CHRONICLE. 



291 



fendant to destroy the character of 

 any plaintiff, by a story that he 

 could not be prepared to answer. 



Sir James Mansfield thought the 

 learned serjeant should be permit- 

 ted to proceed in his statement. 



Mr. Serjeant Cockle said, it was 

 absolutely necessary for him to 

 make this statement to prove that 

 what had been stated by his learn- 

 ed friend (Mr. Serjeant Best) as 

 an aggravation of the malice, was 

 not true. It was also his duty to 

 prove that those flying rumours 

 against the character of lord Lei- 

 cester were so generally heard of, 

 that his lordship's character had not 

 suffered by the paragraphs to the 

 extent that had been stated, as he 

 might perhaps show that his lord- 

 ship's character was previously as 

 bad in this respect as any man's 

 could be, who was not actually con- 

 victed of the crime. If this was the 

 case, it must most materially alter 

 the damages. As to the observa- 

 tion which had been made of the 

 difficulty of restoring a man to soci- 

 ety who had been charged wilh such 

 an oflence, he believed that his lord- 

 ship might, whatever were the da- 

 mages, continue to mix, with the 

 same respect, in that sort of com- 

 pany with which he had long asso- 

 ciated; and that whatever the da- 

 mages might be, that they would 

 not restore him to any sort of soci- 

 ety which his birth and rank in life 

 appeared to entitle him to. He felt 

 no manner of doubt but that in the 

 consideration of damages, the jury 

 would pay considerable attention to 

 those circumstances which it was 

 his duty to prove. 



Mrs. . was the first witness 



called. An objection was made 

 to her examination, on the ground 

 that it did not go totally toestablish 



the fact; this was over-ruled, as it 

 went to a mitigation of damages. 

 The witness admitted that she 

 lived with lord and lady Lei- 

 cester at their marriage ; that they 

 slept together only three or four 

 nights immediately after it ; that 

 they sometimes lived in the same 

 house, but that generally his lord- 

 ship resided in Westbourn-place, 

 Paddington, and lady Leicester in 

 Gloucester-place. She had seen 

 Hayling, Neri, and Playfair, at his 

 lordship's; they all dined there; 

 Hayling sometimes slept there. — 

 Her master and mistress went to 

 the country in August ; his lord- 

 ship returned from it in a day or 

 two; her ladyship remained till No- 

 vember. She had seen the lady 

 Townshends at lord Leicester's, 

 but never saw any nobleman there ; 

 except at meals his lordship gene- 

 rally spent his time with Hay- 

 ling. 



Mr. Harraden and George Smith 

 were the next witnesses, but their 

 evidence was not material. 



Wm. Newton was master of the 

 Cocoa-nut Coffee-house, in 1790. 

 Neri was a waiter of his in 1792, 

 or 1798. He knew no harm of 

 Neri. 



Mr. Ridgway deposed, that Neri 

 lodged with him eighteen months, 

 about the year, 1801. Lord Lei- 

 cester visited him there once a week. 

 Neri paid a guinea a week for his 

 lodging. 



Mr. Denew was an auctioneer ; 

 he sold the furniture of the houses 

 in Gloucester-place, and in West- 

 bourne-green, by Neri's direction ; 

 he also sold the furniture of Neri's 

 house in Baker-street, but that was 

 a separate concern. 



John Newby was chapel clerk of 

 Trinity College Cambridge. He 



V 2 knew 



