A " Goon-For-Nothing Cad"

Southland Times, Issue 9091, 15 December 1885, Page 4

A " Goon-For-Nothing Cad"

♦ -The Under-SherifE of Warwickshire, recently, held ajcourt at the Shire Hall, Warwick; to aiseas the damages in an action for breach of promise of marriage. The plaintiff was Miss Mary Ellen TattoD, a young dressmaker of Birmingham, and the defendant was Mr Donald Macqueen, formerly aScotch draper in Birmingham, and now manager =f or a woollen merchant at Leicester. The defendant did not appear. Mr Hackney, in the couree of his address to the jury, produced 250 letters, from some of which.he read extract*. Defendant lodged next door to Miis Tatton, and they^'were intfoduced to each other by ■ defendant's landlady in 1881. They walked out together, and in FebfuSfy,' 1882; defendant wrote :—" Trust; me, dearestK X am/genuine. If my blood were of any use to syou I am willing, to have, it spilt in your cause, (Laughter.) That "S '•^ great thing to say, i but 1 mean it.";. (Eeneyed laughter).. And after alluding to some of his own grievances, the' defendant added, .that if the?plaintiff " only deemed him meet," there might be some truth inJ> the' poet's words,? >" the wxetohe^^aretheJaithful/' , (Laughter.) In that caseV'Mr- Hackney remarked, the|defendant certainly was not very wretched. la the lame letter he said, *' I should not want any other heaven; or- paradise than to live and die with you, P6]iie." .And respecting, himsett he said, " You know I am a . deformed," good-for-nothing Httie caa. M . (Laughter.) He had evidently, the counsel said, a very accurate estimate of himself , bat he certainly . had not realised this promise which he also made. /'I shall be true to you, come what may , and you have this my written; hand it. In 'a letter dated the 24>h December, 1882, the defendant described himself as "a wretch created to repine," and talked of his « gloomy, nnfortanate career j ' and said, • I believe my reason and sense to be fast going, if 1 ever; had any." (Laughter.) Further on he atyled plaintiff " the morning star of memoryy" and added, '« I owe to you what I owe to no' other j but, oh I the thought that you should share the fate of despair and misery with your affectionate, Donald Macqueen" In another letter, after alluding to the possibility of their having to live on love, defendant said, "On such terms as these I shall smother you with kisses "■— (laughter) —and, subsequently, after rebuking the plaintiff for being jealous, he eaid jealousy muit ever be associated with love, and even ■ matrimony did not enre it. (Laughter.) He gaid," However, you have such a funny little devil for your partner that you need not be afraid of any of your own sex ever interferiag With." your property." (Laughter). They Will look upon him as the Israelites looked upon the lepers of old." (Loud laughter). The wedding was fixed for Angnst, 1884, but defendant then began to cool, and very shortly afterwards married another lady at Leicester, so that he was no longer in a position to fulfil his engagement to the plain- j tiff. Ihe jury awarded the plaintiff £100.