APPENDIX to the CHRONICLE. 



in 



IRlALfor ADULTERY. 



HON. B. E. HOWARD, ESG. agablSt 

 THi; HON. R. BINGHAM. 



/// ihe court of Ki'!g\s- Bench, West- 

 minste: , l''eb. 24, before lord Ken- 

 yon and a special jury. 



N 'HIS waF an action for criminal 

 -L conversation. — The damages 

 were laid at 10,0001. 



Mr. Mingav aaid, he was about 

 to solicit the atteriition of the jury to 

 a cause of great magnitude, as it 

 respected the parties themselves } 

 and of great importance, as it re- 

 spected the public comfort ani mo- 

 ral. ty of the country in which we 

 lived. 



Tile plaintiff, Mr. Howard, was 

 the presumptive heir to the duke- 

 dom of Norlolk. The defendant, 

 Mr. Bingham, was son and heir of 

 lord I.uean, The cumpaint was 

 thatMr.Binghamhaddebauchedand 

 withdrawn the affections of the lady 

 of Mr. Howard. Ha\ingstated three 

 times to the jury (many of whom, 

 he believed, had been witnesses to 

 the very pathetic, earnest, moral ad- 

 dressee that had fallen from tlienoble 

 and learned judge who presided at 

 ihesrquestions with intiniteconcerii, 

 during thetimehislordshiphad with 

 such satisfaction and benefit to the 

 public, and with so much honour to 

 himself, administered the justice of 

 the country), he said, he would not, 

 because he could not, imitate his 

 lordship in endeavouring to impress 

 on the feelings of the jury the ne- 

 cessity of checking so grievous an 

 evil. They would weigh in those 

 scales in which questions of this sort 

 ought to be weighed, with delicacy 

 and with nicety, the importance of 

 the object upon which they had to 



decide, and, as far as in their power 

 lay, would give some reparation 

 (for a complete one could not be gi- 

 ven by them) to the party injured. 



The circumstances that gave rise 

 to this very important and distres- 

 sing inquiry were these: The plain- 

 tiff having seen the lady who was 

 afterwards his wife, and who was 

 one of the daughters of earl Faucon- 

 berg, became much attached to her, 

 was enamoured of her beauty, and 

 was desirous of formi:,^ an honour- 

 able connection witli her. In the 

 course of a very short time, having 

 again seen the lady, he had an op- 

 portunity of proposing himself to 

 her as her husband. She accepted 

 his proposal. It was communicated 

 to both families. It met with their 

 approbation, and they were married 

 on April 24th, ]789. 



On August 12th, 1791, this lady 

 had a son, and it was ranch to the 

 satisfaction of the plaintiff; and he 

 thought it did Mr. Howard infinite 

 honour, that he had authorized him 

 to say, that he did not charge the 

 defendant with any thing criminal 

 till after the birth of this son ; so 

 that the legitimacy of that child 

 could not be questioned by the most 

 inquisitive feelings of the most af- 

 fectionate husband. But he did not 

 long live in that comfort and happi- 

 ness which he at first enjoyed in this 

 lady's society. Mr, Bingham, ayoung 

 gentleman of elegant manners and 

 insinuating address, ingratiated him- 

 self into her affections by frequently 

 soliciting her attention, meeting her 

 in the Park., walking with her; and 

 whenever she went to a watering- 

 place, he werit there also ; and, in 

 short, wherever she thougiit proper 

 to go, he \\'as sure to attend her. 

 When this came to the ears of the 

 husband, it wounded him deeply. 



He 



