The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

ticlous Ntfef*8tj *ti* when we see it cheering t tie poor man'* home, or shed¬ ding orcr the dwelling of misfortune the light of its warm and lovely coiiao- la (ion*—Unhappily, Gentlemen, it ha- that inter** t here.-—The capricious power which often dignifies the worth¬ less ti) pocritc, as often w-unds the in¬ dustrious and the honest. The late ruinous contest, having in its career confounded all the proportions of soci¬ ety, and with its last grasp sighed fa¬ mine and misfortune on the world, hits cast my industrionsclicnt.with too main of his companions, from competence to penury. Alas, ala?! to him it left ■worse of its satellites behind if: it left the invader even of his misery, the se¬ ducer of his sacred and unspotted in¬ nocent. Mysterious Providence I wa¬ it not enough that sorrow robed the happy home in mounting—was it not enough that disappointment preyed up¬ on its lovely prospects—was it not enough that its little inmates cried in vain for bread, and hoard no answer but the poor father's sigh, and drank no sustenance but the wretched toother's •tews ? Was tliis a time fur passion. lawless conscienceless, licentious pas¬ sion, with its eve of lust, it* h'ttrt "f stone, its hand of npiue, to rash into tho mournful sanctuary of misfortune, casting crhr 3 into the cup of woe9 and rob tho parents of their last wealth, theit* child ; and rob the child of h, r c-nly charm, her innocence ? That tills has been done, I am instructed wr shall prove. What requital it deserves, Gcntlemcn,youmu-t prove to mankind. The DofnuV.nfsname, I under-t-iud is Tovvnsend. He is of an age wlwn every geneFoW blossom of the spring should breathe aa infant freshness round his heart ; of a family which should inspire not only high but here¬ ditary principles of honor ; offl profes¬ sion whose very essence is a ptarnle^s chivalry, and whose bought unhnun- den duty is the protection of the citi¬ zen. Such arc the advantages wil!i which he appears before you—fearful advantages, because they repel all possible suspicion : but, you willagrc with me, most damning adversaries, if it shall appear that the generous ardor of his youth was chilled, thai the noble inspiration of his birth was spurned. thai the lofty impulse of his profession Was despised, and all that could grace sr animate, or ennoble, was used to hi* own discredit^and his fellow creature.'* misery. It was upon the 1 st of June la*t, thai TO the banks of the canal, near Porto-1 hello, Lieutenant Town ;rnd first me' MedUjgt uer oir->fr. tciiigtUou, a pret¬ ty interesting girl, scarcely 16 years of ngf*. She was accompanied by her lit¬ tle sister, only four years old, with whom she was permitted to take a dai¬ ly walk in that retired spr.t, the vicin¬ ity of her residence. The Defendant j wa< attracted by her appearance ; he left his party, and attempted to con¬ verse with hr r ; i-he repelled his admit* ces ; he immediately seized her infant sister by the hand, whom I: - held as a kind of hostage for an introduction to his victim. A prepossessing appear¬ ance, a modesty of deportment appa¬ rently quite incompatible with any evil design gradually silenced her alarm, and she answervd the commoii-plarw questions with which on his way home he addressed her. Gentlemen, I ad¬ mit it was an innocent imprudence : the rig»d rules of matured morality should have rep'dWl such communica¬ tion ; yet, perhaps, judging even by that strict standard, you will rather condemn the familiarity of the intru¬ sion in a designing adult, than tlin faci¬ lity of access in a creature of b^r a*re and her innocence. They thus sepa¬ rated* as she naturally supposed, to meet no more- Not such, however, wa-5 thh determination of her destroyer. From tUnt hour until ber ruin heseprce- ly ever lost sight of her : he followed her as a shadow, he waj laid Iter in ltr*r walk-, he interrupted her in ler avoea- I t'ons, he haunted the strert of her r.-i- dsnee : if she refused to mrct him. he paraded before her window, at the ha¬ zard of exposing her first comparative¬ ly innocent imprudence to her uncon¬ scious parents. How happy would it have been had *hc conquered the timi¬ dity so natural to her age, and appral-1 cd at once to their pardon and their protection! Gentlemen, this daily per¬ secution continued for three months— lor t\*rei* successive months, by every art, bv every persuasion, by every ap¬ peal to her vanity and her passions, did he toil for the destruction of this unfor¬ tunate young creature. I leave you to guess how many during that interval j might have jielded to the blandish-' meats of manner, the fascinations of youth, the rarely resisted temptations of opportunity* For three long months **he did resist limn. She would have resisted fhetn forever, but for an expo-1 dient which is without a model—but' lor an exploit which I trust in God will I be without an imitation- O yes ! hu j and did iie but reflect, be Ifrould rather J have rejoiced at this virtuous triumph nfhi* victim, than mourned his own ^oul redeeming defeat—he might have returned to Ms country, and told the coldblooded libellers of this land, that 'heir peculations upon Irisli chastitv were prejudiced and proofless ; that in. the wreck of all else, we had 'retained our honor—that though the national lu- miliar* had descended for a season, tlie freaks of its loveliness till lmg<T"d on our horizon—that the nurse cf that ge¬ nius which abroad has redeemed the name, and dignified the nature of man, was to be found at home in tin* spirit without a stain, and the purity without a suspicion—lie might have told them truly, that this did not result, as the) would intimate from the absence of pu**- ion, or the want of civilization—that it was the combined consequence ofed- jeatiou, of example-, and of impulse, [and that, in all the revelry of enjoy- nu nt, the fair Hower of the Irish soil exhaled its fragrance, and expanded its charm*, in the ehast** and bh "ced beams of a virtuou.*•affection, >tiii it -drunk w ifh an instinctive sensitiveness 'item the the gro^S pollution of an un- oMiseciatcd contract ! (lent;.'men, the common artifices of seducer failed : itie S) ten tone {tfcith v** hich -eusualiry awakens appetite and I uUh purity, had waited them^Hvr- In air, and the hi tended victim, deaf to tin fa -. iiiattoii, moved nit ng seJe and ent;a:i*f« nued. He soeji saw, thai )onng a*vhe was, the vulgar cxpedi- i •;*! oi vice wen: ineffectual : thai the attractions of u slittering exterior fall* i .1 ; and that, befote s'u could be 1 'mpt< d to her sensual damr.ulic??, hh (e.!;joje mu t h-aru. if not the words of " i-dom, &l !ca>t the ipeciouinesd ofpf- U>clt:.i\ purity. JJ- prctendeil an uil'ee- lion as virtuous as it was violent, he |calif(l God to witness the sincerity of '•is dec fa rations; by all Ujuycws which should for everrivot the honorable* and could not fail to convince even the in¬ credulous, ho promised hrr marriage : r,\t-v and ote-f again hu invoked the c- t -riKi! denunciation if lie was perfidi¬ ous-- to hcracknowlrdgod wanfol for- tuiio, his constant reply was, that he had an independence ; tint II be wanted was beaut) "d virtue; thai he saw she had the one—that Ik; had proved she had the other* \\ heft »lu sighs of virtue fan ^ts |Qcy flame, and every divine essence of our being but snells and exa^per^tes lts infernal con¬ flagration. Gentlemen,! *ui nof disgust this audience; I will not debase myself by any description 0r ihr sccne (hat followed I will Mot detail tlu> arts, the exciteme-its, the pvomi-:es, the pledges, with which-delibei;^ |ust inllamed the passions, and linaliji overpowered the struggles of innoc'nee and of youth. tt is too much to k,HMv umt jears could not appease, that Misery could not cf- fect—that the pre^.nce and the pray¬ ers of an infant Ofiuld not awe him; and that the wretched rtctim, between t!ie ardour of passinn and the repose of iove, sunk at length inllamed, exhaust-* "d, and confiding, beneath the heart¬ less grasp of an on sympathizing sensu¬ ality. The appetite of the hour thus satiated, at a temporal, perhaps at an eternal hazard, he dismissed the sis¬ ters to their unconscious parents, not. however, without pxortiug a promise. that on the ensuing night Miss Creigh- ton would desert her home for ever. tor the arms of a fond, att'ectionatc, and faithful husband.—-Faithful, alas ! but only to his app*kfitp$—he did seduc<% her from thai "sacred home," to deep¬ er guilt, to more deliberate cruelty ! After a suspense compiirativeh hap¬ py, her parents become acquainted with her irrevocable ruin, the miserable mother, supported by the mere strength of desperation, wheel half frenzied to the castle, where Mj.Towusend was on doty—K Give me back my child 1" was all ihe could articulate. The parental ruin struck the spoiler alruo t speech¬ less. The few dreadful words, u J have vour child*'1 withered her heart | was followed hy a deed of the mod dread. ful crurltv : but. ;bove all it tvae the *& ,of a man commiffi ncd by hin nw toon* \ttfi and paid by thin, Forth«»enforcement 'of the laws, and the prefer vat ion of fo- ciety. No man more refpeth than I do the well earned reputatian of the Britift army. a I* 5s a ?chon\ Where every principle tending to honour Is taught—if followed.*' | But in the name oir that diftineuifhed army, I here folcmnly appeal againft an v.& which would blight its greened lau. rels and leave their trophies proftratc in the dull. Let them war, but be it not (on domett:c liappincf?; let ihcm invade, bui be rheir country's '-earths inviolate j let them achieve a triumph wherever their banners fly, but be it not ever wr- rate, rnhocence, and virtue. — I know not by what palliation the defendant means to mitigate this enormity—w"M he plead her youth ? it fhould I.ave been her pro¬ tection.—Will he plead her levity? I deny the fa£t ; but even were it tiue, what [?il to him ? What right has anv man to fpeeulatcon t!ie temperature of your wives and your daughters, that he may defile your bed, or dcfolate your ha¬ bitation i Will he plead poverty ? I ne¬ ver knew a feducer, or an adulterer, that I jbaded (he obvions di-pnri.y of her i birth) he answered, that he was Mm- ielf onl) tin- on of an Kiigli>h farinei —that h.ippiuc-s was not the monopo¬ ly of rank or riches—that his pur nts would receive h- r ;i - the child of tu ir .nicpirou—that he woiiid cnci'i^h lur as ih* charm o1 his exi-tnee. Specious as it WftSj even thi did not succeed , al>e deleimin- tl tf await its avowal to hose "he had ^ircn her life, and who hoped to hare mad it immaculate by the education the) had bestow* d, & the ex¬ ample they hod WTorded* Some days after this, he n»rl her to her walks: for she could 'tot pa-.:> luvr parental! threshold without htfaft intercepted*] lie asked her where lie was going :— She said, a friend, knowing her fond¬ ness for bocks, had ptoroUcd her the loan of .some, and *hc tvafl going to re¬ ceive theni. fie Cold h"r he hod abun¬ dance: that the) werejustathishouse7 (hat he Sloped, alter what had passed, she would feel no impropriety in accep- (iu^ them.—She wai persuaded to ac¬ company him. Arrived how* ver, at the door of his lodgings, she positively refused to £o an) farther ; all his for¬ mer artifices wefe redoubled ; he cal- fed God to witness lie considered her as his uife. and her character as dear fo him ** (hat of 0M' x-f his sister^—he aH'eet: d inortihcntion al any suspicion ofhfs purity—he told her, if she refu¬ sed her confidence to hi* honourable affh*fi<ui, fh-' little infant who accom- paiiiod her was an inviolable guarantee forhnf pr. »e< tini. f.Yeilemen, tiiis v. r-tehed child did *uff r her cred'.ditv to repo e on his pmfessinu^ il-r thi'ory taught her to n**pf'Ct the honour ol a soldier: her |, v*» r-p,v!led the imputation t:>at deba- jsed its object : and Ji r youthful inno¬ cence rendered her as incredulous as she was utw*oQ.-cicu> of criminality. At first his b Inviour c<>rresponded with his professions ; he welcomed her t<- tlie*honie 'if which he hoped she woekl soon become the inseparable compan¬ ion ; he painted the future joys ot their j domestic felicity, and dwelt With pecu- ! liar com: la'-'iic) on some heraldic or¬ nament which hung over his chimney- piece, and which he said, was the ar- moria1 ensign of his family ! Oh, my Lord, how well would it hare been had lie but retraced the fountain of that dn- cun.eut ; had he recalled to mind the virtues it rewarded, pure train of ho¬ nors it associated, the line ofspotleaan- costrj it distinguished,! he high ambition its bequest inspired, the moral imitation it imperatively commanded ! iiut when £tiill once kindles within the human heart a'l that is noble in our nature become parched and arid; the blush pi-hi have returned to hU country—I j of modoty fades before its glare; (ho up with the horrid joy that death -jelli¬ ed it- mercy ; that her daughter lived, but lived also in infamy—she could fi.'ithersptak'orhear—she sunkdown, convulsed and powerless. As »oon as >!ic could recover to anything of .-ffort. naturally did she turn to the residence of Mr.Tnwnsewd—his enters had an-! tictpated her—the sentinel refused t^r entrance—slio told l»er sad narration —she implored his pity—with the flo- Quenee of grief, -he asked him, had h* a home, or wife, or children : ct Ol*. Ii.ilv nature ! thou didst not plead in vain !" even the riMiesoldi'-r's heart re¬ lent-d. lie admitted her by stealth, and she ouco more held wittiinlier sum* the da r!i ny hopn &f many an ant inns hour—dupt d-d- ri.jfj.fj ih ^Mi;l i|. |f was true—b-il atVli her child. Grlrfio- meu, if th pa'eiw || heart ranu-t stip, pose what foil '»«* rM.owlitth adequate am I to pain,* it. Home this wreteh<*d creature could mM return ; a seduc'T** mandate and a faiier's auger equally forbade it. But she ja\e w hatevercon- solalion she was capable : sin* (old tlie fatal tale of h<r undoing ; the hop.--, the pfomiser, lhe studied ww*cious ait- that had >:educ d her ; and, w itli a de — pcrate credulity, ^till watched lhe light that. gHram rin.: in Mie di (;uit vista of her love, mocked her with hope, an*] was fo leave hor to the tempest. - To all the repf.^ches of maternal an- KUifli, fhe would ftfll reply, "Oh no ; in the eye of Heaven he ij my hu/band ; he took me from rny I nmr. my happt- nefs, and you ; bt-t Mi he pledged to me a foldier's honor } but he alTured me With a chriftian'a cwtfeience ; for three long months I he^'d his vows of love ; he is honorable, ^ will not deceive ; he is human and cannot defert me." Hear, jjcntlcmcn, ^ear' I befcech yon, how this innocent confidence was retur¬ ned. When her indignant father had retorted to Lord foifec, the commander of the forces, and l<> the noble and lear- ned head of this (^purt, both of whom re¬ ceived him with a fympathy that did them honour, Mr. Towi.fcnd fent a bro¬ ther officer to inferm ber the mud quit his refidenceand i::.ke l<>4gtng« ; W vain] {fiieremonftrattd ?. fn vain reminded him of her former pur»y» antl tl»e promffe« that bctiayed it. yhe was literally tur- ncdoutat Dlghl3W,» to find whatever re¬ fuge the God of lht* fodlerlefc might provide for her ! Ocfertedand difownrd, how naturally did fllc turn to the once happy home \vhof-I(,ma,es ^ bad dif- j>raccd, and wh.Je protefiion (he had If.rfchcd! Howflaturally did fee think the once familiar and ore welcome ave¬ nues looked frowfl^g a?i ^- pa fled ! how naturally did (lie iinSer> ,;kr a repofelefa fpectr.% round tltf Wttnoriak of her li- ttug haopinefs ! Hfr hcart fu;!od her— where a parent's fanie bad ever cheered her. (he could ttP1 k& .t,,e g,an« of fhamef oi forrow or difdain ; lhe retur¬ ned to feck her filacer's pity, even till the morning. 0ood God ! h(UV «w ' difclofcitt The veryguaid had orders to refufeheraceff* ;.CVCI' by the rabble foldicry (he was c;ift l,n° t,u- ftw^t, amid J the night's dark '«orror«, the vidim rf her own eredulit/',lle o^aft $ math cr's crime, to fcal1 bergufky woes wuh fnicide, or lead a liv,,'g dca!b amid the tainted fcpnkhre? ofa p^omifciMiiByroa. ti'tntion! Far,fa'rani * from forry that it was fo, Baffin* beyond thought ai ! arming the vicious agem ag and terrifying from its conception by Uc turpitude to which it may lead. But what aggravation does feduftinn need i Vice is its eu'ence, lull its end, hypocrisy its inllrument, and innocence its vidim.! Muft I detail its mifcn'es I Who depop ulatea the home of virtue, making the child an orphan, and the parent child- kfs ? Who wrerts its crutch from the tottering helplei'snefsof piteous age ?— Who wrings its happinefs from the heart of youth ? Who {hocks the vifion <if the public eye ? Who infedh your very tho¬ roughfares with difeafe, difguft oblcenity and profancnefs ? Who pollutes the harmlefs fcenes where modeity refoits for mirth, and toil for recreation, with fights that ftain the pure, and fhock the ienfi- tive ! Arethefc the phrafe: of an bte- rcfted advocacy ! Is there one amongft you but have whnefled their verification ? Is there one amongfl you fo fortunate or I fecluded as not to have went over the wreck of health and youth and lovelmefs and fea'ent, the fatal trophies of the fedu- cer's triumph ?—Sorue form, perhaps, where eveiy grace was fquandered, and cverv beanty paufed to wade its bloom and evcrv beam of mind, and tone of me-i \ !iJ »ot- W« 1 ^ the facreJ feaf lody, pouud tlieir profufion upon the)' of fitW nbedienee^ upon which the Al public wondtf ; all that a parent's pray-l |o*fgWy Parent has affixed his eternal gat, er could aflc, or a lover's adorati- n fan-1 |bc violated with impunity by bUphe- mons and fcllifh lihcr.inifm ! Gentlemen, if the cafes 1 have quoted, palliated as (hey weie, have bee" hu¬ manely marked by ample damage1, he fnonld have confidered that before. But |p poverty an excufe foi crime ? Our law lay*, he who has not a purfe to pay fur kt rriult fuffer for it in his pcrfon. It is a rr.oft wife declaration ; and for my part, i never hear fuch a perfon plead poverty, that my frrll emotion is not a ihnnkfgfving,that Providence ha**denied, at leail, the inftjuinentality of wealth tt the aCGomplifhment of his purpofes. Gentlemen, 1 fee you agree with me. I w»ve tiie topic, and I again tell you* that if what 1 know will befits chief <!e- f. nee, were true, it fhould avail him tsa*. thing. He had no right tc fpeeulatcon th.s wretched creature's lev'ty, to ruin her, and 11 ill left to ruin her family. Re¬ member however, Gentlemen, that even had this wretched child been iadifcreet tt is not in her name we alk the repanU/ou; no, it is in the name of the parent?, her feducer has heart-broken ; it is in the [nameof th€ poor he/pftf, family he \Z ,defolated ; it h in the name of that n»lfc. ry whr.fe fanftuary (ie has violated ; it ij in the name of law, virtue., and morality. tt is in the name cf that country, whofe *a;r fdmc foreign envy will make refporv ublc for this crime ; it is hi th/uamr of nature^ deareft, tendered fympathies • it is in the na.ne of all that gives ' t il an objeft, and your eafe a charm & your age a hope, I afk from you theVa LUC of ihe poor man's child. When Mr. Phillips had concluded a j burl! of applaufc proceeded from the a'u. ditory, in which the bar and Conn wa«* ly joined. Catherine Creichton, the Plain. tiff's daughter, was i£ years of age on ihecrh of this month , (he was the f* n.a.e feduced, and was the only witnefa examined for the profecution. The plaintiff was a (late mei chant, he had late. Jy b-/cn in embarrafTed cirrumflances, his ta.mly confifted of nine children. The Idrfendant was about twenty years of age, j and a lieutenant in the 41ft regirnenf1 quartered m George's-ft.eet barracks', Dublin. The witnefs was walking with her little filler, cf four years old, on the hank of thecaral, beyond Portobello, in June bit ; and, for the firft time, met lieutenant Townfend, who accolled her, andalked permiffion to fee her home. Ti*iJhc rcfufed, parted from him, and returned home ; lhe faw him about a week afterward! in NafTau-tlreet ; they Jaiutcd, but had no further communica¬ tion at that time. Between this ptfTQil a:.d the month of Auguft, Mifs Creigh- ton Icarcely evei went out without meet¬ ing and walking with the defendant ; and flic fwore, that at thefe interviews he eonftantly fpokeof marriage, and exptef. led a determination to ma!;e her his wife. On the evening of Sunday, the ill of S ot. laii, between feven and eight o'clock, ihe was going to Abbey-ftrcet, in company with the little faster already mentioned, to borrow fome books, flic met the defendant, who caught her hand, alked tier where Hie was going, and, on being informed, faid lie could give her books, and that he wifhed her to fee hi* apartments, which were 10 be her's, that flie might afcrrtaiu whether thvy would anlwer for their refidence when they fhould be married. Having fatisfvd her fcruple*, and induced her to place f rm reliance on his honor, he finally prevailed upon her to accompany him to his room* in Gcorgc'sllreet barracks, where the feduriion was effected. She returned home that night, but left it the urxi, at the felicitation of the defendant, witk whom (he remained until the following Thmfday, when her father, having diS cy ; In whom every pollution looked fo lovely, that virtue would have made her more than human ! 1& there an epithet too vile for fuch a fpoiler ? Is there a pnnifhment too fevcre for fuch depravi- ty ? 1 know n<<t upon w^at complai- fance this Englifli feducer may calculate from a jury of this country ; I know not, indeed, whether he may not trunk he does your wives and daughters fome ho I nor by their contamination. But 1 know well what a reception lie would experi¬ ence from a jury of his own coun¬ try. I know, that in fuch general exc- craffon do they view this crime, they think nopoffible plea a palliation. No —not the maturer age of the feduced ; not her previous protracted ah fence from her parents; not a IcvJcy, approaching almofl to abfwlute guilt j not an indif- Ottion in the mother, that bore every colour of connivance ; and, in this opin ion, they have been fupported by all the venerable authorities with whom age, in¬ tegrity, and learning, have adorned the judgment feat. Gentlemen. I conicarrncn wifh thefe authorities, in the cafe of Tuilnlge, v. Wade. My ! ord, it appeared the per* foil feduced was thirty years of age, an i [long abfent 'rorn home ; \\t, on a mo¬ tion to fet afide the vcrd £k (or exceflive dan.ages, what wa** the language of Chief Juftice Wilmor I « 1 regret,"faid he, *' that they were not greater ; th*>* j the plaintiff's lofs did nor amount to j twenty (hillings, the jury vrert fight in giving ample damages ; becaufr, fuch aclior.s fhouhl be encouraged, for exam pie*- fake, juttice Cli«C wiflicd they hail g'-en twice the fum ; and in this opinion the whole bench concurred- There was a cafe where the ffirl was of a mature age, and living apart from her parents. Hfre, the victim is alrnoft a child, and was never for a moment fcparated from her home- //gain, in the cafe of " Ben¬ nett again It Alott," on a limilar rr.o j t ion, ground-, d on lhe apparently over whelming tact, liiat the mother of the girl had actually fent the defendant into hei daughter's bed-ch»mber, where the ciiminality occurred. Julrice Puller de¬ clared, " he thought ihe parent's ii.dif- crerion 110 excufe f-»r tlie defendant's cul¬ pability ;,? and the verd'dt of 20c/. da¬ mages was confirmed. There was a cafe of literal connivance—here, will they have the hardihood to hint even its fuf- picion ? You all muft remember. Gen- tJemen, the cafe of our own countryman, Lapt. Gore, againft whom, only the o- thcr day, an Englifh jury gave a Verdifl of 1500/ damage?, though it was proved that the perfon alledged to have been fe-1 duced was herfelf the feducer, goir»g even io far as to throw gr.-vel up ;it the win- d-wsofthe defendant; yet Lord Ellen-! botongh refuiVd (o dtfturb the verdi'ft. Thus you may f-e, I reft not on my own ' prooflefs and unfupported d/cHum ; 1 re- :« upon grave die:lions and venerable an* thorities ; net only on the indignant de- nunciatioii of the moment, bur on the deliberate concurrence of the enlightened and «he difpaCfionate, 1 foe my learned opponent fmite. I tell him, I would not care if the books were an ahfoluie blank upon the fubjeft. I would then make the human heart my authority. I would appeal to the bofom of every man who hears me, whe¬ ther futh a crime fhould grow unpunifh cd into a precedent—whether innocenee fhould he made the fuhjedl of a brutal fpcculat'ion. What damages fhould you gne here, where there is nothing to cx- I cufe—where there is every thing to ag j gravatc ? The fcduflfon was deliberate, it was three monih« in progrefa, its vic¬ tim wasalmoil a child ; it was commit¬ ted under the mod alluring projriifes ; 11 1