Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1840-11-12
DIR. LARDNER & MRS. HEAyIsIDE

LIN. hAhDNEh d NIRS. HEA lSlDE.
Among the passengers who have lately ar
rived in this country from Europe in the At
lantc steam packets. are the celebrated DIR.
lIardner and Mrs. Heaviside, whose recent
Infamous conduct has rendered both notori-
Gus. The New York Evening Signal thus
notices their appearance at the Theatre in that
city.
Among the crowded and fashionable audi
ence at the Park Theatre last evening were
DIR. Dyonysius Lardner and Mrs. Heaviside
of Infamous notority. They sat in a box in
the second tier, occupying front seat. Had
the manager known of their presence among
decent people. we presume they would have
been politely requested to take their appropri-
ate places up another pair OF stairs.
The woman certainly possesses extraordi-
nary beauty. In her features she bears a re-
markable resemblance to Miss Ellen Tree
SO remarkable, that the attention of many,
who did not know who she was, was attract
ed towards her on that account. Her figure
is tall and graceful, and has all that appear
ance of high breeding and hauteur in her
looks and manner, which is said to distin-
guish thepatrician beauties Of England. She
is just the woman fitted by her elegant bear
ing, expressive face, and symmetry of person
to be the queen of the ball room, the cynosure
Of all eyes. We should Judge that she had
not yet reached the age of thirty.
DIR. Dyonysius Lardner. the gay Lothario,
the paramour of that debased woman, is
coarse-featured, vulgar, snuffy, badly dressed
old fellow, apparently about sixty years old.
He wears spectacles and shocking bad'
wig. In his manners he is i'll bred, and I'M
attractive, and we are told that he speaks
broad Scotch accent. "What conjuration or
what devlish magic he employed to induce
4 X, f. g, al
spectacle gentlemen Of England-the mother
of four fine children-the leader OF the haul
ton of Brightcn-to violate her sacred duties,
to sacrifice the luXuries and indulgences Of
refined life, to cover herself with infamy for
the sake of such stale libel on humanity as
he's beyond our comprehension or that Of
any body else.
The case is decidedly the most outrageous
and extraordinary in the whole history Of con-
jugal infideIity. Nor is it extraordinary be-
cause of the lady alone. DIR. Lardner has
long occupied an honorable position among
men of science. He derived handsome in
come from the editorshp of the Cyclopedia,
which bears his name. But manners and
worse looks were forgotten in the respect for
those attanments, by which he had distin-
gulshed himself. He moved in the best soci-
ETY. of London, and was one of the most prom
inent members of the first learned societies of
Europe. Above all, he had arrived at years
of discretion. The hey-day in his blood was
tame. He was philosopher, one in whom
the passions were not likely to ruE riot
How could he sacrifice the advantage Of his
position, blast his good name, and make him
self eXecrable forever by bringing dishonor
upon an indulgent husband and a youthful
family
Unaccountable as Lardner's conduct may
at first appear, the mystery is not wholly with
out clue. Mr.. Heoriside, upon his marriage,
Ind settled tacenty thousand pounds upon his
acjfe. The Rev. Doctor has since manifested
some uneasiness in regard to this settlement.
Nhen the guilty pair left Brighton, il SEEM
ed they FASTENED to London, where they
passed themselves of as Mr.. and Ms. Benn,t,
and took passage the next morning in the
steamboat for Ostend. They resoIted to Pa
rls, whittier they were speedily followed by
Mr.. Heaviside. The indignant husband
tracked them TO their lodgings. and burst up
on them as they were sitting down to break
fast. barGner, on seeing him, exclaimed
Lord have mercy on ne!'' And well might
he cry for mercy, for Heaviside seized him by
the throat and inflicted upon him one of the
sevcrest scOuTgings that poor devil ever re-
ceiyed.
We commence to-day the publication of the
trial OF this venerable iniscreant for the sednc-
ton of Mrs. Heaviside, from which it will be
seen that the jury returned a verdict Of eigh
MOusand pounds damages. As the doctor is
not worth cent. the penalty is of course on
ly nominal Whether he has come TO this
country to evade the payment Of this debt, 0,
in the fallacious hope e escaping obserya-
ton, we cannot say.
Curious Lar CdSe.-A case was tried re-
Gently at New Orleans, as we learn from
the American, involving the question of the