.•508 



ANNUAL REGISTER, ISU. 



The Jury, however, found a ver- 

 dict lor the plaintiff, making- pro- 

 per allowances to the Company 

 for different expenses which they 

 had incurred. 



MISCELLANEOUS CAUSES. 



Court of King's Bench, Monday, 

 Feb.l. — Rex. v. Mary AnneClarke. 

 — The Attorney-General prayed 

 tJie judgement of the Court Uf)on 

 this defendant, wiio had suffered 

 it to pass against her by default, 

 upon an indictment for publishing 

 a libel upon the Ri'^ht Hon. Wil- 

 liam Fitzgerald, Chancellor of the 

 Irish Excheqner,in a pamphlet, en- 

 titled, a Letter to that Gentleman. 



The libel was read by Mr. Deal- 

 try, Deputy-Clerk of the Crown- 

 ofiEice. It accused the prosecutor 

 of seducing his friend's wife, pro- 

 curing the husband to be sent to 

 an unhealthy climate, and of other 

 matters (not fit to be mentioned 

 in a public paper). 



Thedefendant then put inthefol- 

 lowing affidavit, which was read : — 



Mary Ann Clarke maketh oath, 

 that she feels great concern at hav- 

 ing been betrayed into a violation 

 of the law : that she hath been in- 

 timately acquainted with the pro- 

 secutor and his father for many 

 years: that his father introduced 

 the prosecutor to her previous to 

 his going to college, as from the 

 situation in which this deponent 

 then lived she might do him much 

 service in his progress through life. 



That deponent did render him 

 many and essential services, and a 

 great degree of intimacy subsisted 

 between her and .he prosecutor's 

 said father, to whom she also ren- 

 dered many services, and with 



whom she was in the habit of cor-' 

 responding for a great length of 

 time ; and that she by this means 

 became possessed of a great num- 

 ber of his letters, and which letters 

 were afterwards, on occasion of a 

 certain investigation, submitted to 

 a Select Committee of the House 

 of Commons ; that the contents of 

 some of these It-tters transpired ; 

 and as defendant was informed by 

 the prosecutor, it was suggested 

 to him by a member of his Ma- 

 jesty's Government, that if those 

 letters were exposed to the public 

 they would be highly detrimental 

 to the prospects of the prosecutor 

 and his father, and the former 

 would be no longer able to repre- 

 sent the borouyii of Ennis, which 

 had cost him a large sum of mo- 

 ney ; that the prosecutor became 

 alarmed as to these letters ; and 

 immediately after they were or- 

 dered to be restored to this depo- 

 nent, the prosecutor came to her 

 in the greatest distress and agony 

 of mind, to request the destruction 

 of those letters ; and the greater 

 part of which he obtained posses- 

 sion of; and under promises of 

 reward and favour, this deponent 

 permitted them to be destroyed in 

 his |)reseiice, after he had made 

 himself acquainted with the con- 

 tents. That deponent having great 

 confidence in the prosecutor's said 

 father, intrusted him with the 

 keeping of many letters and papers 

 of great importance ; and amongst 

 others, she entrusted him with a 

 letter from a person in high autho- 

 rity, conveying his assurance of 

 providing for deponent's only son. 

 That soon after the prosecutor had 

 gained his point, by procuring the 

 destruction of the said letters, he 

 totally withdrew himself from her 



