany the troops, his wife returned*
home to her parents in Scotland. Atter the. men'
of the troops from Walcheren. the plaintiff WAS sta-
tioned in different places ie England; during which
period he and his wife corresponded in the most af-
fectionate manner, and, in evidence of that, a letter
of hers had been produced, written in the year 1814.
when the plaintiff expected to have been sent on fo-
reign service, and which was couched in the most
affectionate term'. In the beginning, of the year
1816, the plaintiff was ordered to Scotland, where he
found his wife in the service oaf the defendant; but he
soon also found that her affections were totally idiom
ted from him. In a short time, from the informa-
tion he received, he had no doubt that a criminal
intercourse subsisted between her and the defendant.
She was in the practice of dining at the same table.
and accompanying him to the Theatre—things to-
tally incompatible with the distance which ought to
be observed between a master and servant; nay, he
had been observed to dine with her in her bed-cham•
her; and, upon one occasion. had been seen lying.
(no doubt alone) naked in her bed. Upon another
occasion the dour of his hed-room was hound in the
morning locked; and, upon being opened shortly
afterwards, the plaintiff's wife was observed to come
out thinly dressed ; and evidence would be laid be.
fore the Jury to give every reason to suspect that she,
in the latter end of the year 1516, had borne a child.
Here was an injury committed by the defendant,
who was perfectly aware that this woman was the
wife of the plaintiff. But not satisfied with thus
deeply hurting him in the nicest feelings, he added
another injury: the plaintiff's wife having been de
tied to him, he went one day to the defendant's
house to demand access to her. when the defendant
came out, and, after knocking him down stairs, ad-
ded still a third injury. by writing a most false and
etalnuusiens loser pleintelPretnntWendlflf Mar f
It was lot these injuries that the plaintiff now asked
reparation at the handset a Jury of his country; and
the learned Counsel begged of the Jury to lay out of
view the comparative rank in life of the parties; and
if the case was made out, as be had no doubt it
would be, to give. ample damages, to strew the world
that the laws would protect the poor as well as the
rich, and, to put a stop to the growth of such prac-
tices in a country the morality of which was pro-
verbial. The issues sent by the Court of Session to
be tried by the Jury were three t—lit, whether in the
course of the years 1814. 15. 16, and Part of 17, the
defendant did seduce and maintain an adulterous
connexion, and commit adultery, with the plaintiff's
wife; 2d, whether the defendant being in the know-
ledge that the plaintiff was the hniband of Elizabeth
Cairns, did violently assault and beat hips, and deny
him access to his said wife, then living in adultery
with the defendant; and &I, whether the defendant did
write the letter to the plaintiff's Commanding Officer.
The Counsel for the plaintiff now proceeded to call,
Ist, witnesses to prove the marriage; 2d17, that the
parties lived hippdy together ; Sdly, that the plaintiff
was a steady, sober, peaceable, and inoffensive man;
and then a vast number of witnesses were called to
prove the acts of adultery, as stated by the Counsel
for the plaintiff. One of the most material witnesses
!or the prosecution was the brother of the defendant
himself t and every exertion was made by the Coun-
sel for the defendant to get him rejected as a witness,
owing to his bearing malice against his brothel, on
account of a law-suit that, had depended betwixt
them. and which he, the witness, had lust ; and also
on the ground that be had given partial counsel to
the plaintiff, by attending meetings along with him
and his agent. The witness, however, having denied
the truth of these assertions, on oath, or that he had
'any malice against the defendant, the Court allowed
bias to be examined. leaving his credibility to the
Jury. He gave evidence to the defendant being seen
lying in Mrs. Kirk's bed, in which he was corrobo-
rated by the defendant's apprentice ; and he also gave
evidence to the plaintiff's wife having been found
early one scorning in the defendant's bed-room, with
the door locked, the defendant being in a state of
nudity at the time, except his morning-gown. A
somber of other witnesses, some of them females who
bud resided in the defendant's house, were called to
prove that an improper connexion subsisted betwixt
bird and the plaintiff's wife, which closed the case for
the prosecution.
Mr. imam, with his usual flow of eloquence and
ingeistity, stated the ease for the defendant, and com-
Menwid span the evidence which had been led. Mr.
Jeffrey impressed upon•the minds of•the Jury the int-
proper conduct of the plaintiff in leaving his wife foe
a period of between four and five years, unprotected,
with a family of two chadren ; and if she had gone
astray, ha was solsly the cause of it. He contended,
however, that the evidence• was entirely circum-
stantial, and of the worst kind ; there was no proof
of the adultery having been committed. The whole
proceedings originated in a fowl conspiracy and cool-j
Ignition between thodefendant's brother and i person
of the nun of Hawthorn, who bad formerly been

the deferulant's clerk, and with whom he had also had
a law-suit. They had made this untortuustrf soldier
a mere tool in their hands to vex and perplex the de.
fendant. He, (Mr. Jeffrey), would ft ankly confess,
that when he first looked into this case, and the.,
species of witnesses those persons -would no doubt'
prodtice, he had advised the defendant to compromise
matters with the plaintiff, and have done with bin, ;
but his answer was, that conscious as he was of his
innocence, he would defend the action to the last..
The learned Counsel then made a solemn appeal to,
the feelings of the Jury how a verdict.of guilty in
this case would ruin a youngman entering into life
in the estimation of his employers; and after many
other observations, proceeded to call the defendant's
witnesses.
These consisted chieAy of the mother and sisters of
the piaintit's wife, who swore, that the plaintiff had
behaved badly to her before they left Scotland ; that
since his return be had threatened the life of the de-
fendant; that he had repeatedly informed them that
the whole proceedings had been agitated by Mr. Haw.
thorn; and one of the sisters swore, that she was in
the house of the defendant upon rune occasion when
the plaintiff came, demanding his wife, and that the
defendant came out into the lobby and told him, if
she was his wife to take her away, as he would not
h tire his house disturbed. An attempt was alio made
to prove that the defendant did not know that the
plaintiff's wife was a married woman.
Mr. J. P. GRANT, M.P. senior Counsel for the
plaintiff, replied to the arguments of Mr. Jeffrey, and
commented upon the evidence adduced for the defen-
dint hta most eloquent and ingenious speech of nearly
two hours' duration, and contended that the acts of
adultery had clearly and satisfactorily been made out.
At•eleven o'clock at night, the LORD CHIMP COM-
MISSION an (Baron Arhus) proceeded to sum up. His
Lordship went over the evidence at very considerable
length, and commented in very severe terms upon
that of the defendant's broth r, between whom and
Hawthorn he seemed to think there was a combina-
tion and conspiracy ; and he was rather of opinion
the Jury should find a verdict for the defendant.
The Jury, however, were of a different opinion ;
for, having retired for about 20 minutes, they return-
ed with a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages, £3O.
The Court was excessively crowded, and the plain-
tiff sat in his regimentals behind his Counsel. The
defendant was not in Court. The trial lasted 15 hours.

place, and the stip
of fresh dispute, th
of Exchequer, ant
• To restrain en
verdict's being in
of the present app
Sir SAMUEL ROMII
and opposed by hi
The LORD CHA
sive view of the st
• and ecclesiastical,
I light or trivial gri
and obliaation of
It did not belong
and duties auachii
plaints on either
for inju-ies or yarn
the verdict given i
or not, be should
roneous, the tour
to oppose it at lar
if he should think
dress. At any ra
premature. App
Rrnittkara o
WtSir WeLtait GRA
the Weitalsiti
dtatetty .aftot is
• chiefly of the lien
testify their *yet
rersally respected
tirefrom the statil
In which, indeed,
;hi abate the proverb
uncertainty in tl
Equity I for, the I
T. tosnd Judge saa
comprehend the a
▪ corsideration—wl
c. assured an unexce
After the lea r
mi decision of his He
Sir ARTHUR PI
loving effect s—ei
that seat of justit
s. years you have p
attending this Cc
▪ " sentiments with
id cation of great re
which they wish i
✓ respect which trit
Oti, which yon are SC
and wisdom of 3
tell conducive to the b
eminently prompt
a equity.. In the p
tin arduous duties. T'
b • equanimity, and I
L6e and a patience-ne
1 I 'miform and imps
t a the discharge of th
fn have had the opp
ion II observing that;
co.. white has been-
to emulation, and
sci imitation. Assail
of those whom 3
nen tau Gnat, that s
Ma will be the &esti
pan portion of your 1
olu aly employed, yi
• is repose, on your
'sun from the toils one
nd i tion, to the hurt
Age. • ve contributed
i.e.' tinguithed a man
1113. additional INS
tl. This Address,
Llshi bewitch eine
ate RANT CRUSSIMIy
LAI, %hi Wyse be as
fth Press his Iselin
Inv the agitation al
lees of a few tear
ono '6 It is Unimak
Alit • feel highly gr
)ff a ich the Ukiah
it th y condom in thi
ode retire. 1110 f Mali
idg‘ gh4Ok tbs
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treated by