BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.
An amusing breach of promise case was tried at ' Appleby assizes, on Saturday. The plaintiff was Eleanor Graham, a respectable spinster, of 45, and the defendant was a yeoman, named William Stamper, In December, 1860, the plaintiff went to reside at Clifton, a village on the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, near Penrith, with a relative, a widow, named Willis. The defendant lived next door, an acquaintance sprung up between them, and he asked the plaintiff and Mrs Willis to tea one day. After that, he used to pay frequent visits to the plaintiff, and sit with her a good deal perhaps an hour at a time every day. The defendant, it was alleged, professed ardent affection for the plaintiff, and according to the evidence of Mrs Willis, said he thought her a nice suitable person for a wife, and promised to make a marriage settlement on her. About November, however, he told the plaintiff that time had changed his mind The prinoipal witness for rho . plaintiff was Mrs Willis, who, in cross-examination, admitted that soon after Miss Graham, the plaintiff, went to stay with her, she took a letter to the village postmaster, saying it was from Miss Graham, and was to bo delivered to Isaac Stamper, the brother of the defendant. The letter was produced; it consisted ofanacrosticonlsaacStamper's name, and created much amusement in court. It was as follows : — ACROSTIC. I tis " leap year." my Lord. Do you know ? S hall I call upon you, or further go ? A distance I have come from the west, A nd shall I not say you I love best ? Can yon . live a batchelor after such a behest ? S ilently pause, consider and say T he subject is serious, over it pray ; ' A crown to her husband is a virtuous wifo, M inistering to his wants free of all strife ; Put in your claim, Mr Stamper, I pray, ' E nquire, like Abraham's servant your way ; R ouse ! in celibacy, O longer stay. E. G. Mr Price for the defendant, commented on the manner which the plaintiff thus began fishing for a husband, the first week after she went to CliftonIsaac would not rise at that fly, otherwise something serious would have resulted. Failing with Isaac, the plaintiff and her second cousin, an intriguing old woman, tried to get from William, drunk or sober, some acknowledgment. A woman was called as a witness who had been present on one occasion, when the plaintiff wished the defendant to make a marriage . settlement. The defendant replied, " Haud your tongue, you ' don't know what you are talking about." The defendant was drunk at the time, and witness said to plaintiff, she wondered how she could wish the defendant to make her a marriage settlement when he was tipsy. Tho plaintiff thereupon remarked, she had asked him when he was sober, add it was of no use and she would ask him when he was tipsy. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff; damages, £00.
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BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.
Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1802, 9 December 1862, Page 4
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