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

writing of the defendant. The letters produced wer
written by him. .
, Mrs. Compton—l am the mother of the plaintiff
in this action. She was one and twenty last May.
The defendant paid his addresses to her rather more
than two years ago. At that time my daughter was
living with me. lam a Widow, and carry on the,
farm which was my' husband's. The defendant wrote
to my daughter. and I saw the letter. 1 thOught
him a very respectable young man, and had no ob-
jection to her receiving his addresses. I knew that
my daughter received many letters; he came often
to my house; his addresses were perfectly sanctioned
by me; he never made any complaint of my daugh-
ter's conduct ; he said he should make her his wife
as soon as he was in business. My daughter and he
continued acquainted upon these terms for a year
and a half. At the'end of that time he called upon
my daughter, and I understood he wished to break
off the match. I asked him the reason, and he.said
he had no , eason, sir.d might again visit my daughter.l
He has since married another person. The effect
produced upon my daughter was very serious; she
was very much hurt ; she .could not be left by her-
self; her mind was so distracted, that I was afraid
she would have made away with herself. She was
obliged to leave that part of the country, and now
lives in London. The ring produced was given by
the defendant to my daughter.
Cross-examined by Mr. DcNMAN—I lost my hus-
band four years ago; I was the head of the &May,
and gave my full approbation to the addresses of the
defendant. It was about a twelvernonth last June he
talked cf breaking off the connexion ; he was then
about twenty-one ; I did not know the defendant's
tither ; I have seen him—but never spoke to him on
the subject of his son's marriage sakh my daughter;
my daughter told me that the defendant had asked
for his letters and his ring. I asked the defendant
what reason he had for breaking off the match ? I
believe he spoke something of his friends having
some objection. This was in June..twelvemonth ; he
was married in September last ; my daughter now
lives in London, and keeps a haberdasher's shop, and
I live with her. She had learnt that business.
The letters, as described by the Learned Counsel,
were put in and read. One of them, dated October
_ _

11, 1817, had the following
" P.S.—Your sweet handwriting is wanting, hope you will
oblige me with it, if not, I shall be very low spirited. My Dear
Girl, hearken to me,

" If you loves I, has I loves you,
" No knife shall cut our love in two !'
" Saturday Night, 12 O'clock, a few Kisses."
In another he says—
" My Dear Harriet—l write these few lines to inform you
of my intention of coming to see your sweet precious face this
evening, wet or dry. My dear Angel, I Owe you to my heart.
I have an enemy or two—but they 'shan't binder me from hav-
ing you for my wife—bars, locks, or keys, shan't hinder me. I
Wish marry you for love—l don't care for money, as some people
do. I love you, my dearest of women, more and more every time
I see you. My dear Ht. your's, truly," &c.
A Postscript says, " Shall come on horseback, as am not able
to walk—have lot a very bad toe !"

A letter dated Guildford, August 29, has the following pre-
cious runway :—" 011! you bleared Angel, who can help loving
such a sweet girl as you? I cannot; you are the idol of ray
&Ic, my dear Lamb! IT you was here at this present time I
could nearly squeese you in two. I love you better than any
Damsel in the world. I wish the time was come, my dear H.
for us to be married."

In the following he addressed her as his wife:—
" Guildford, May 11,1818.
"My Dear Wife—T write !here few lines to inform you I
got home quite safe last Evg. by a little past ten O'clock. lam
very unwell; indeed, today; have a very heavy pain in my
stomach ; hope you are well, and hope you will not go to fair
to-morrow, has I think you wiU over fatigue yourself. I think
you ought to stay at home a little mere, and not run about so
much ; have scut some plaister' which forgot to leave last Evg.
with love from your Intended Husband. And I don't care how
soon. " W. W INKWORTH."

After some further evidence, in proof of the facts
stated by the plaintiff's Counsel,
Mr. 'DENMAN rose to address the Jury in miti-
gation of damages. He said he had no doubt they
would feel with him, that cases of this description
were of a very unpleasant nature, both for them to
consider and for an Advocate to discuss. It was im-
possible not to feel too, that the natural inclination
of their minds would take part against any argu-
ments which lie might feel himself called upon to
address to their notice. They would observe, how-
ever, that in this case his client had not thrown any
difficulties in the way of those proofs, which it was
necessary to adduce in order to support the action ;
neither had he, with reference to this young Lady,.
attempted to throw the smallest imputation on her
conduct or character, or to screen himself in any
way, at her expense, from the consequences of an
act which, to say the least of it, was extremely re-
prehensible, and for which he was molt properly
liable to .the payment of a temperate and proper
measure of damages. In looking to cases of this
description, however, it was necessary to take into
view all the circumstances connected with their pro-
gress, and to see the motives and feelings by which
a defendant might have beeii influenced. There was
no class of cases in which there were greater shades
of difference—and in proportion to the aggravation
which was exhibited in those shades, the punishment:
of the offender ought to be estimated. In the present in-
stance, he would ask the Jury, whether there was
any thing more before them than what was stated on
the record, and what his client had himself admitted,
namely, that he had formed an attachment to a
young woman ; that he had entered into an engage-
ment with her in consequence ; and that he had sub-
sequently abandoned that engagement ? He begged
not to be understood as saying in the abstract, that
this was a venial offence. He did most certainly ad-'
mit and feel, that it was not an offence which could
scarcely be palliated, and which, under any view,
was calculated to create a great jealousy in the minds
of a Jury. In drawing their conclusion, however,
he trusted the Jury would take all the bearings of this
case into their cool and dispassionate consideration,
and give that verdict only which the facts would jus-
tify. He hardly knew how it was possible to state a
case leSs aggravated than the present—less injurious
to the individual who complained—or less involving
those circumstances, either with regard to her ho-
nour or to ber feelings, which would entitle a young
woman to ask large damages at the hands of a Jury.
How did the case stand, as strongly stated by his
Learned Friend, and as strongly proved ? Here was
a year and a half of uninterrupted expectation on the
part of a young Lady, which expectation was after-
wards disappo►nted. This was the whole strength of
'the case. The Jury would; however, turn their at-