as they have done, to that fact; if they are falfe in that material part of their teftimony, they' are not to be credited in any other. And upon this fuppofition likewise, the present prosecution appears to be fet on foot, at a distance of ten years from the time the offence is charged to have been committed. It is one of the bleffings of our conftitution, that the opportunities for enquiring into criminal charges return frequently; fo that there may be a recent examination, while witneffes are forth-coming, and the fact, with its circumftances, fresh upon their memory. And, although it is true, that, regularly, no length of time will prefcribe against a profecution for crimes, at common law; yet great delay in bringing it (if not well accounted for) muft ever raise a juft fufpicion in the minds of juries against it. You are therefore to confider, whether there is fufficient reafon af figned for the delay in the present cafe. 3. Laying the evidence of thofe three women out of the cafe; the ftroke on the head with the keys, is proved by Margaret Gilleroy; and this, the inftrument being improper for correction, is an affault, in ftrictness of the law, by the mother; the circumftances alfo of confinement, and hard treatment with refpect to food, in 1752, are fworn by Walsh, Eaton, Gardiner, and Gilleroy and if you believe them, you ought to find the mother guilty of the affault, and confinement, as charged in 1752, though you acquit her of the reft of the indictments. But in fettling your opinions upon this point, you are to weigh, against this evidence, the account given by doctor Dunkin, Mr. Rofs, doctor Coghlan, Mrs. : Darcy, Mrs. Macaulay, and Mrs. Archbold, of the general treatment of Sarah Molloy, by her mother, and in the family; and to confider, how far it takes off from the evidence of Walsh, Eaton, Gardiner, and Gilleroy. You are alfo to take into confideration, the exceptions that lie against any of these witneffes, and to give them their due weight. And here it may be very material, to keep in mind, the difference in age between the ideot girl from the hospital, and Mifs Molly; and their extreme unlikeness in features and complexion; circumftances that fhould feem to exclude any poffibility of ever mistaking one for the other. 4. The ufual evidence in affaults, is the oath of the party injured, who is generally the profecutor; but here the profecutor is a ftranger to the young gentlewoman and to her family and if believe the perfon produced in court as Sarah Molloy, to be really fo, then it appears to you, that the party ledged to be injured, is forthcoming, of age and capacity to be examined on oath; and that the profecutor declines examining her. al 5. Upon the whole, there is no evidence against the father; so that he must be acquitted. 6. As to the mother, you are to acquit, or convict her, of the af fault, and confinement, as charged in 1752, according to your belief upon the evidence: but in cafe you find her guilty of them, you fhould acquit her of the other charges of the indictments, for which there is no proof. If you not think her guilty of the affaults, or confinement, your verdicts muft be, in general, NOT upon both indictments. do GUILTY, The The jury then withdrew, and, in less than a quarter of an hour, returned with their verdicts, that both the defendants were not guilty. The verdicts being recorded, the counfel for the defendants moved to have copies of the examinations of Eleanor Campbell, Arabella Mara, and Mary Nary, in order to their being indicted for perjury. Which motion the court granted. fed chiefly upon bread and water. In all and every article her mistress took care to fulfil thefe directions to the utmost. Mrs. MK-y, her miftrefs, (for her own intereft) inftructed Mifs Sally to work very well plain work, which fhe was kept ftrictly clofe to; her tafk was given her in the morning, which the was obliged to complete before she went to bed, which was fometimes not till two or three o'clock in the morning. Letter relating to the foregoing intri- Mifs would often complain and fay, cate affair. Gentlemen, * ON reading a narrative of the moft cruel treatment of Mifs My, I met with a paffage, wherein he fays, "My daughter the cannot be, as fhe is, and has been for feveral years paft, at a boarding fchool in England." Now if you think the following will be of any fatisfaction to the public, you may, if you please, give it a place in your next publication. no creature was ever used fo cruelly as fhe, and that no tongue could express what she had gone through; the faid her complaining only brought worse treatment, fo fhe was determined, if poffible, to bear it with patience till time should put a period to it either one way or another. Mifs very feldom went out except in the garden. One day, as fhe was in the garden, the picked up an apple under the tree, for which her mistress whipped her with stinging nettles, and About fix years ago, an Irish hung a ftring of apples about her gentleman, whofe name was M-y, neck by way of difgrace. She lay and his daughter, whom he called in a little place by herself on the Sally, came to the Falcon at ground on a few feathers, without Gravefend, and enquired for a fheets, bolfter, or pillow. When boarding fchool; the people of the her miftrefs was without a fervant houfe recommended him to one (for fhe feldom kept one above a Mrs. M'K y, in Milton Back- month at a time) fhe ufed to do fide; the rents a houfe of five the work of the house. Mifs was pounds a year, keeps a common never fuffered to come near the working fchool, and fometimes fire but when business called her, has two or three boarders. Mr. fo that fome of her toes, I am inMy foon agreed with her for formed, were perished. She althe price, and ftrict charge was ways appeared very mean in habit. given, that mifs fhould be ufed Her ufual breakfast was a few hard with all the feverity poffible, to crufts put into a bason, and hot be under ftrict confinement, and water out of the tea-kettle poured We have omitted this piece, the fubftance of it being contained in the trial. thereon, thereon, with a little milk, but oftener with none; at her dinner fhe was allowed bread and cheefe, with a little small beer. One day her miftrefs was engaged out to dinner, and they infifted on her bringing Imifs along with her. There was a fine piece of roafted beef for dinner, but on the meat's coming into the room, mifs was obliged to leave it; he was asked what was the matter? fhe answered, the victuals overcame her; her mistress immediately obferved that Mifs Sally feldom eat any meat. About three weeks ago, Mr. My came again to Gravefend, in order to take Mifs Sally away to carry her to Ireland; he brought with him cloaths, that Mifs might appear in her proper character, and drew up a certificate to be figned by the mayor, minifters, and churchwardens of the parishes of Gravefend and Milton, &c. that Mrs. M.Ky keeps a grand -y boarding-fchool, and that his daughter was well done by, or fomething to the fame effect, which the minifter of Gravefend inadvertently figned, and the minifter of Milton, being a young man, and feeing the minister of Gravefend's hand, without hardly looking over it, figned it also, for which they are greatly blamed by the inhabitants. Mr. My, the miftrefs, and Mifs Sally, was before the mayor for his figning; the mayor afked the miftrefs feveral queftions with regard to Mifs Sally, among the reft, why fhe did not bring mifs to church with the reft of the children? fhe made anfwer, that mifs had not cloaths fit to appear in; fhe was afked what was the reafon Mifs Sally never came to a fire? she replied, because the had a bad head. I did not hear that the mayor figned the certificate to any body else except those above-mentioned. 'The mayor afked Mifs Sally, whether the would fwear, that that gentleman (pointing to Mr. My) was her father? fhe replied, that the would not fwear that he was her father, but that fhe always called him рара, and that he was the gentleman that brought her to Gravefend. Whether this or the other be Mr. My's daughter, time, it is to be hoped, will make appear. All I have to fay is, that I affure the public, what I have related above is ftrictly true, as it has been, and is ready to be attefted by feveral very creditable people, inhabitants of the town, and from no other motive than charity in behalf of the diftreffed, which is a duty incumbent on every indivïdual. I am yours, G Gravefend, Nov. 5th, 1762. The hiftory of the famous madam d'Efcombas, executed a few years ago at Paris, for being privy to the murder of her husband by a former lover. ILL LL fuited matches are productive of fuch complicated mifery, that it is a wonder it fhould be neceffary to declaim against them, and by arguments and examples, expofe the folly, or brand the cruelty, of fuch parents as facrifice their children to ambition or avarice. Daily experience indeed fhews, that this mifconduct of the old, who, by their wisdom, fhould be able to direct the young, and who either have, or are thought to have, their welfare alone in view, is not only fubverfive of all the blifs of focial life, but often gives rife to events of the most tragical nature. As any truth that regards the peace of families cannot be too often inculcated, I make no doubt but the following hiftory, the truth of which is known to fome in England, and to almost all France, where it happened, will prove acceptable to the public. At Paris, whofe fplendor and magnificence ftrikes every stranger with furprife, where motives of pleasure alone feem to direct the actions of the inhabitants, and politenefs renders their conversation defirable, fcenes of horror are frequent amidst gaiety and delight; and as human nature is there feen in its most amiable light, it may there, likewise, be feen in its most shocking deformity. It must be owned, without a compliment to the French, that shining examples of exalted virtue are frequent amongst them: but when they deviate from its paths, their vices are of as heinous a nature as those of the most abandoned and diffolute heathens. The force of truth has made monfieur Bayle acknowledge, that if all the poifonings and affaffinations which the intrigues of Paris give rife to, were known, it would be fufficient to make the most hardened and profligate fhudder. Though fuch bloody events do not happen fo often in London, they are, notwithstanding, but too frequent; and, as the avarice of the old fometimes confpires with the paffions of the young to produce them, the ftory I am going to relate, will, I hope, be not unedifying to the inhabitants of this city. A citizen of Paris, who, though he could not amafs wealth, for the acquifition whereof he had an inor dinate paffion, made, by his un wearied efforts, wherewithal to maintain his fmall famlly handfomely; he had a daughter, whofe beauty feemed to be the gift of heaven, beftowed upon her to in-. creafe the happiness of mankind,. though it proved, in the end, fata'l to herself, her lover, and her huf band. Monfieur d'Efcombas, a citizen advanced in years, could not behold this brilliant beauty without defire; which was, in effect, according to the witty obfervation of Mr. Pope, no better than wishing to be the dragon which was to guard the Hefperian fruit. The father of Ifabella, for that was the name of the young lady, was highly pleafed at meeting with fo advantageous a match for his daughter, as old d'Escombas was very rich, and willing to take her withont a portion; which cir cumftance was fufficient, in the opinion of a man, whofe ruling paffion was a fordid attachment to intereft, to attone for the want of perfon, virtue, fenfe, and every other qualification. Ifabella, who had no alternative but the choice of a convent or of Mr. d'Efcombas, preferred being configned to his monumental arms, to being, as it were, buried alive in the melancholy gloom of a convent. The confequences of this unnatural union were fuch as might be expected; as madam d'Efcombas in fecret loathed her husband, her temper was in a fhort time fowered by living with him, 'and she totally loft that ingenuous turn of mind, and virtuous difpofition, which he had received from na ture. ture. Certain it is, that a woman's virtue is never in greater danger than when she is married to a man fhe dislikes; in fuch a cafe, to adhere strictly to the laws of honour, is almoft incompatible with the weakness of human nature. Madam d'Efcombas was courted by feveral young gentlemen of an amiable figure, and genteel addrefs; and it was not long before her affections were entirely fixed by Monjoy, an engineer, who was equally remarkable for the gentility of his perfon, and politenefs of his behaviour. There is not a eity in the world where married women live with less restraint than at Paris; nothing is more common there, than for a lady to have a declared gallant, if I may be allowed the expreffion; infomuch, that women, in that gay and fashionable place, may be justly faid to change their condition for the reafon affigned by lady Townly in the play, namely, to take off that reftraint from their pleasures which they lay under when fingle. Monfieur d'Efcombas was highly mortified to see Monjoy in fuch high favour with his wife; yet he did not know how to get rid of him, though he * had not the least doubt that he difhonoured his bed. On the other hand, madam d'Efcombas and Monjoy, who looked upon the old man as an obftacle to their pleafures, were impatient for his death; and the lover often declared, in the prefence of his miftrefs, that he was refolved to remove the man who flood between him and the happiness of calling her his own. In a word, he plainly discovered his intention of affaffinating her husband, and fhe, by keeping the fccret, feemed to give a tacit con fent to his wicked purpose. Their defign was to marry publickly as as foon as they could difpatch a man who was equally odious to them both, as a spy who watched all their motions, and kept them under conftant reftraint. It was not long before Monjoy had the opportunity he wifhed for; he happened accidentally to fup with the husband of his miftrefs, at a houfe not far from the Luxemburgh palace, and supper being over, defired him to take a walk with him in the gardens belonging to it, which the old man, who dreaded Monjoy as much as he hated him, did not dare to decline. In their way thither Monjoy found fome pretence or other to quarrel with him; and having jostled him down, juft as they came to the fteps at the entrance of the garden, ftabbed him feveral times in the back, and left him there breathless, and covered all over with wounds, which were given in fuch a manner as made it evident to every body, that he had been treacherously killed. It has been justly observed, that murderers often run headlong into the punishment which they have incurred by their crime; and the conduct of Monjoy fhews this obfervation to be juft. No fooner had he committed the barbarous action above mentioned, but he went to a commiffary, whofe office is much the fame in France with that of a juftice of peace in England, and declared upon oath, that he had killed d'Efcombas in his own defence. The commiffary was at firft fatisfied with his account, and would have difmiffed him; but Monjoy being in a great flutter, and continuing to fpeak, dropt fome words which gave the commiffary |