Summer Assizes.
The Times, 1824-09-11T00:00:00

B(SFore M1r. Baron k1TJ.LOCr1. DiAr e;aOss-PTOVe Opened tile pleadirns. 'This, was an action forS bieach aof promise of marriage. Thie defendant pleade-d that he had miade no such prom-ise, and upon that plea issue waK joined. AIr. SCAB LETT stated thle Case to the jury. lIfe iad the honour to address them as counsel (or a young wonian niot vet of age, a AD.ss Matilda Wiaite, who foiund it necessary to comne before the'm to seekc a reparationi ii. damiages fromn 'the defenidanit, Thomus Aspinall, for an injtiry. whiich, thioughi it was, butt too common in its nature, was aggravated in the preseist case by circumstances of a very singular descriptioni. She comiplained of a breach of a soletnia ergagementri on the part of the def'endant, whor hadl pronmised to contract mar- riage with her, He wished m)ost anxiously, for many reasons, that this tratisactioti could be kept fromi thie view of tire public, and he wished it inore especiallv for tire sake of the defenidant. That imdi- vidual was the son ofa gentlenian of great respectability andopulence, and wras well known in the town of Liverpool, where he held a public office a,s searcherof the custonis. To whatever cause hit; counsel migjtt that Aay attribute htis conduct, and by whatever ingenuity he enight attempt to palliavt it, sure he was, that thte impression which that d.av's'pro,ceedings. would produpe on the public mrind, would not be -tE~i gs thrc defendant er hiis friends would be desirous rof leaving on it. ife tdn,hLiz_d, in the ou%set, thaLt in hisii case thiere were several extraordinary, circur,,_i&n-e on the part of' thle Plaintiff and hier isa' tuily, which' thioughi thiey dit, pet thirow discredit upon eithe-. he?r or themi, were But usuall3" founda in .Ll 'of thiis descniptiuin. Hel wished tihat thet stalenient of this young ,1y,j's wrongs had fallen into abler hands, as he was a plaini man, and va ,2, in the habit of Using that high-flown rhetoric of' whichi somie of his lears. 'd friends were so fond, and whicht they were in thle hiabit of ascribing t,)ot at the very miomenit thiev were employing it themnselves. Hec should niot pretend to pledlge himsitelf lor rhc correctness of his~ instructions but should cointine himiself to thie ditcharze of' his duty by f'aithfull'y detailing tO them tile facts which they conta'ined. Thie plain~tiff in -this action was the second dlaughter of' an individual who had formierly- resided at Settle, in Yorkshire but who bad come to Liverpool in the year 11120 or 1I121 ard had etup the business of a'tobacconist and snufftdealer in' that townl. Hi,shcops was in Paradise.street, and hiS dweiling-houaee thoughi apart from his shop, seas also in the same street. At thiat time his dtatighiter, who wali thec plaintiff in this action, wits about It yeart of age. filer. Waiie, hier father, was iitttn.e hal-t of goinlg upon distant journeys f'roin liotne, arid in thec course of' busi'ness was obliged to, undertak-e a vo yage to Amiierica. He believed thadt it wait duringK his abs,ence the transactions took place between) the plainitiff and defen-. atwhc ad teemnnated it the present awtion. Heros nw n f'orni thenistthat the plaintiff' was a geese iani, or at l,,ast thiat he was a mntt not to affluent circanistancee. Jle brought his family with blurs to Liverpool in the posesesion of an unspototed chiaracter. His daughter Matildz cainie slunig witl. himr. possessing considerable personal attrac- tions, anti What was more: valuable. an unblemished reputation. She wvas placed in the shiop behind thec counter, isne, served such customners as frequentetd it wit-h tht articles; they wanted, under the inspection (if hier elder brothier and sister. Chanice firsit pre-sented her to the ntotice of tl'; defendant.L He wvent in t0, purchaste snuff, and,), after htaving been. a custoiner fct it for sotme timie, condescened trutetIt lie-c acquaintance. Hie s*ught every opportunit Y of attracting the notie of tic-plantit" ho at 1 thlat itime, and still remained, a VeTy ardes girl. e 01 r.Scarleti) presumed that the defeit-nett becavse at last affccted l bv her ptrrsonttl attractions, for lie propoked to vli%ither at hier own house, and avowed himself'to her as her tovvr with hoitoursble ip,tentions. Thiey would recollect that her fa- onils wi.s at th,t trme but recntlyt1 arrived in Liverpool. was therefoure little known of itself, and had not haud much opportunity oflknowiisg o3thers. Tuie members of it, however, were desirous of inxakiiag their progress, in the towzi by the respectability of their chiaracter, xnd thie praprietY of their dernearnour. They the-efore requested the defendant toi exsplain to theta who b,e was and what were his inten- tins :llr. Aspiriall, upoin chat question heist- pat to hiati, repre- ,ented htimself as a gentlenian of' iindepent)lent fortune, living with his sister at NWavertree, about thtree miles f'rom Liverpool, atid( statede thiat hii' name was Biromfield. L"itder that CainTe he expres-scd to tile plainltiff' tile affection which he left for het; andi af'ter the first etititO iots of'sur prise had subsided, whijch were naturallyv excited on seeitic a gentleman of his apparent rank in life seeking a wlv e amnong persons of'so comptaratively hiuimble acontditiion,tbes- declared theirsa- Itiafactioin at the offer lie hiad m-ade thern. Hie told thte plaLintiff thac hie- liad neleected ttie dtfllereisce of their sittuationis, because lie was in poNsesgioti of' an independent fortune. He saia tkat his property would enable hiim to ta'ke her fronit belsind a coon ter,krtd to raise her to0 that elsesAted stitre whichi she was well qualified to, Raorn by her beauty and accomplmshmenis. Site was at thiis period vetrv younc antl thie titite was tathier lotig betfore be tal-ked to her of 'marrtatre Th,.t tim.e. however, arrived at last. At the end of' the vear I821 irtbde begiiining of the year 18322, lie i rofeaserl to say th at his ar- rangennonts had thien iiiade a niarri age convenienit, and by, consen-t of' the plaintiff' he purchased a wieddiitg-ring, fixed a day for thecir marriage, and even senit homie to her a can, in vhich he desired her to b2 mitarzied. Such was the state of things when a discoivery took place whichl rendtered all thes-e preprations of no use. One even. loig, as thie defendant was praising the caps which he had sent lioint for the plaintiff's use, and coniversing with hier uplon indihier- emit subjects, an application was iitade at the dloor of thec apartatenc. iii which titev' were sitting, and a lady walked in. who asked the plaititiff' hit iio very civil termsi, who'she was, and whtat jZne wa?1- .loing! withi the gentleman witli whomn she was conversing. H-e would call winsesses, befor-e thetii, who sltoulel describe to them the scene wileb then took place. T'hey wo-uld learn fron tchen), that the silalintiff w;Ls then informied thjat thie gentleman with whont she was conversing was tiue hus~band of the lady who budl fominti admission into tile roomi. Thie ladev adderessed hier lhusband withi the wArmith natural to a woinman ini her distressing situation. She told hits t4at sIte had atlat fi,und out time WOMan With whoin he was -livitig, and that she now knew tdie cause of' his frequent absence from hsime; and she thien proceeded to reproach both the plaintiff' and defendiant with their inmpropier contluct in no wery, measured terms. IThe- tilaintiff said to tfite ladyv. Y ot mast he mlistaken-this gen- tlisotan is lr. Bromfield. and a single man." "- No," replied the 1~lad, he L.s Thomias Aspinall, and mie husbande." The Dlaintiff' tntn turnedi round to tha~ defendant and ;aid. Is, this trae ~" H1-e adnmitted r'iat it wzv,, and on hearing thiat admission she f'ell down 11n a feinfing fit. 13cr relzationis in the house we're imimedtiately sent tor, and bv thie assistance of water tied other restoratives, ishe Was at last recor creel On her re-covers-, Mrd. Aspinazll declared to his wife tlatt tiie hilaintifi was tierfectlv i'nnocent, in this transaction-that ha hdberet c-ptivatetd by her beauty-thiat she haBd won his afiections. I .sid thiat lie laid won tiers and that if it had not been) for the dis- i-ver, ahieh sithe hiad miade, hre would have married the plain. t;il at all lizards. 1I hit defendant's wite soon saw, fromi the siloa- tlont to wtiicli thie plaintiff was reduced, that slit had been iteceis-ed ; and though she had coine to the hiouse fu'll of th~e resentitent natural to a woman on discove-ring- thie ititrigue of a. liceiitious husband, she relented befoDre she lefti" h, s1aid that Kite was corivimiced tiatu her husband had acted a trent- che~roit, part., and adositteti thiat diie 'so r vuounggiri wa-s greatly tbe tpitied. And greatly, to he pitied inidred 'she was. Hier family, fro. the shoart time cher itad lived at Liverpool, did niot know wihe Mr. Aspinali was ba't it was not so w itli the neighoas They knew b imt. and from seeinig hiim going repeatedly to Irer faLther's house, atidtheawalkng or trt inarm rthher, they' concluded thxt he kepttie as otstres-ttat er arets were p;rofligate a-nd abizn- thi'tedpeole, tidtha the lied ponthe produce of' tiieir daugh.. ter'sprosituton. Te yong wman nd her famnily f'elt Most: keely he isatots stuaionto eltch the inhuiuian conduct of' Thoms Apinal hd rduce thni.Without anyv tiusconduct of~ their own, thee, found tcietteinsl made bankrupt a' nc iai charac- ter and in happiness, Ile had befr told tisenti that MIrs. Aspinall, oa leaving the honuse, had expressed a strn snImet ' pity fosr tlii yotung wotinitoi. I )n lher return houme. she represente tohe husb.itd in tule strongest tartius thie injury %which he ijsiiatiimrcted upon her, u nd told himi that lie hiad tsar only betrayed her peac of' itind, but had also ruined hier character. What result these reprosccsl produced, they woitld hear iri a very short time. At p resent lie miust inforin tlsert, titat as soon as4 Mrm. Aspina li ad lef't tne liouese ott the niight of' the discovery, thie pilaintiff' wa's tleen re- riouslY ill, antd continued so for somne days. Thie detendant's wrife h4ad the kintdness and good-nature to send to the pilaintiff"s house to inquire after lien isalEti. The defendant also called him- self' to see her, but admiissien was refused to him. He then wrote a letter to hcr, of' whicih he could not state the precise words, in- asmauch as the defendant hiad olhtained it from ithe plaintiff %iren slit beHeved herself to be in a dying state, and when, shie consi- tIered that his letters would be of no use to' her. He- would, how- eyer, shsortly state to then, thie substance of it. lit that ietter thle defiendiant admitted that he hiati done the plaintiffa wrong which never couldi be repaired ; he applied to her for forgiveness, enld satid that wiiilst he had a fartliting he would Fsever allow her to be in waist, iie likewise atided, that his wift would visit liar, and that he trusted that her tparenms would allow her to visit -his, wife at his house, as the bes!.t tiseans of giving the lie to the rumours which had been prepa. eatedl against her character in tlie neigh'lytirhood in which she lived- I'iht- propositioti was certainly of' a aiost extraordinary nature a ind if the parents of the girl had mtoved itt an elevtmted sphere of life, atid hiad been gif"ted with thiat refinedlfeeliiig which education) usually geTterated, thiev would not lhave periutitted theiri daughiter to accedle to it for a single tanotiient. But asi they were ignoraint of those nicer points of feeling which belonged to better educated persons, they- AllOWtd the defendant's wife, after their dlaughter had somnewhat re- covered, to f~etch her to) the house., andI to accoimpany her through the streets in ,jrder to show the neighrbous-hood ttisat she was visited and protected by the wife of the mian w-Ito list1 been seeking to routi her. He statecf this to thieist as a most extraordiinary circumts-tance, and in gootl truth so he consid6retd it. All thlat lie would imphlore thseni to do, wheit thiny took it inta) their consideration, would he to consicicr the statiocs wh ichl the Parents Of' the Plainti ff toccuptied in life~, andt he influence which a person, in tile SituVst?n of Mt. Thomas Aspinall was likely to exercise over the mintd at the fathier of this young woutan, and also over tile miind of the Vouing wonman herselft who was described to hiint (Air- Sc-rett) a eu liarly artless and ignorant of thie world. The f'act he wotrid not dis- guis-e from them-the plaintiff visited the defeneant's wife, and. passe.d a considerable time utnder her protecdors in the defendant'r, hos.Siepsed it, however, most wvretcel.nrwcaad the attentions wIc Afrts. Aspinall, mucoh to her credit, felt it ber- duty to pay, to her: fo:r he liade now to informn themn, that from the period when the fatal discovery was mnade of AMr. Aspinall's being a. married man, up to the practise hour, the h,ealth of ithe plaintiff had been ruined, and that it itad not been t:ll within the las,t f'ew weeks that the slightest hopes of her recovety hatd been entertained. She was ill, he said, whilst she rensained at Mir. Asplinall's, and her ill. ness itscrea.sed very considerably immediately after her return front it. The defendant then requested to be allow,ed to call upon her, and expressed his willingness to afford her every species of noedical assistance. At that time she was attended by Dr. Macart- ney. That respectable physician would informn them, that though he wa2t not apprised of the nature of her disorder at that timze, all the symptoms which she had appeared to proceed from san:e deepeatedgrief that was preying on her atist, H er illness conlinued to be very severe for some time. and go au& was the defendant for her recovery, that he insisted t3at same othtr members of the faculty should he called in to conslt r upon er ase. They were sccordingly calld in but produced only a very partial amendment in her heatth. Indeed, at one time no one capected that she would survive thenight; and at that awful Period when she thought that bhl had done for ever vith the affirs of this world, the defendant, wbo was present, asked her to estore the letters hle had sent to her, on the ground that he should not like them to f4l -- on her decease, into the hands of strangers, wbo might show tUeZ to lis sather, and so ruin his prospects for e-er. The plaintiff thinking they could be of no use to her, requested them to be gjvQn up to the defendant; anO they were given up in great nuutbere.the letter of which he had just stated the substance being one ajjion, them. He must now inrmto them, that from the very moment of, the discovery that he was snot Bromfield, a single mau, but Ilr. Aspinall, amatried man, the defendant had told the plnti3tsff'5 f, titer, that he was most anxious to provide t'or hiL daughter's ubsist ence. HIc (AIr. Scariett) was not able to usr exprelstons so strong ti tbe de.fendant badused in condemnation of hi owls trealhery_in prc. tf3tationx of the Plaintiff's innocence, in regret for having ruined her character, and in declarations, of his'determiinattion to mnake an, ample etlet" in hler behalf. All these professions of remnorse for his past cotiduct, and Prromises of liberality for his future, whilst it was uncertain, that the young wonman would live or die, put all resort to legal measures to obtain redress out of the question. He professed over and Over again his reslution to do ever-y thing In his power to mnake her amendssfor the 2injury he had in lite Anher, anei w1ihed, for hr re~ery byond verything else, that he mnighit accomiplishi the oject hich e procased to ave so ent.irel.y anid coompletely In his vew. Wen te rim arrive at whjich she appearedi to be re- coveingfromtheiIles', whiich cIud be ascribed to nio othier cause thanthehockhert'eelings had received In consequence of the defen- dant'sduplicty, te deendant, who hiad obtalnedl from her- ail his lettes, mae a popoition to her which lie now hield in liis hanids, and hichwas raw op in hiis own hand-writing. The paper whkh contine itwasa cpy of the Instructions which he had given to his attorne oscr to her an annuity of 101. a year -anto the timne of her dleath, or utat the timne of her niarriage. That latter stipulation would strike them wth tomne surprise, because it seemed as if he unertainied an Idaof still mnarrving her in ease aniy thing befel his wife.He mus nowcall uipon) thiem Ito observe, that tie defendant, by te cursehe ailpgrstied, had got t-he fanmily to a certain degree intohis wn hnds.Of course the plaintiff could not negotiate withhimpersnaly aboiut the atonement he was to make hier rot the injury hehad inflicted upon hier. The -prpsitionl which he made sas, thieretfore, hiandied to a solicitor one be- half. Therewereseveral wa'rs oftca-rying it into effect, and that whichappeared last object.ion 0,, wvas securing it bya bond. bond as ac-rdinzly drawn up, but whien It was presenit- ththed to himn, lie made alln- th tIt hr,ul hb1.ie ~3e%;6cm to that part of it whichl mentioned annoity. _0 in a penalty of 2,0001. if he failed to pay thte hesse,w~~cti Wiit hen proiolsed to secue th nut POnsm vAcibconedoim, butoh Peosition tedefendastl 0% b,icted. As the plaintiff was bgnif to recover her hiealth, It ,u to relneet that it was timie frhmt deternine on the line -conduct which he should pur.,ue, and at litst hie resolved to make 'Eo settIersens upon her, because hisi insrruetloil hail bees disobeyed by her attorniev. Upon hat resolution being miade known to them', the young wenslAn'N friends, had insatituited in her namne thie setios which they were inow evmpanelled to try, thle proposition about the atnnuity having been miade so lately as in the course of last July. lie baa now given to themi the, history of this cauAse, whichi contain- ed, as thev would h..ve aseii, seorsi very ext.aordlinary circumstances. Unaoubr~dly it sits extraordiniary that they stiould find eithier this vyoung wyoman or hier friends giving their consent to hier stayfing under the house of' time man who7 had inflicted upon her so acrou an inuY, HeI begged, however, to submiit one considers. flon upon .that point to thieir serious attenition. They wvere o! course acquain-ed whiti the feelinigs by whiich thec other sex w7ere in general actiual.d; Lthey were inost of themn amniable, and all of themn deserved to be cultivated and cherished withi the warmiesl care; if t-here was onie amiong thecm whiich tenided mnore thati anothet to coostiitute the honour of that sex, and the bappiness of ours, ii 'was the tender revarid whiceh they placed uponi reputation. He could s.u nos no motive to operate upom a womian sio strongly -s. her re. tZard Tor her characte,. Indeed, thecre was no sacrifice whith she 'would n"t make not excepting t1lat of life itself, rather than to silos, rncotcriteI stailn to remain iswon her liotioar. Ther would recol. ~-' then, the sacrifice of feeling whiich the delicacy of chis Yotung womnarn would promnpt lher to make to retrieve her reputation. injured as it had been in, the neighiboutrhood, by the unfounded idea that she was an abanidoned womati, in the daily hiabit of receiv- ing visits from a miarried mnan, withiout the knowledge andI sanctiotil of his wife. It nmust have been a painiful sacrifice to hier to have remnained utnder thle saine roof with the defendlant and his wvife ; but still, when it was recollected that it was the wife of the defenid. nat who hnad recom mended her to dosot for the purpose of rescuinp her character fromi unmerited calutuiny, it was o.ly fair to suggestit them that she might have don so in consoequenCe Of the arts of lies husband, who, contemplating such a measure as the pres3ent, might thiink it a fair answer to a jury to say-"' she visited at My houst after the injury wvas inflictedi, andi therefore is not entitled to recovet any comilpensation f'rom mie." If that was his motive in inivititig het to his house, it was a base anti tinuaanlv mnotive - he didI not say that it was hi, MOtive ; And off onte thing-he was at least certain, thakt it Ws-a n-it the Motiv,e of his wife. Shie had said froin the first thiat she pitie'l the y-oungK womnan-that she hiad made an inquiry into her chiaracter-tlat she hiad found lier to be .1 wonian of virtue, and that she had nb objection to re. tv-i,e lien as a visiter. Another circumsfance might also strike th'emi as extraordlinary. The breach of the pronmise ol marriage, and the discoverv of thie dlefendant's perfidy, had talen place so far back as tIre ye ari 182 anid yet nothing had beea done to punish him in thie metan time ; and this action was niow, it might be said, onie of the latest, being instituted in 1824, to recover reparation for an injury 'Which had been comn,itted so long before. Upon that point Ire would say, that the doubts enitertained reg-arding the lif'e of the plainfiff..the anxiety of liet family, on hier account- the declaration of thie deftelndit's; intention to do every thing in hiis r~ower to repair the mischief he had comimitted, led them to forbear, rest-ome t'ime, the considetation of' any legal remnedy for it, as they 'were persuaded that he would make reparation, without compelling them toexpo3ehiis conduct, and svould restore hercharacterto the'plain. tiff aspure and unsulli'ed as it was when she first arrived at Liverpool. 'But if all these were extraordinary circumestatices with regard to her case, were there no extraordinary circumstances with regard thi bs ? hat did thso' think of a man, whio, being married and liv- inSwith his wife and famtily, went under a false name anti cha- racter, and insinuated hims-elf into the confidence of a young and unsuspecting fem-ale, whbo, frosin the difference of their rank in life, 'was likely to be filattered and ledt away by hiis attentions~-who per.. severed for months and mnonths in his flagitious designs, till he hiad sea,le such progress iii her affections that she was as ilevoted to himn as hie appeared to be to hey...-and who declaTed that if hiis wife had not dietected himi, he would have mnarriedI her at all hiazards, and that he was even t'.ow VreparedI to marty her, if any accident befel his present siC fe I hlshe wouldissk,was that man ? Not a mar rnoving in a-n obscure station in life 'not a man unacquainted withi the world-not a mian unconscious of its tensets and ppinions.-bu t a mnan whose father was of the first respectability and opulence, wht had an indepenident fortune of his own, and filled a respectable situ- ation in a public ogiee. Not only did such a man perpetrate tile aces which he had just recited but lie did more-lie prevailed on this voune womnan to visit his wi?e, on his wife to receive this young ws'-ran-he pot her to hid house-he professed still to re. tain the meoat auxious regard for her.-he visited lher whet she was suipposed to he on her death-bed..li.e procured fronr: her hit letters at a miomenit when she was not expected to live- and after all this, he refused to make her the only reparation he could mal.e her, aLnd compelled her at last to seek it, at the expense o1 feeliny and character, in) a court of justice. The learned counsel titer calle the following witnesses :.- Isabella Neele, examined by Mr.Wsr.r.AMtS.....am-isiter of titi plaintiff,I Matilda WVaite ; my hiusbland lives at Manchester ; I am t-o vears older than my sister, the plaiiitifr; she is, 21 vests, old ; I liave grot fouir brothers And two sisters; thite plaintiff is next to me in age4, and myothe sidster is still youinger. lily father has live I( it 'is-I po he years; I dto not now live in Liverpool, but in Aani. Chester; I have been m iarried thiree months, lily fathier came fromc Settle., in Y'orkshiire; he carried on the businiess of a tobacctonist, antl ,t-cail snuff..teller, in Paradise-street, Liverpool, when he first came to it. He now carries, on the tanme business in WShitecliapel Liver. pool. At tJpat time ouir shoe was not p3art of our dwelling-house: we live,i in a house in Si. 'Ilhomas'sibuililings, which is about .301 or 400 yards from our shiop. Wrhen niy father first cai-ne to Liver. pool, my sister and my brotier attended to the customersi in th( ,)lop. Before I went to Li.verpocil, I had never seen) the defenidant; I now know that he is a searcher of the customs ; I never heardl himn say wlhst thiat place produced him; I lhad never seen hiim until woyears and a hialt ago. 1 was at Bllackburm in the upring of 18'22. whea I rec-eived at letter from- my sister, whichi broiught me to Liver. pool. On Fe.tting to Liverpool, she told me that slme was going to be married to Ir.B7omftield, and wished me to assist her in selecting het -eddin,g A4thea. About a week after that, I saw Mr. Aspinall ; hE kee'1atte do~or, and came into the parloear. lily sister then intro. duced l"him to me as Mr.Blromfield anti said that ht was the persionitc -177',cn she was oing to be MRrrieA. lHe produced sonice caps out ol aparrel, and wished her to acceptthein as wediding caps. He said ti trieped that in a few days I shoald hiave the pleasure of s4eeing hei 'lMrs.IBronmfield. lie theti gave the whole piarcel of' caps toin s,ister, and left them withi her. I saw him- again once before a Elis zressing circumstance occurred., HI called on m-y sister the day aef. zcetwards. He only asked for iy Fsister. Abouit two or three daym afterwards, betswren four and five o'clock in the afternoon, I wees s-f-led down stairs,and was told that I was wanted. I went hntr zhe parlour, and there I saw that my sitter had fainted. When I arrived in the room, she was quite insensible. There was then it -t lrl. Aspinall, mny sister, and a lad' whoni I now know so be Mrl. Aspinall'st wife, lily sister Was in that state for half an hour. At the end a Lthat time- she recovered her senses. During that time .Mlr. Aspinall and his wife cotus'ersed. I perceiv-ed fromi theim conver-a-ion tlhat the-y were quarrelling. I asked whut ii 'was abonut. I did not learn what the cause of it wva i:ntil my siSter c-amieto htrself. WVhen she came to herself agaSri, Mr.Asp-inall said to lilt. A%pinahl, " Youi are my hiusband, what c.sn you he wanting here?" Miy sister isaid, "1You rascal, what can you warnt by deceivingmc?" Ilie did not speak at the time. AlIrs.Aspi. "a-ll said, "Ami I not yvour wife, Tom Aspinzll ?" He replied"1 Yes. uot I made a mad Weding firOf it." Ay sister Uimen said to iltr. As. ysmnall. Y lour name is riot Aspinall ; your name is Bromfielmi, If it not from Wal'eitree ?" "1 No," said he, 11 Aatilda, my namie -is AspinAll, and I am a unarmied ma;n 1" Mrs. Aspinall ask'ed what he meant, by coiting there when he was a marrie man. Ie said shst he was infatulated-t.hat he loved her to distraction, and tlhat he would hapve mactied her in a few days if' his wife hiad not founid it out1. He said-" Mirs. Atpinall, I can tsay one thiing-she is an hrunourableland innocent girl ; sihe has suffered nio harm, except in any deceiving lier as to marrying me." Airs. Aspirnall said t1 she had uttered miany words in her passion againist kis ister, which xhe would not have used i she had not been aggravated. She shook hands, with my sister before eshe pa!ted -withhber, and said," I amnver orey for youi, but Aspinat Ilis a escoundrel, and nohng else." Betfooreshbe left the house, sihe aaid ,he would inquire more about, the family ; for my sistet had becu rresurCs,cnsed to her la a very curious manner, and that Was the reason 'Se had followed Mrl. Aspinall into thebhouse From that time mny zsister's health was baid. As Poon as lMr. Aspinall went out, she went tup stairs, threw herself on the bed, frett~ed e much, and we coult' gee her to say nothing more that night, than that shie was a Its,ltm..-teatted girl. She grot no sleep that night. T.Ehe day follow. ba n 4?e cane dor-n into the prlor Stie reiainZed very p oorly for ihrec or (our days to the beat of niy recollectioa. 3Sr. Aspinall on ,-ir day adterwards called upon us, but I told him that he was not 1t1 be adimitted any mnore. into the house.- Airs. Aspinall c-alled once 3". three or four dpay afterwards. She sa'-' My si,ter, but before Mfrs. -ASpinall called, Mlr. Aspinall wrote a letter, desiring the for.. geenX of my sister and her family, for the injury Ie had done her. I rcolee whn m-sste wa vry ll ndsuPposed to he dying. le was present, and be request that she would give him up Som leter hehodwriten as ifthu~ gt to his father's hands, Tb would be ruined. ..he lette'r wbhienh vt taluded to was then' By Mr. BsouGsrAIr.-IHow do you know that letter in parti- il.a was given up? te npri Witme I know it, because on getting it he read part of it Altod in my presece. That letter -vas addressed to my father. *,e said that he was cornpletely infatuated with may sister, and that he loved hersto distraction; he begged her foriiveness, and tOid that she should never want bread whilst he liad a farthing. fie likewise said, that he war afraid that he had ruined her chai.. 'acter. lis letter arrived the day after he had called, and within, faour ays froTm the discovery M5rs. Aspinall called. M[y sister wa3then in bed. MIr. Arspinall said tome thatshe wvas verysorryfor he., rnd th.tAspinal had declared his innocence to her. Mrs. As- iiruall did n ot ree my siter then. She said that sle hoped that my ter, whben she got better, would go up to her house and take tea; taaher requet that m?y sister would do so. Aly sister contittued et poorly after that. he remained at home a month after this iscovery. Dnring that time lrs.A spinail did not call bst a letter camle teny sister, written in her nanme. About a tnontib afterwards 1Mr. Aspinall called with) hfs oldest san to take hcer to Ilia wife. I haveherd him say that he has five Chilidren. Speaking to his rson, he RAid " This Is AMiss MVatildla Waite; she is comin to dine arrd spend rtle day withl you,,rmoLhqr and me." lily brother went with themn to thie defendan.',s house, anid returned back with mry sister in the evening. ln -about a month afterwards, she went to Mlrs. As- jpinall's, at hier requiest. Mlrs. Aspinall said it would restore hasy character shRe saidt that she hadt been a servant herself, and that as some of Ilir. Aspinall's fiiend3 wouild not associate with ber, she shiould be glad to hav-e lher as a coillpanoiot. Mly sigter theni went, and staycd at the house of the defendant ror nearly thiree months. She was worse dutring hier stay there. She was attendled by several miedical mien. It vwas abouit four moniths after the discovery that she was so ill as to be eunposedi dyinig. That wasj a mnonth after she came froin dr. Aspinall's. Fur foutr mointihs after that timie we looked daily for her death. Shec was givens till by the doc~ tors. She is niow better thian she was then), bhl' shle Is.still very poorly. I have heard dlir. Aspinall tallk of makingsa provision for her severml times. Ile said "' MAltilda, I a-n sorry for you you i'l never be good for arty tiring any moere;, I have brouight so mnuch seandal aed disgzrace on yout and youtr famiiily, that I ami bound to provide for you. I hav.e madie A cripple of yo,u begides;, andf will provide for vou as lbuig as you anti Iliye.", Flac ail that lie would gire her 1001. a year to make her comnfortable, as she was brough to thiat sitate that she -wouldI always wanit a surgeon and Ph ysicn to attend her. Whiilst she was in this stae, lie ofteni called ;he was^, allowed to see her, as heo saidl he shouldl never forgive hinllself if shbe was to die withiout his seeing her. I saw himi fre- quently myself; he use(i to converse witi me about my gister. 0.1 one occsion she was speechliess. He sawi her in bed in that state, He said, " Glood( God, what hiave I dione to a poor itnnocent girl !" That tasnttr ieh oteltes legot thelIstersafterwards. Whilst mny sister was unwell, I was on a visit at Manchester. Thiat was aboutt niine mouthis snlrce. I received titat letter (lookimlg at a letter produced) from tile defenidant at Manchester. I was myself ill, andi des paired of nt tile time. I returned, nevertheless, to Lirver. pool immediately on thie reeceipt of that letter, ill as I wan. On that occasioti I found my sist-er speechless. The following letter was tliett lint hit and read- " 'sVhitechapel, Liverpool, Feb. ii, 1824, 8 o'clock evening. " My dear laabella,.-Your dlear sister, tn y dear Mlatildia, lies imot dangerously ill-so ill, that 1 doubt and fear her recovery un- til I ani broker-hicarted. ticr irrinretdiate comuplaints are itifiamusia. tory about lher hteart , tire liver, antI upon her chest. Sire l155 been blcd to) profusion, but liithetto withiout abating her cor4plairnts. Now you know hole- delircate lher f'ramei is, and l10w uriequal she is to beat it. lfier origlinal medical adviser neglectedI tier-.evenl abarrdoned her -Dr. Lll'Cartney ; God forgive hinit! (A, 1aug11.) She is now in thi hands of Dr. Baird, a clever antd a feeling man, v.lio trilows her every rsttentionl, arid even bleeds tier himself, lest a surgeon shiould annoy hier Pray to God his kinrii efforts miay, be rivailirig ; they never carti be or ,rn by roie. This cotrimunicacion will, doubtless, give rise to wr,h01 your part to see your sufferinig sister once agaiR ; but I pray, Isabella, if such is, your desire, that you take your own health into due ccrasirerateion, and not increase the affliction of your poor I ntlirr; for if yotir healti should be againl endangered, you nitual IbIe aware it would addc to the grief that we are all feeling for Mla. =tiltia. Youir nlotht.r and all beg their love to flenry and, to Mir. Neill. Mly feelings I carnnot, and will nor, attenipt to describe; but always, dlear Isabella, Your verv sincere friend, "TIOMAS ASPINAIL, AMiss 1. Waite, Mlr. Rostonl's, 7, Dale.street, Manchester." Cross-exaritnred by Alr. BRaovost a_t.. saw tile defeirldant write about twvo mn=ntritago.-L wyrote ax letter to my iliriaband tell- ing ihim of the illns otm siter I stood over tire dcfendant whilst he wrote it, In or-der ir.list1 lingit know his isand writing. I Ilavc been niarriedi two months. I swear that I ami the wvife of Mir. Neole, but I dJeclirleto s;ay whiere I was maruled. My3 namne is Neele, aI Id riot O 'Neill. I do not recollect at this mnoment the exact date of my wedding dlay, bait it wasq about two months ago. St. Thomasa's. bultlinps, iu wliich we lirenl wiren we firs%t went to Liverpool, iti very narrow street. Our hiouse was immediately opposite the Giolden Cross. I was itt it once witliI my sister. Two gendelmien weat with us, one of theniame of lHall from Yorkslrire. Mly father, however, was with usi at tIre timne, and we lIran just come fron tire Ciicus. When we first wesit to St. Thomias's.buildings, we lived with r IAirs. Rigby, but afterwards with a Mrs. Cray. We left Mrls. Rigby because we were not so comfortable as we could wish. Shec made nc objection to our goingz. Siie made no objection to our staying. Sbr would rather that we had stoppedi tlan gone. It was to Mirs. Cray'r house that tire defendant camie when lie first vis4ited MY sister.I first saw himi in the spring of 18a~ I cani't exactly say tile iltoitItl. I ,aw Irim twice before Mrs. A8pirlall came. I returned front Blackburn ltl conseqrteilce of my sister's letter in Mlardli. I had been starying- there for thrree or four montlis. I do nol know that the first time my sister saw Aspinall was in the begiutltirlg of' MarcI ; to the best of iny recollection she tole, me that alie lad seeur hini before I went to Blackburn, andI went thereabout Christmas, 1821, Mly father tGook my sister. to AMrs Asinl's whorl she went to stay there three or four Months. Lie cllZed u.ponl iier once or twice whilst she remainecl there. After tony 8staer camne back to niy fatlrer'isliouse, Alr. AsDhiliall used soinetimeA to visit her. We then lived itn WVhitechapelf. where my sister bad a front roomi, chiefly to herself, because she wsas ill, btrt not entirely sio. Mlysister has been ill from the tirire of ttile discovery to tire ptresent day. She has been conflired to the 1h5usde; she has very iseldomn left it, except in at coach. She has gone out SOrsetIMCs in carriage with Mir.-Aspinall, but myv brotiler always accotlparnieJ her. I do not know thiat she frequently walked out alone With Alr. As1pin2ll after slite camne from lier visit at his house. I nlearn to swear tirat shenever walked out with him rilone after tirat visit. To my knowledge Mlr. Aspina;l never was aCCUStomned to Visit MY sister alone after the discovery. After she caine fron l ier visit to hils wife, ito objection was maciec to A%pinall's seeing mny sister wlien she wa., welt etrough to sit up. Aspinall never passed in our house thrat I know of by the trame of Dr. Alorrlnori. liysi3ter never saitl to me. nor to aniy otller person io my hrearing, in speaking of Aspinall. "This person's ratineisDr.di ojrison." I will swear that. I know Mlary Ann Bruce ; slire once was our servant. I never hleard myv sstel call the deferldant Dr. Mlorrison in her preslence. illy sister, wyheti ill, was; always dressed like an invalid. She inight sometimes be dlressed in wliite dresgses, und sometimses she niight halve on a whit- sarcenet gown. ''ihat was when slite wvanoing out iuea carriage, and not when she was going a walking. 'She very seldom, or rather never, walked. Mly brother has somnetimesgone oni messages between the plaintifl antil the defendlairt. I never saw hiini bring her tiny lpre. sentit fromn Iiinl. Defendant may hiave sent her presents for any tliing I know. Mly sister never had a quarterly allowance from Aifr. Aspirrall that I know of'. She kas, told me that Al r. Aspitlall liar once or twice giveni her a Ifttle complenment, but site never told tme that slite had from hiim a quarterly allowance. I never hoeard that fromnartylof our family. My farirer p id for m eater's white sarce. not dressest. She Ilad themi bef'ore she knew Afir. Aspinall. At the latter end of last September my tister was able to walk about tire house. Alr. rAsphilall did niot then give her mioney as I krrow of, Shie trever told me that lie did, antui I believe he did not. I never hieard of Mr. Aspina1l's dining alone wittis my sister at our house itt Whitiectige). I dlon't believe thlat lie ever did. Mly sister went tc ldge at d~rs. Warren's. I took the lodgings, and mtiy father paid t1horni. I do not krtow that my stster liail a regular mtonthly allow. anceLfronm Alr. Aspinall. I was never toirt that sie had. Icanniot say that I do not believe that she ever hadi monley from- himi. II believe that he has paid her soitie nroney trorli time to timne. I tic not ktlow that n-my sister received 41. 7-t. 6d. a niontir from Mlr. Ast. pirnall, and Ii. is. a-week-tire one for Irer board, and the oliser tot her lodiging. Air. BROUuGeAM.Whtat do you believe upon tire subject ? Air.Brona If LLOCa..-.t'ssite does tiot know It, wiiy do you salt her about her belief ? The witness continuer(....l do not know lthat the Aiefeirtdant reftised to~ve Mry sister anlysecurity on his houses. I lireard him say, thiai iitewas to lose ilis situation inr the custom.-houso, he couldI not af. fodt ive irer 1001. n.year. He did not say in m etn,ta beside htS nitliatios he had rlotltiirrgniore thar,60l. a-Tyear. I tirinir that mty iltother r.eer knew ofmy sis,ter's writi-n) to Mr.Aspinall. Mly illotler wars deranged whorl miy edster ret,-riled trom titere; she wenti clerangred just after my sisiter became sto ill-that was about twelvi mtornths ago. At y sister never liad a bad accident from a mill ir Yorkslthire that I know of. f do not know that my f'amily are in dia. tressed circurrinsances ; I lirave been three, months away f'rom them Ti'ey were in comfortable circumstarlces whien I was at howle. Mly fatirer had no difficulty in paying for my sister's dressesl. IRe-examiined by 11.1r. t,Vx r.r.r,tres.-..Aty sister stayed a week al I Mrs. WVarren'si, by order of' the dottor,whwb thoughit it a more airy situration than our house in WVhitecbapel. I did not pay, the bill for tire lodgings mys;elf. I saw- my faither pay it. AMY sister received a fe soeregnsfrom Alr. Aspirtall when nile was ill. It was to pay fomdcltvice. lie wished that Dr-~Trail should attend her r he s3aid that he should be mor6 reconciled to her fate if he did. Mfrs Aspinall, as well as Alr. Anpiniall, called on my sister, after my sister returned from hler visit thtere. ily mother was deranged~about year ago. Notiling ailed liter previously to tile dilrrcover`y oftire de. foendant's treachery. Mlylirusband ist not a Roiman Cathelic-ireis rnember of tile Churchr of England. By Mr. BaRO-vG 1AX-t.YOU know your sister'i handwriting ? I amn not sure that I do. I am as sure that these letters [looking at some produced] are in her handwriting, as I ami that the letter jusi now prordtirced is in tire haridwritirsGof the dAefenidanit. By dlr. SCARLETr -Ari Vii.Wlen my sister gave up) his letters to tire defendant, she reqtuested that he worild give up hers;- but he refused to do so. Cecilia Hlampsori examitled0 by Mir. POLLOCKc.-Aly husband it, the son of the late Mlr. Hampson, whbo kept tire leorge inn, Lirer. pool it isone of' tire respectable inn's in that town. I kniew tlitt pliWntiff's familiy on their first arrivasl in Liverpool. I viaited theIrl in Mlay, 1822. 1 rerirember meetitng AMigs sWaite walking arm-in. aIm withi the defendarrt in Dale-street, in tire summer of 1821. Shs introduced him to mie an Mlr. Bromfield,r a nd he said that was hi, name. I maw hiill frequently with her in tire streets afterwards. I never saw him in the house until after the time of' the discolvery, About a year ago I rmet I1im at the door of he-r fatier' a house, and I told him tilat she was dangerously ill. He said he was sorry for it, as sihe was the most innocent virtuous eiri in the world, and that he hiad been the ruin of Iere. lHe desilred to be admiitted to thelhouse; but I refused to admit him, telling him that her mother would not allow it,. if he enterd, she woaild com- mnit violence upon him. I recollect seeing sorme caps at the hlouse on the day they were brourght 110010 ; the plaintiff told me they were ether by 5ir. Bromfield, to whom she wasgtruing.to-be maurieni soe 81towedl me a botInet anti some dresses in whichl she was to be married. She told me i5at she was to be married within a week o1 thrat tine. I never heard any tiling againstthe plaintiff's character. I hieard the uolaintifF comrplain to the defcndant of some sIlander which had bee. spread against her by Fanny Brooks and - Max- well. She said she could not live with the scandal of the world upon her. fe told her to institute an action against them, and he would support her to the last farthing which he had in the world. Cross-examined by Mr.BRo uGHAmr.-This was after I knew him to be Mr. Aspinall: it was about 9 montbs ago. Miss Waite visited me both at the time I knew him to be Mr. Bromnfeld antd when I knew him to be Mr. Aspinall. I never saw bim walk with her since hc was known to be MIr. Aspinall. I hEve never seen her walk in the street, unless when she has walked with me, and then she was obliged to take hrold of my arm for her support. Re-exanmined by MAr. SCAItnITT.-I recollect giving t7-w defend. set an answer one day at tIe door of the plaintiff, before I knew him to be Mfr. Aspinrtrl. The plaintift' came to the door,when. she said to him, ' HIow do yet do, Mr. Bromfiqld ?" and he replied, " How do you do, Miss Walte ?" I never was out in the street With the plaintifif except. wice since the discovery, and then I was obliged to supsort her isI a turn gr two she took ltp and down the street. vhoniaa&Neelo, examined by AMr. SCARLVT .-_I am a inercer at Manchester. I arrndtiatsbandof the vitness just called. I was rarried on the 12th ofXulylst; but I have a reason why I do not say. where I was inarriedi. I swear that she is nay wife. I did not lnow the plaintiff till the end ofSeptesnber, 182. She was then at Mr. Aspgina gl's. firstbe cawma e acpq utaiinted with her history in 1 22 or te bg'tnino~ I2~.I ws aprisd o itby r-Aspinall. him. . eb me acquainted with bllr. Aswin~ a tthe endof 1822. The pBntw8as not then confined to her b'ed, bsat she was still vo ery ill t hu g2 tadsevee ft?t fiflinues .' Ow hich s he had, AMr. A spinall toldme liaChe ad mde nquiiesabot visits to the house,and that Mtatilda hadi toild him that Ti as paying my addresses to her elder sister. Hie therefore thought it right to tell me lhow he was situat- ed withi regard to Mlatilda. die said he haLd passed hirmself oil' to her as a single mnan, amid as stich had woni her affections anid lost the mastcery of his owls. Lie said thlat if he bad niot been detected, he would hlave married her, let the consequence be whiat they mnighit. lie aid,he ws soinfauate by er,he coald not hlcp it. 'i,!Isnevr h sul' of he le dclaed erinnocence its the mnost soleit ay ;sun culd~cclre t. henDr. AMacartniey was caled n, ie esied e t sit te dctor about the nattira of her compaIn, an toreprt te rsultto im.lie pperedto live gret axiey ac.u he. Ireollct ia resingthefamlyto have more 1hysctan., about her. te wrote mealte ota fet. Thaf is tbe lettr It wan datetd 28th Februar,134 The letter wvas here produceed, and puit in, Ir Was As follows- "1 Liverp,ool, 10 o'clock a. mn., 28thi Feb.~ 1t14. 11! v dleAr Sir,-Poor Matilda, I[fear, is rapidly, leaving thi worldi she this instanit llegq her love to you to comie over here Immediately to see here once again. Indleed, if y ou wishl to see her alive, you musea loe no timle. Do comne: it is hIer wishi, and I shall for ever thanik you. Isabella is supp~,rted by- the Almnighty ; for her exer- tionsi are contisaual and miost affectionate to her suffering sister, a.-d I shall ever bles hier. I caninot saY mote, hat that I am yourts most sincerey. TH03MAS ASPINA.Mi. Tewitness Conitinued --I came in conisequence of that letter. After I arrived, I found Itiatilda in Stich a condlition that I did not expect her to live. The persns attending tier even thoughit her to be dead. HJe sisiters put their e;ar downi to her to listen whethier she breathed or, not.. I did so too. I had then an Interview viitli Ir~JAg lIe said that it would be right to have furthier a(lvie in,andi tha,t he thtotight Mr. Baird could not object to it. I a pplied to Air. Baird on the next visit ahout it. I told hiil tat tlse family wished for anothier physician. He saisl thtat he was quite satisfied; that te had no objection to make to itebttt that he hiad bceen going to miake it hilmself. I went, by hi ;~sre to fetch I Dr. Traile nivgelf. Mr. Asp~inall told me that he meant to make an ampl provI sion for her dtaringr hii life, as he kniew that he was the onliy causec of her sufferings. 'I believe the pa- per now prodluced is in the defendant's handwriting. Cross-examined by Air. Bison3 5lIA?NT.-I first saw thne plaintiff Itn September or October 1822. I have seen her frequentlv since. I have seen Mlr. Aspinail withi lier frequetitly. lHe need to inquire at'- ter her healtlt, and go into the roomn where she was.I Tans not aware that Mr. IVaite is ins dlifficulties, or In straighitened circumnstances. He has not mssch propertv. lfie is able, I believe, to pay for Ala- tilda's expenstes. Ile is quitte able to pay for her dress andi board. Dr. J. Mlacartney, exaninied by Ailr. WsrLasA3St..-.I have been. for 32 years a physica atLirerpool. I was called initosattend Miss .aite in the beginna,in'g of. May,1823. She called ttpon me the first timie I saw lier, anid I afterwardit attendled hier at her fathe-'s house. Slies waa thien extremelv nervous, and fall of all sorts of complaints. Her complaints were chieflv nervous, and I treated them as such. She hati a gzreat deal of fever, which we medical men call sym ptormatic; she hiad a palpitation of heart, a pain in her side and headl, and was liable to faInting fits. Distress of mind waws likely to have brought an thiose symptoms. I knew nothing of he'r situation at that time, and thierefore did not attribu te liet sytmptoms to that cause ; but now that I do know of it, I think that her disappointmtent In love and other matters were suf. ricient to prodluce the stymptoms. I saw her for three months after- wards: she was still ill. I saw her in February last ; she then ap-. peared to be better, and discontinued mv visits; she was, however, then aili.ng. I ensnider6d her to be suffering from mental disease. I did not see tier whien she was afterwards aso ill. She is under 20. In all thie intercourse IlIiad withi tier she conducted herself with the utmst ececy.Thee ws agret~el o dtfidncpand apparent modesy inher mnnertowars meI ouh ott ay apparent madeay, ecaue tht miht lad t asuico thtit was only feiged; thik itwas eal.She s a er godloig girl. Cross-xainied..jdid nt ascrbe he avnpcns to distress, of mindtil I ear ofall hes cicumtanes.I haeseen suchl symp. tonme occuir when th ere hias been no distress of insooccasion them. Thec Instructions for a bonid, which Mir. Neele had proved to be in the defendant's hand.writing, were then put in and read; they were as follow:- 1, T. A., this-.. da of July, 1114, on my part hereby proimise and agree to pay to Al. V1. during miy natural life and no lnger, as a full aad entire compensation for any and every promise, or injury, or supposed promiise or injury, I may have said, made, or done to the said Al. Wi., die sum'of 1001. per annum, the said' annuity for ttIr life of me the aaid T. A., to cease upon thze e*jiit either of the deathi or nieLrriage of the said M. Wr., and!4he. aTe said Al. W., on her part agrees to accept this promnise and agreemnent, as a full atone- mient and cempensation for aFlland evers' roierinjury, or sup- posed promnise or injury that the said 'r. A. may have staid, mnade, or (tone to the said All. W. Of this apreement there is a duplicate, the original to remain in the handsi of the said AT1. W., and thie du- plicate with the said T. A. ; and mnoreover as tlhis'agreement is in- tended solely, for the advantage of the said M.W.,%he is on no account to siell or dIspwos of her interest in it, and if she does sell or dlispose of' it, then the annuity aforesaid wholly to cease. Witniess our hiatida and seaIs."1 The case for rhjc plaintiff here closed. M1r. BROUosTA-1tIthen rose to address thiejury for the defendlant. He had hardly eve known a case brought into a court of law which requiiredI ajury to keep thcir niinds in the eveni state so essential to the ends ofjustice more imperioutly than the present; and faor title obvinus reason-that thev were likely to be led mistray, when there was laitl before them a series of acts oni the part of' the defendant w71inch it wvas in every way impossible to justify-for which he conk? not help feeling sorrow himself-which, in his own eyes, partial as they miust be to his own errors and still more in the eyesi of itn- partial persons, whlo would itot'iooc upon them so tenderly, appear- ed to deserve the strongest reprehension. WVhen they liad before themn on the one stile a mat, in these circumnstances, and on the other a femnale4ptted against him, and complaning of themn, and complaining of them withi justice, he said, that above all other cases the pre-sent (lid require of themn to bethink themn well of the real questioa which was to come befote them. Though his climnt was to blame, anti the plaintiff had been inijured by -isa villainy, still it oughit niot to be forgotten that shahad contracted 4oineiufit by c:Ontimring her Intimacy with himn att&n all ecittses for it had ceased io exist. Hie therefore implored them not to bestowr ah tieicr pity upon the sufferings of' the plaintIff, which were partly attributable to her own misconduct; but to extend a, por- tion of it to another party, who was not at all to blame in thIs transaction, hut vhe whio was quite as great a sufferer b'itas the plaintiff-he meantthe wIfeof the defendlant. He entreat- e te-to rcolect that their verdict would affect the interestts of that unoffnding lady and her children, and that what was exacted of the defendaent as a mere reparatiou of his maisconduct, nigKht con- vey degols.ton and ruini to her and her unfortunate progeny. He could assure them, that If any thing like reason had been sRhown by the plaintiff and hner famTily-if any thing like moderation hud ap- peared in their deinana~--lf any thing but the entire rolbbery and ruiin of the defendant's wife and children woultd have satisfied their inordinate estpidity, he should not haye had to trouble thena In that court on behalf of hIs client I but when he foaind that the were always menacing himr with an appeal to a court of justice, if Ke did not yield to thieir exactlons-..when he found that they were always threateniing him with that exposure which would that day fail upon his head, if he did not submit to their extravagant pretensionis, he determined at all hazards to meet themn In a court of justice, and by so doing to pi-event themn f'rom stripping hiim of thie wbole of his fortunes; for, acting as they did, h~ow did hie know thnat they wouldA be contented with any thin leI than his whole estate? So long as he was afadotec steo his trainoaction- so long wvould tI litf nti cins ong would her f'ather, her mothe,b e rtes e itrs and her whole family, feel themslen tlbryt apply to him for mt'ney, to reniiove their ifclis n supply their extravagance. He therefore foresaw that there would be no limit to their extortion, tinsil they hiaul found tlse limit of his fortune, and until they had de- prived hiim of' every farthing whierewithi to support his wife and fa- mnily. 'rl'le colnsequence was, that lie now 4etiTisnded thje opinion of a jury as to the compensation which he ought to pay 1 anld in esti- mating thlat compensationi, hie trusted that the jUry, in considlering the inur whicht the plaintiff hiad sustained, would not entirely for- get hat hich had been also inflicted on the defendant's wife. lVhat, then, he wosild asic them, were thie facts of this eane, as they ap- peared from dlie plaintiff Is evsdencee? Wh.y, that Air, Aispinall be- came intimate with the plain tlf' tinder the disguise of a false name, and under the pretence of being a single mian-that in the course of his intimacy with her, he became the victim of infatuation rather thnan of passion-(ne (air. Broughain) did not use the term inf'atta.- tion as ani e;icuse for Mr. Aspinall, foDr it was his duty In have re- sisted inqtesd.of yielding-to it)-that he became desperately attaChed to her, and she to himo-that in the progress of events she ac- cidentally discovered that hte was not what he pretended to be-that slIe saw the wife to whom he wras actually mnar- ried, and heardi himt coitfess that mariage w ith hiis own lips- that liia wifea was distreased, and she~ hersel distracted by the dis- covery that was made; and that, notwithstand(ing eli these ci?cuin- sfanceR, Alr. Aspinall had told her, that if his wife had noet comae in .at the time sitle had done, he wouild have comnmitted a felotny to obtain poseesslots of her person-he would have, coenotitted the act of big-any, and would have married her at all haeards, even though hi& wife was livingc In trie same town, and almiost in the samne street withi her. lHe wouild beg themn to conesider what the plaintiff did, after seeing the defendant's wife in the distracted situation to wvhichi she had been reduced, and after being Informed by the de- fendant of the villainy-he n2ikh.t rather taY the ititattity-of hlis ow~n conduce. Did she break ot all acquaintance with him ? Did she terminate their intiimacy? Did she teU him as any woman, he would not say of virtue and honour, but of the common decency belopging to the oex, would have toldI him? " Henceforth there id an end of all tntercouree between im, ; since.yois -are hot a single man], come not here asq a loVer sI nce You are a matrleci man, vis"it not hese at all, much lessi upon the termsd upon which you have hitherto btee accustomed to visit me?" No such ti the was reconciled to her betrayer-she want to visit his wjf_Islle lived in the house of the man whofti all the witnescse had descrfbed as infatuated with love for he-~o~rtturntd fzomn as house to her owns alld theCe the was repeatYedlyvtte -y him, though her father, tier miother, her brothers, andI her sisters, all of them knew that lie had beeni all but caught in the act of committing biga~mY with her. These imputations upo~n hler conduct were not. bsle iThobervdmae W3in how equer,ca pofn'ahiahi eae eesr the result of te examinains of the witnessesl produced in court tipon her instructions ; they arose not out of any accont ofher th obs foundl in his brief, but otot of' thle account of her given by het own witnesses to supprt the openln statemest of her own nanmrstl.. The question, then, really came to ths--had the plaintiff a right to conr.. plain of tl ininury she had r-eeived? He allowedtb athise)ien thad been to blAme; but he had before admitted that he had dane tuch to 'repair his error,e an4 had been willing to do even still more. If the paintiff had bee ant al reasonable In her claims for redress, no Cause of thfI nature would hiave come before them for g tl at these assizesg. There was, however, a point at which it became necessary to stoP ; and there was no man, he was sure, who would not szee that the defendant had no other readn for bringing thie action to trial than the Impossibiity. of corning to anY rational comiiromise with the plaintilfandhberadvise Fordid theythinktehaataran wko moved in Mtr. Aspinall's sphere of, life, and possesed the knowlegtigo'f the world which It wras only naturfa to supipse that he did'possess, wouldl allow thisi matter too otain the publicity Ii. wee now certain to ob- tain, and would consent to incur the loid of ptublic odiumtotowhIch he nowimust be exposed, Iflheecould have prevented it byanyvmo- derate sacrifice ? Could Any thing account for his briti$ltig thisf ac- tion into court, but t hq extcra'vant demands, the exorbitant claimns the insatiaible demandsi of the plaintiff and her family? They said that he mustallow her an aitmuit3yof 1091. for herlife, atld mustsetlee it upon certain hiouses ovyer which he exercised at prese-nt the zighes. Of property. His client had irefusedi to eccede to Siuch 4erft3s Of ODm- promise, because he felt that if he ditd so, he wouldl be acting witth the roasese 5jusice nd td mo t hatess depravity, to hIs wife and chlden.Hi ~crne fien hd apeled to hem tlidet hored hemtogiv tht aout ocometss?onto iih h e as esarcher, !eneCustomsa-a fac w1iiclrheIirarlnroapro v -A, anz wlinij- their own experienee wvoul, m,.,t probable inform tiemn to' be ulb- true, no searcher having half that sum,; tiad riot omr v th,,r, brir 0.r" ani independent private fortune, otf which, by Ih by, no ' , I' had been given,thougli If it were the case,such proofmI, gisthavebeen eensil v. supplied. Under such circumstances his learnedt frienid htad let the east. goto thejury,endeavoLrring to) remake tksembelieve that tsucia comspensa- tion wouald not be more than thje defendant coulid well Afford to pay, thouigh hie hiad nlot liroducedI a single witness to show that hisi repre- sentation of the state of the defen1dnt'8 finances was correct, or that the dirfendatnt postsessed that independenit private fortutre of' whiich the was stated to have talked so mutch to tfie platintifi"'s witteseser He truisted, hiowever, that they would jrause long befbrt, they gave such a reniitheration to the plaintiff; for whiat would be the rosrne. quaince of thecir giving suceh dtarages to Miss Matilda Wiaite As hier counsel now Asked for?e It might be well ttm feel indignationi aigainst Mr. Aspin,%U for the mischief he hiad done it might be waell to feel abhorrence for time mischief hie had initended to do); it might be well to make hint suffer for the infatutteion uinder which lie had laboureti, provided that he wvere the only suiflerer4 but woutld it be well, hie would ask them, that conduct like that of Aliss Waite s,hould be enicouraged and rewarded ? Hlis learned friend had wished to excite indignation against the defendant on her behalf;- but he wouldt ask them, were thy to fe-el no indignation on behalf the defendanit's wife, who had been injured bty this Miss AV-4ite hierselt. They wvouldi see fromn the evidence of the case, that tire conditioni of' Miss Itatte andi the remaintler of her famiily, wasr, to say the leastof it, subject to great suspiicion ;he was now speaking of tire caste wliielt thev hiad openedland prdved aga~nsstheinselv,es. He would now supposieth'atper- sonisin needy-circumsitan,ces like theni,, possessediof no vrry scrupulo'us sensgeof proprlet3y,endowed with no very nice feelingsrof virtue and de- cency, (andi that was the description the plaintiff kad given 'of her- stelf and family),hatd becomne p-ossessed of a powereover a person ipi the situation of the defendant, in cconsequence of some scrape in which he had involved himself' by lila own folly, anid inf'atuiation ; lie would suppose that it was their determiination to f'ollow up to the uttermost the advanEage they. had gained, that it was their plan to make tire most of it, that it was t'heir resolution to convert that whichi of itself was la misfortune atld calamity in its outset into at source of' wealthi, profit, and extortion, would they not, lie as;ked, act, just as the Iplaintiff's fami'ly hiati actedi ; and if tlhey worr(it so act, Vass there not a key given to) thietn for their continiuinig their intercourse withi thie defendanit after they lhad tdetected hin, it, the act of contrivimrg the ruin of their daughter, and the consrtinmroaun, if they couldl be- lieve hier witnesses, of en act of biganly e He had no in-struc tioins fronm his client to speak hiarsthly, ofher, he-had no instractionjs from hiim to call witnessest to blast her chiaraceter mere completely thian it liad becir blasted by her own witnesses; but,taking it upon tlhe representations which those witnesses hiad given of it, he miust call the conisidera. tion of ehiejury to it. He did so in thie exercise of the discretion which was intrusted to him as couns,,el for tire defenidant, and hie said thiatbeae he didi nut wish to expse hisi client to the sarcasm of hislerne fred ohdcagdhm wvith tire intenation of wound- ing the character of her whose peace of mind he had already blasted. Whens it was placed before the jury by courraci, it was their aduty so) take it into thleir serious ccnsideration, and to examine whether the chsaracter aini conduct of' the plaintiff, as described by her sister, were such as required f4vour at their handts. It was sot thteir being satisfied tliat the defendant was muchi to blamie in his behaviour to thiE young womnan-it was not their desire of repirobating hil frenzied passion and triad infatuatiot,-it was trot their wis%h to declare that in thleir opinion) he had done that which he ought not to have done, aond thatt he had failed in hris ditty, tnot only in his own famoily, but to the laws of his country,- it wasi not.r.tirese conaiderations, separately or conjo,intly, that wouldI justify themn in rewarding the plaititiff'. 'I'hey were called upon by his learied f'riend to) remtuneraite htr, not only as not be- ing a criminal, but also as being an innocent victintiof fraudi and treachery. Before thiey did so, he trusted that thiey, would consi- tier that for the greater part of what she hiad suffered, site had herself end hierself' ohly to thank ; andt that shte ought to have cot off all comnmunication with the defendlant, at the very mnomient thatt slie discovered that lie a-as a marriedi man., and itad sought to betray her to her owni destruction. She did no suchi tliimig ; neither dtid hier family. They hadl themnselves, th,erefoire, to blamre for her subseqer illness, If the platintiff miad had the comi-mon fcelingF of B=am bielongThg to hier sex, she would have wvalkedi in a very different path from that along whichi it bad been her destiny to move. The last house over wirlose threshoirl she would have p laced her foot, would haye been that of the defendarrt. If there had been tro other being to assiociate withi in the worldt-if there hath been no otlier companiotn ofttire other sex to am-use her solitude, thiat man, after what hiad passed betweeni them, was the last man wino ought to lirave been allowed to break in upon it. Itratead of that, hie was the mnan whomn she 'vent to visit at hiis lrouse-whose visits she received at hter own-with whiom she went oDut-witlh whom she satL at home-from wrhom slite received nioney-withi whom she corrfesponded, anti with whomi slie exchianged letters anti presentst- of love. Was slie, then, the pdraon who was not only to be remunerated an injttred, but alsio rewarded as innocent?P If jisrie would allow themnselves to be run awsty with by feelinigswii were not consistent with tire endis of justicc.-if they would determine to irrflict putnishmnert in catses where they were only called upon to settle terms of reparation-if thteve wou,ld turn only to the consideration of ttire defnudant's conduct where they were bound to turn to the considleration of the plaintiff's also, mi-erable would the consequenicesi be to the admininstration of:, us- tice, andI to the Bound morality of society. He therefore trtrreted tkat the jury wOuld give tire srmallest possible damiages, if they throught it their duty to give any. If they diotherwtse, thiey would inculc-ate a mos%t prejutdicial lesson to' society--nianiely, thtat a wosmral could not belnave too, ill to entitle her, supposing that an indivi- dtsal hiad beltaved ill to her, to an ample com~pens;ation at tire h4nds of a jury. He hanl now dlone with tire case: he would siorply stare to themi the evidence wtinsi hie intenided to call. (M-ere the learned counsel cons%ulted with the attorniey for the def'endant for a few inni- nute%, and then proceeded.) He begged their pardoni: in the ab- sence of irrstructions on th'- point, he would take Upon himTself not to call. any evidlence, as lire well knewr that Mlr. Aspinall had no teel. ings of animosity against tire plaintiff, and as hie was also Aware that it was imposib.ille to carry thie case further against her by, heapingu On her had by his wiEnesrre, greater ignominy than had been - res4yheap_&p~ it-by lher own, zr Bao ULLOCKC then summed tip the evidence to the jury. tfle told them shat' potho o,0no.w1,,ht ,ettms be for the plaintifF. I estimaing the damiages to which she was en- titled, they woauld take into their contsideration what had been hner character and conduct. Now it was allowed that no irnputatmon rested upon eithier, and he would leave themi to consider whether thie plaintiff and her famnily, from their station in lif'e, mighit inot have had an idea that they were doing nothing improper, in adniittieg teixtofthe debias as a friend, after they had discovered that he ws a iarred an.The learned j'udg was. pepalring to read the evidlence to the jury, when they infortsred him that it was totally unnecessary. After a few ministes' deliberation, they retuirned a vcrdict for tire Plainkilftf-.-amages 7hO)- Tire damages laid in tire declaration were 5,OWI01 CHESTERt, THuu SDAy, S,EPT-i. Richard W-oods, a man aged about -50, was indicted for an assault upon a child under six years old, named Sarah Ml'Turk, In Sep. tember lest, with an intent to abuse her person. From the numiber of theite bruital sases that have been tried in this towni, a detailed accoDunt can no longer be of any -interest. -The as. skault was clearly proved. irndependent of' the admission of the piri- soner Iimiself, wrho, when lie was apprehended at Bolton, in Lanca- ishire, said, that he must have been eLither mad or drunk when lie commfitted ft. This case was greatly aggravated by' the circum- sitance of tire br-ute lhavlng beer the cause of this little girl now Ia- bouring under a disease, which rendered it irecessary that she siroulri be handed over to the care of the parish officers. Ttte jury immediately tf@und a verdict of Guilfg. TIhe Cout t, in pasin senterrce, oommented in severe ternis upon the enornrity of this offenace, and lamnented tire frequiency of it in this tcounty. It was necessary, therefore, to exrercise the strong armn of te law to suppress it, and above all in this mnanufacturing cottnty, where femiales were, nit a tender age, pleced awvay fromi the control of their parents, to work at the factories. Ttresentence of tire Court was, that the prisonet should be confined for the spaoe of three years in the House of Correction5, and kept at hard work during that tiime. Johne 1lamilon was cipitalvy convictedi for a felonious assault uipon JTenima, CooDper, spinuster,' at Mlottram, in the parish of Lon- dondale, in, this, county, oir the 24th of August last. The offence was clearly proved, but the girl's character not being respectable, and the pristoner bearing a very high character, the jury particularly recommerided biun to mercy. lie is to be brought up for jiudgment to-miorrow morning. SUt.U Ek ASSIZES. LANCASTER, WEDNESDAY. RV.PT. A. WAITE T. ASPlXATI.