Star.
London, England, 1819-12-27 00:00:00

tention to the manner in which the courtship. had
'been carried forward, and to the-manner in which it
had been broken off. When they looked to this, they
ivould consider whether the two families had been
united in friendship, or by relationship? Whether
'the attachment on both sides had grown up under ,
the approbation of the natural guardians of each ; and
whether, in point of fact, the father of the defendant
had not been kept in total ignorance of what was
going forward? It appeared that the young man I
had lodgings in Guildford, in the neighbourhood of
his ,uncle; and that, without the possibility.of his
friends knowing any thing of what was passing, he
was. allowed, if not encouraged, to pay his addresses
to this. young Lady. And here he could nut help
complaining of the conduct of Mrs. Compton, who
was acquainted with what was going forward, in
having permitted the clandestine attentions of this
young man to her daughter, without, in the first in-.
stance, ascertaining -whether his .father, whom she'
knew; was acquainted with, or approved of the con-
nection. It was seen that every opportunity was of
forded to this young man tb prosecute his courtship,
and yet no complaint whatever was made of any im-
propriety of conduct on his part—nothing which
could wound the feelings of a virtuous young woman,
or which could in the slightest degree reflect upon
lies character. Undoubtedly, when young persons
were thus permitted to be together without restraint,
it was natural that'a mutual attachment should arise;
hut while he admitted that such feelings did subsist
between'those parties, he must say, that it was more
to be attributed to the treachery of those who brought
them together, than to any mature design- of the
young man himself. What ought, he would ask, to
have been the conduct of Mrs. Compton under such cir-
cumstances? He would appeal to his Learned
Friend, and to the Jury, as fathers and brothers—
for he thought, in such cases, they were justified in
giving damages with reference to their own feelings
—what would they feel at finding their daughters or
sons entrapped into a clandestine connexion without
their knowledge or privity.? Let him put it to them,
Supposing, as parents, they discovered that their son
or daughter had been induced to form,an attachment
with a person whom they might have just reason for
disapproving, would they not think themselves jus-
tified in the exercise of parental authority to pit an
end to a union so rashly contemplated? This had
been precisely the case in the present instance; every
thing had gone on in the dark ; the father of the
plaintiff was kept in complete ignorance of what, was
going forward; and the moment he ascertained the
imprudent step his son was about to take, he inter-
posed his authority and forbade the match. And,
indeed, from the language of this young man,.which
was of the most absurd description, it would seem
that he was himself extremely incompetent to judge
what sort of connexion might ultimately be for•his
own advantage. The letters which had been read,
it was true, had been written by him when in his
minority ; but even allowing that, they were certainly
beneath the usual run of the human mind at that age.
When such a declaration as this—
" If you loves I, u I loves you,
" Nu knife shall cut our loves in iwo"—•
was made; and when, in another letter, he talked of
the heart going " bump, bump, bump," and " that
he did not know what ,to do for love," were consi-
dered, but a poor estimate indeed could be formed of
such'a lover; and, in his opinion, the young Lady
had not much to regret in being relieved from his
importunities, at least he thought such a suitor was
extremely ill suited to a delicate-minded young
Lady. The Learned Gentleman then again adverted
to the fact of no notice whatever having been given
to the father of the defendant, although he was fre-
quently at Guildford-market, of what was going
forward; to the facilities which were afforded by
die friends of the young Lady in carrying on the
courtship, and to the necessary consequences to
Which such facilities would lead. An attach-
ment of course followed, and they all knew when
the blood boiled, how prodigally the heart lent
vows to the tongue. The circumstance having
been discovered by the father, however, he felt al
his duty to interferer and under his authority the
'match was broken off. This was the whole sub-
stance of the charge. • He did not mean to deny that
the young man ought .to pay fcr his folly, but then,'
it should be recollected, that this young woman had
been, in no respect, injured, except in losing a hus-
band possessed of such a mind as the letters of the,
defendant bad displayed. Her character was 111).'
blemished, and her virtuous feelings had been, in no
respect, shocked. She was, in fact, just as likely to'
rt a good husband from her shop in London, as if
ate had never seen the defendant, and was just as
estimable as if she had never been annoyed by the
glowing declarations of his " precious love." He
repeated, that he did not mean to justify the course
which his client had pursued, or urge an argument
which was not perfectly in consonance with the feel-
ings of the Jury as husbands and fathers; but he
trusted, when they looked at all the shades of the
case, they would..be of opinion that the most mode-
rate damages would satisfy all the ends of justice.
le
the aese
dteofet hn
de
adnut 7C; iunn
sel doingha wch, he
Mr. HENCHMAN, the Under Sheriff, now prtceeded
thato
retomsuamrkeulti
day
found an excuse for his conduct, which he had been un-
able himself to find when he cruelly broke off his corn
nexion with the plaintiff, without the slightest anis-
conduCt on her part. The defendant had acknow-
ledged his offence, and the Jury had only
to esti-
mate the damages to which the plaintiff, for the very
serious injury which she had received, was entitled.
In doing this, they would look to the property of the
defendant, who, it would seem, 'from the evidence
brought forward, was worth, at.least, £3OOO.
The Jury retired, and, after a short absence, re-
turned, and stated, that they had
assessed the
da-
mages at £5OO.

J. and J. SIVEWRIGHTi the Cowractors, have again
the pleasure of announcing to the Public the Success
of their Offices in the last Lottery, where No. 1,650,
a Prize of E2C.000, was Sold by.them in Shares.—
The New Lottery, of which 5,000 Tickets only are
on Sale, will commence Drawing on the 12th JANIP-
,ARY next, when two of the Fowl Prizes of 4;20,000
will be decided in the First Five Mintit.s. It is in the
recollection of the Public that J. and J. Sty Elution;
lin the last Lottery Contract, also Sold No. 3,710. a
Prize of £36,000, at their fortunate Offices, No. 37,
ICornhill : 38, 'Haymarket ; 11, Holborn.; and 141,
Oxford-street.