[list-cumbria] Carlisle Patriot, 13 Mar 1824 - Cumberland Spring Assizes (31)

[Petra Mitchinson]

Saturday 13 Mar 1824   (p. 1, col. 5 - p. 4, col. 5, and p. 1, col. 4)

 

CUMBERLAND SPRING ASSIZES. 

 

[continued] 

 

NISI PRIUS. 

  

BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE. 

HOBSON v. ISMAY. 

 

Mr. PATTESON said, in this case, William Collin HOBSON was the Plaintiff, and Ann ISMAY, the defendant. The declaration contained
five counts, and stated, 1, that the defendant had promised to marry the plaintiff on request, and had not done so; 2, that she had
promised to marry him in reasonable time; and 3, 4, 5, that she had promised to marry on specified days; in all of which she had
failed in performance. Damages laid at £500. 

 

Mr. ALDERSON addressed the Jury.—He appeared on this occasion on behalf of the plaintiff, Mr. HOBSON, who complained that the
defendant, Miss ISMAY, had broken her promise to him, as stated by his learned friend Mr. PATTESON, and sought compensation at the
hands of the jury for what he could not but feel a cruel and irreparable injury. And he (Mr. ALDERSON) was quite sure that they
would lend to the consideration of the question their most serious and dispassionate attention; because, undoubtedly, as a promise
of this tender and all-important kind ought not, on the one hand, to be rashly made, so most especially, on the other hand, ought it
not to be rashly or wantonly broken; for a violated pledge of this peculiar nature not only caused a man suffering in the best and
most sacred feelings of his heart; it also threw a doubt over his character, lessened his respectability in the eyes of too many of
mankind, and interfered with his prospects in life, to say nothing of his future peace; for well might the world suppose that he had
done something wrong, when a delicate and ardent mind retracts the vow which she has made to live with him throughout life, and
withholds from him that happiness which she had so solemnly pledged herself to confer. Therefore it was, and therefore alone, that
Mr. HOBSON—who felt nothing of this—who felt altogether unconscious of having done any thing unworthy of himself or of her who had
placed him under so painful a necessity—thus determined to submit his case to their consideration, assured that at their hands he
should receive that reparation which must be the object of every honourable mind in similar circumstances—a vindication from the
imputations attempted to be cast upon him, and the more odious because unspecified. He was not instructed to reproach the fair
defendant with any thing but her violated vow, nor would he do it if he were so instructed. He had no other fault to find with Miss
ISMAY. He had no other fault to find with her, than that she had surrendered her feelings and her judgment to others, and converted
that surrender into means of serious wrong, not a little directly, but greatly more by implication: for it would be seen in the
sequel that his greatest fault was that he had not enough of the gifts of fortune, and that others had induced her to break her
solemn engagements. Mr. HOBSON, his client, was a respectable young man, who had for some time past resided at Templesowerby, but
recently at Penrith, and carried on business as corn-dealer and seedsman—a young man who moved in respectable society, was a member
of Mr. ATKINSON's troop of Yeomanry, commanded by Col. LOWTHER, and had always conducted himself with propriety and honour. He
became acquainted with the defendant (who was the daughter of a widow lady, residing at Brackenlands, near Wigton, in this County,)
about July, 1823, when he was introduced and accepted by her, with the consent of her mother, as a suitor; and so early as the 13th
of that month she considered him as likely to become a husband, for in writing to a friend at that time, she mentions the
circumstance in her letter.—In all that I see in Miss ISMAY's letters, continued Mr. ALDERSON, I can discover nothing but what
reflects honour upon her head and heart, and they certainly afford me the strongest ground for asking heavy damages; because the
greater her excellence, the greater the loss of my client—the greater the deprivation of the many years of happiness which he had a
right to promise himself in the society of such a companion, now wrested from him by a lamentable breach of faith. I repeat, that I
see nothing in the letters which I am about to read to you, but what reflects upon her the highest credit, and clearly proves to
you, Gentlemen of the Jury, the deep injury which the plaintiff has sustained. On the 18th of July she writes in these terms from
Brackenlands:— 

 

"My dear William—I received your kind letter yesterday, and can do no less than return you thanks for the many kind promises
contained therein. You are aware I love you, and that my heart is wholly yours. But in saying this, do not for one moment fancy I
shall consent to give you my hand before the appointed time; I mean in the month of December; therefore I trust you will not urge me
on this point, for I really cannot comply with your request sooner. Have you not heard me say that I do not approve of hasty
marriages? I am sure this would be an instance, were it, as you wish, to take place almost immediately." 

 

Nothing, Gentlemen, can speak more plainly, more clearly, that the plaintiff was the man on whom she had fixed her affections; and
as an earnest of it, had promised to marry him in the December following, as we here see under her own hand. This, I feel very sure,
would be sufficient to establish my case were I to sit down and rest content with it. But I shall not stop here: I have much to
state to you of a still more unequivocal nature before I conclude my observations. The whole of the remainder of this letter, I will
not trouble you with. Wigton races, it appears, were approaching; the defendant invites Mr. HOBSON, and alludes to a report that he
had a horse to run. She speaks of his accompanying a friend to Wigton, and expresses a hope of seeing him either on the evening
preceding or on the morning of the races: and she concludes in a manner exceedingly natural in a young woman who expects to see the
lover of her choice. After telling him that her mother, aunt, and Miss RICKERBY desire to be remembered, she says that she must say
no more, "for if I write too much at present (she observes) I shall have nothing to talk about when you come." (A laugh.) 

 

The effect of this upon a warm heart must have been magical. It is good, and kind, and honest; such as a man ought to expect from
the woman of his love about to become his wife. Every word, every sentiment of the letter redounds to her credit; for you must
recollect, Gentlemen, it was not written to be laid before us, but was intended for the eye of one then destined very soon to assume
a still nearer relation—I say, and you will agree with me, that the man who has lost a woman who writes thus, has lost what your
verdict cannot give him. But there is something in this letter connected with what has been insinuated against the character of my
client. Mention is made of his having a horse to run at Wigton, about which I expect to hear much on the other side, for Mr. HOBSON
is no stranger to the fact that attempts have been made to sully his reputation by affixing on it the stain of extravagance,
gambling, and so on. I have told you that he belongs to the yeomanry cavalry. Colonel LOWTHER and the other officers, on a late
occasion, gave a silver cup to be run for by the horses of the corps; so he entered his among others: and I should wish to know if
it could be otherwise than gratifying to a woman to know that her admirer has a good horse, and is capable of riding it well? The
next letter is dated the 30th of September, and here we find an inquiry proposed on the part of the lady's friends, which was
consented to equally on the part of my client. I like them the better for their scrutiny; and as the promise is made after inquiry,
the value is the greater. Inquiry is proposed—acceded to—made, we may presume—and then the promises are reiterated.—On the 30th of
September, she again writes from Brackenlands, beginning "My dear William" and then proceeding: 

 

"I confess you have reason to find fault with my remissness in not writing sooner: but when the cause is explained, I think you will
excuse my long silence. In the first place, our friends arrived from Manchester the day after you left Brackenlands; my cousin
Richard KAY accompanied my uncle, so that I have been pretty well engaged since I saw you. But that is not all. There has been a
great deal to do respecting you and I—which, I assure you, has given me much trouble, and where it will end I really do not know. My
uncle told me the other day, that you had nothing to keep a wife, and that you were merely a fortune-hunter. I trust you will not be
angry at my informing you what had passed. He at the same time said he did not think about riches, nor did he blame me for marrying,
if Mr. HOBSON had an honest and good character." 

 

 

[to be continued] 

 

 

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