Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1869-04-16


ladies scarf. It's awful lucky that we
didn't mix in-!" EK
A DEcEITFUL FNGLIsH SwAIN.-A
breach of promise case that would draw
tears from the eyes of a gorgon, was re-
Gently tried at the Nottingham Eng
assizes. The fair plaintiff in the case
was Alice Symington, daughter of a
surgeon at Dewsbury, and the fiinty-
hearted defendant was John Ethering-
ton, Jr, gentleman OF independent for
tune, living near Nottingham. Alice
has seen the summers come and go forty
times, while her once dear Johnny has
outlived fifty-one winters, and has be-
corheas frosty as a morning in December.
They fell in love A. ID. 1858, and between
that date and the year 1868 the devoted
Etherington wrote his adorable Alice no
less than one hundred and thirty-foUr
letters, instinct with thoughts that
breathe and words that burn" avowing
the warmest affection for her. Here is
one of his earliest effusions
"Tll never leave, deceive, nor forsake
you. Forty summers have / wandered
in this terrestrial scene, tossed by various
tempests. feel still at a loss to com
prehend why you should hesitate for one
moment to let me know your exact age
Can you think, my dearest, that | should
allow my feelings toward you to be in
fuenced or affected in the least, whether
you are forty, fifty or sixty. No, no
Alice is engraved upon my breast, anC
there it must remain. | cannot erase it
/ desire strong-minded, spirited, intelli
gent, and sensible woman. / think
perceive those qualities in your own deal
self. Do not desert me : and
.'oh. let no rival your afectionaton share,
Long as this bosom beats. ye lovely fair"
am becoming quite bald with ankle
ty and trouble. Not SO with you. 4ol
can spare me one of your bright ringlets
| shall preserve it as sacred token o.
your affection and love. / never ceas'
thinking of you from the rising to tn,
reclining upon my lonely couch, and
watch with an anxiety never before ex
perienced for the reception of those lov
ing and cheering lines, reciprocating th
sincere and heartfelt sentiments of tn
Interchangeable love and affection of you
devoted and ever attached
JOHN ETHERINGToN, Jun"
Ever attached John Etheringtol
Jr., soon after acknowledged the receip
of one of Alice's bright ringlets," witt
these ecstatic sentences "It is Iocl
of my dear Alice's hair. How comfort
ing how exhilarating how beautiful
Where shall place it? Here, next t
my heart, in the interior of my insid
waistcoat pocket. Neither gold nor 81
yer shall encircle it-they would debas
it." In another letter of four sheets h
tells his " amiable Alice" that he woul
walk bare-booted hundred miles to sc
her, if only for few days. Thus h
continues, year after year, yet never MAJ
rying the one he loved and adored,
till finally his ardor-what wonder !
cooled off, and he ceased writing in th
year 1868. Poor Alice wrote to remol
strate with her recusant and venerab
lover, but he treated her appeals wit
contemptuous ssilence. In 1868, howeve
the perfidious man wrote to her that !
was surprised at her " intolerable imp
denee and audacity," accused her of bo
ing him with her Unsuitable, affecte
and selfish DEVOTION" calls her lette
puppish," and declared emphaticall
"I don't want you. l would not
bothered with you at any price" Th'
rebuffed and insulted, the wronged lac
! carried the case into Court, when the fall
swain's ridiculous letters were made pu
lie. The lady's attorney declared tn
she had sacrificed the bloom of her ca
ly youth for the defendant" and the Jul
agreed with him, returning a verdict
f600 damages. 1t ought to have be-
10000, with ducking in the horse pom