LON 
ns together as a nation.”—In the Sheriff’s Court, July 19, an 
inquifition was held to affets damages hr an af'tion brought 
by lord Boringdon agairrft fir Arthur Paget, for criminal 
converfation with lady Boringdon. The defendant had 
fii'tb pleaded the general illue ; afterwards he-withdrew that 
plea, and buffered judgment to go by default. 
Mr. Parke, on the part of the plaintiff, addreffed the 
jury. He dated that the noble plaintiff was a perfon of 
the higheli rank, who complained againft the defendant 
for one of the greateft injuries which a man could fiu.ffer 
in civil fociety. The defendant was alfo a perfon of high 
rank, and was the fecond fon of a noble family, and had 
been cntrufed by his fovereign with high official filiations. The 
plaintiff and defendant had been at college together, and 
were co-ftudents on the fame foundation ; which was a 
circumftance, as he thought, of great aggravation. The 
lady, to whom the plaintiff was united, was the fecond 
daughter of the ear! of Weftmoreland ; he became ac¬ 
quainted with her in May 1804, and in the June following 
they were married ; the lady at that time not being much 
more than eighteen years of age. They continued to 
live together in a ftate of the utmoft harmony and felicity, 
as he fnould prove by many wit-nefies of the’ higheft re- 
fpeflability, until the period when her affections were 
feduced by the artifices of the defendant. When or at 
what period the criminal intercourfe took place, he was 
not prepared to prove; but it had been remarked, that 
fir Arthur Paget was very conffant in his viiits to the lad)’-, 
and thofe vifits were always when the plaintiff was from 
home. Lord Boringdon was in the habit of ftriCtly at¬ 
tending to his parliamentary duties ; and, as foon as he 
had left the houfe, the defendant came there; fo that he 
muff abfolutely have been upon the watch, to avail him- 
felf of the moment of his lordfliip’s abfer.ee. Lady Bo¬ 
ringdon was alfo in the habit of going to Kenfington- 
gardens in the morning, and lir Arthur Paget as regularly 
met her there; as foon as they met, fhe parted from her 
mit'fe and her child, and walked away in private with the 
defendant. This intercourfe continued for fome time 
before it came to the knowledge of the plaintiff; but at 
laft he received an intimation of the frequency of the de¬ 
fendant’s vifits during his abfence, which induced him at 
length to mention the fadt to the lady, and enquire into 
the occafion of them. The refult of this was, that on the 
next day, the 10th of May, the lady quitted her hufband’s 
lioufe, and had from that time been living under the 
proteElion (as it was called) of the defendant. The pro¬ 
vince of the jury now was, to determine what damages 
they would give the plaintiff as a recompenfe for the 
injury fuftained ; and furely no injury could be greater, 
nor had ever man deferved it lels. His lordfliip 
defied the world to fiiow any fpot on his character, ei¬ 
ther as a hufband or as. a man; and, with refpeCl to his 
conduCt to his wife, her own letters would (how how 
fondly attached to him fhe was before her affeCtions were 
feduped. The learned counfel here read extracts from two 
letters, dated in 1804 and 1806, replete with expreflions 
of fondnefs and affeCtion ; in one of which (lie apologizes 
for not going to church, according to his orders, on the 
ground of her ill health; and in the other fhe lamented 
the delay of his company for a fingle day. Having con¬ 
cluded thefe topics, Mr. Parke laid he demanded fuch a 
verdict, as jultice, reafon, and religion, required. 
Several witnefTes fully proved the faCts liated by Mr. 
Parke; after which, Mr. Garrow, on the part of the de¬ 
fendant, addreffed the jury. He infilled on the known 
inability of fir Arthur to pay large damages; and attri¬ 
buted the lapfe of the lady to the fafhion of high life, 
which leaves a woman expofed to the attacks of a fed-ucer, 
and that fine falls frequently before fine is aware of her 
danger. The jury, after fome confideration, found a ver¬ 
dict for the plaintiff'-—Damages, Ten thoufandpounds. 
Qn the izth of May following (1809), the fheriff was 
again called upon to afiefs damages in an action Henry 
DON. 187 " 
Wellefley, efq. againff lord Paget, (now earl of Uxbridge;) 
the" defendant having, as in the former cafe, buffered judg¬ 
ment to go by default, thereby acknowledging the adul¬ 
terous intercourfe. 
Mr. Garrow, with great eloquence and feeling, depicted 
the previous ftate of happinefs enjoyed by the plaintiff 
and his wife, and recounted the numerous offspring, the 
fruit of their connubial intercourfe. He then drew an af¬ 
flicting picture of the mental di If refs into which the in¬ 
continence of his lady had plunged him. Nor was he lefs 
eloquent in describing the mifeonduft of the defendant, 
who, he faid, had courage enough to conquer every other 
enemy but his own paflions. This fpeech was followed 
by evidence of the faCts; and a fpeech in mitigation of 
damages by Mr. Dallas: when the jury found a verdiCt 
for the plaintiff—Damages, Twenty thoufand poundsl 
The elopement of lady Charlotte Wellefley with lord 
Paget, which gave occafion to'the above aCtion, took place 
in the afternoon of Monday, the 6th of March, Mr. Henry 
Wellefley, who was fecretary of the treafury, had fpoken, it 
feems, more pointedly than ever to lady Charlotte, on the 
very marked and conftant attentions of lord Paget, which 
(though, from the long arid confidential friendship which 
had fubfifted between the families, he did not apprehend 
to be difhonoilrable) might affeCt her reputation in the 
world. Lady Charlotte was indignant at the idea of re¬ 
proach, and hurried out with her fervant to take the air 
in the Green Park. She defired him to remain at the gate, 
as (lie fliould walk for a fhort time; and it appears that 
her ladyfhip took a hackney coach, and bent a note to 
lord P. at Uxbridge-houfe. They met; and, in this ftate 
of irritated feelings, and probably on the confcioufnefs of 
guilt, they fet off together. As fhe did not return to din¬ 
ner, inquiries were made. The fervant had continued at 
the gate of fhe Green Park till a late hour; and, on his 
return home, being queftioned, he gave the above account. 
The melancholy truth was confirmed by a letter, which 
lord P. wrote to his father, in which he acknowledged his 
trefpafs—and that he had in vain, in the heat of battle, 
fought a refuge from the agonies of a diftradted mind. It 
is certain that on every occafion in Spain, he expofed hitn- 
felf in a way which got him the reputation of a rail) and 
adventurous gallantry ; as it could not be imagined that a 
nobleman apparently gifted with all the means and objects 
of happinefs could be in reality unhappy. The two lif¬ 
ters, lady.Charlotte and lady Emily Cadogan, married two 
brothers, Henry and William Wellefley. Lord Paget vyas 
married to one of the beautiful daughters of lady Jerfey, 
by whom he has a numerous family. This lady, tile very 
next year, l'ued out a divorce from his lordfliip, on the fcore 
of adultery; and file then (November 29, i8jo.) married 
the duke of Argyll.—Thus we hope we have made out lord 
Eldon’s pofition, as to the virtue and morality of the 
higher orders. If not, we (hall be obliged, in our ac¬ 
count of a leading tranfaction in the year 1809, to go 
itill higher, from the officer to the commander-in-chief. 
In the quarter which ended on the 10th of October, the 
produce of the confolidated fund fully juftified the ex¬ 
pectations upon which the estimates of the lalt feflion were 
founded, the furplus was the largeft that had been known 
in any preceding quarter: it amounted to 2,714,117!. 
In the quarter ending the 10th of 0 < 5 tober, 1807, it was 
2,3io ; oool. Such was the condition of the permanent reve¬ 
nue. With refpect to the war-taxes, accounts were not 
lefs favourable; their whole amount, in the quarter end¬ 
ing the 10th of October, was 6,403,7051. In the quarter 
ended 10th October, 1807, it was 6,179,073b The pro¬ 
perty-tax alone produced, in the year ending October 1808, 
11,851,000b 
1809. The principal features of this year, and the two 
molt important objects which fixed the attention abroad 
and at home, were, on one fide, the expedition of fir John 
Moore, and its unexpected failure; and, on the other, the 
attack upon the duke of York, and its refult. 
3 
After 
