The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-06-19 00:00:00

LAW ISTE 41.1 G ENC E.

• Facial(' of KING'S SENCII, JusrlB.
Stet"— vie Nisi Lord E

_ rius before -LILL
*0410" at Westminster 'Bali.
SEDUCTION,. •
. maim r. STEPHENS.
'rMis *as an action before a Special Jury,
Trfertt tompensation in thumps sustained by
the plaintiff, in the loss of NIP daughteos ler.
vice, she hawing been seduced by the defendant,
aitd the consequence of aitch seduction being a
child.

,N2O.

Ugs

c ARROW, ON the pert ,of the plaintiff,
stated, that the loss of bliss Shttosi's service to
the plaintiff must have beets great; his wife being
very infirm and ailing, anti the &lighter being./n.
defatigable in her attention to htinschold affairs. ,
He• could not but express his astonishment that.the
defendant suffered the present case to come before'
the Court, he being an Attorney, and of those*
Court. Ile ought to have married Miss Suttoos
for such an union would have been no disparage.
meet to him ; and if he did not like- to make dote
reparation to the unfortunate girl, ho should stri
least have endeavoured to make some arrangemeati
with the plaintiff, by which he might have beast.',
guaranteed against any loss on account of his
daughter's misfortune, and by which the Men.
datit,might have made some remuneration to the
gift for the injury she had sustained at his lauds.
But he had done no such thing, nor had he endue.
'wired. The family was respectable, and the
quaintance few and select, and that of the male
sex particularly circumscribed. Thu defendant
took the opporthnity of entering into conversa-
tion with Miss Sutton one evening in June last, as
she was walking, she having guise out with the in.
tendon of meeting her sisters. The conversation
was innocent, and nothing criminal took place at
that time. He afterwards met her as she Was go.
lug to take a walk one evening, and treated Mir
with apparent great respect. They hid walked
some time in a lane, when he wished her to turn
out of it, saying there was a new road just across
a field, from which there was a beautiful pros.
peel. After .some. little persuasion she yielded,
and left the lane in which they were walking ; but
it was not for the purpose of skewing her any new
road, or beautiful prospect, but for the purpose
of, gratifying himself at thy. expence of her virtue
and of his honour. When they had left the lane,
he began to take improper and, unbecoming fiber.
ties with her. She made considerable resistance,
but at last he accomplished his object) after having
promised her marriage. The result was, that Miss
S. proved pregnant, and had, been delivered of st.
child, at great expente.to her father. Miss Sut.II
ton hail kept a school, but this circnmstauce
tinned her little eitablishottent. Ho Lteia• sea*
that the common causetfor suffering a ease like-dial
present to cootie before the Court was an expect&
lion, on the part of the defendant, that •Lhe in.
jored party would Gut meet bsiut. If that had been
the casein the present instance, the defendant-was
disappointed. .It had beeni-Insinnted (hitt Mr.
Stephens, the defendant, was nut; diti father of
Miss Sutton's child, and that she was a great wan.
top; but be shouldbe glad if they watild.to.day
bring forward such infamous, scandalous, and
false charges ;—." for, Gentlemen of the Jury,"
said Mi. O. " some of you arc fathers, and all of
you men ;" and, be added, they would- know
how to 'deal with that person aho should make
such an infamous' attempt. Hu then called Miss
Mary Sutton. •

it am earedirom her: evidence, •that her father
was a grout* ;• that he lived at Portsmouth ; that
bee mother and family resided at Havant, a plaice
not far from Portsmouth; and that the father
went to ice his family once a week ; that her mo-
ther had been very ill for the last year, and that
she Miss S.) managed all the _household affairs.
She had several sisters,. but they were younger
than she ; and she kept a schools. having about 20
or 30 scholars. She first became acqttainted with
the Defendant in June last ; continued the ac-
quaintance, and received the injury cumplaitved.of
about the 3d of July. That as she and the lk-
feadant were walking in the lane, in which they
always walked when they were together, he asked
her to get over a gate, saying, if they went across
the field, he would chew her a _seer road, from
which there was a beautiful prospect. She would
not at first believe-what ho said ; bet at last cc-
quiesced, and went into the field. That whoa fib
had gut into the fieldi be sat down .407 a:bank,
and pulled her down use.; and after some resist.
mice on her part, effected hisiparpobe; in cense.'
qitence of which,. she was pregnant. Site had
been delivered of a child, .antl• her father had
been at all the a:peaces attendant An her con.
finement.
Mr. Juicer. eress.examitted MisslS. by/which itd
appeared that she was aged trretlifri.olo years g that
she had walked two or three Ohm' *Mr: the Do.
feadant before the injury she complained' of • was I
elected ; they always walked is that, puvticular
lane, and at about eight o'clock IRAs evening ;
that she ',knew a Mr. Longcroft, • who is a clerk
to the Defendant, and frequently mei bins in tbe
said lane; she acknoviledged that Mr. had takati•
many trifling liberties with. her. ' Frani farther
seideuce, it appeared that Mr. LOngeroft had
taken every liberty with her agape that 'Which is
termed criminisk m
,
In consequence of a question from: otse .el tha
Jury, Miss S. deposed,. that Mr. Staplrens,• the
Defendant, was the first person that had kid cri.
minal intercourse with her. •
• She adisitted, in nivel., to a question from Lord
ELLEntiotattroti,, that Mr. Isougeroft had taken
every liberty" with bee thathe pleased, and that
he might have done what the Defindant had done ;
but Mr: L. did taut, because he Weeded to'inarry
her. •

Mrs. Toogood was then called, whci bore testi..
mono as to character. She had Wed at servant
with the Plaintiff for more t..an 18 years-in his pros.•
perous days, and believed that Miss S. hid con.
ducted herself with propriety and decoruns.till she
was injured by the Defend vit.
Mr. Lellyott, called an Esq:sire, who did a Hifi
iu the coal trade, residing in thu same town a
did the Defendant's family,
admitted that it WA