A CURIOUS BREACH OF PROMISE CASE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4460, 6 July 1875, Page 3

A CURIOUS BREACH OF PROMISE CASE.

(From the Glasgow Mail.) The proof in this case was led before Sheriff Falconar, Nairn, in the Small Debt Court on Friday. The pursuer is James Miller, commissary officer, Forres, and the defendant Miss Jane Miller, Nairn. The court was crowded. The pursuer, James Miller, a feeble-looking old man, deponed : About the end of January, 1874, I met Miss Miller at the Forres station in a railway* carriage. She complained of her feet being very cold, and asked me if I could get a warming-pan for her feet. I tried to get one, but did not succeed. I travelled with her to Elgin. When she bade me good-bye she said she would write me from Aberdeen or Edinburgh, and asked me to call on her the first time I was iu Nairn. Had you fallen in love with her by this time? There was something of that sort. (Laughter.) I wrote her the following letter:— " Edinburgh, 4th February, 1874.—1 cannot longer restrain the expression of feelings with which your charms have inspired me on the day you were going to see your friends. . . . When parting with you at Elgin you gave me your hand, and invited me to speak to you when I came to Nairn. I have been there yesterday, expecting to see my dear darling Miss Miller, but found you were still in Edinburgh, and, having procured your address, I now send you this note as the most delicate means I could devise to make you aware of my sentiments. If you will allow mo the honor of a personal interview, I shall satisfy you that my position and character are not beneath your notice. My love for you cannot be restrained. It has mastered me, and I must obey its impulse. Fulfil, then, my dear madam, the hope I have been fondly dreaming over, and convert into a reality the sweet idea that has overpowered mo. Awaiting the favor of a reply, I.remain, my dear madam, your devoted admirer, James Miller." To that letter I got no answer, but I wrote her again, this time to Nairn, on the 24th March, entreating her to give me an interview, and concluding as follows : " .... By your live humanity I entreat you not to keep me longer in suspense, for I could lay me down and die for my bonnie, blooming, darling. Miss Miller. Ever since I met you in the railway carriage on your way to Edinburgh city my heart ivent with you. I am, your most devoted and faithful lover, James Miller, Commissary Officer, High-street, Forres." On the 26th, I received from her the following note : —" Dear Sir, —Were you in Nairn ; on Saturday or Monday, I will be happy to see you.—Yours truly, Jane Millek." On the 30th of March I called. She was waiting me at the door, and took me into the house. She said she was looking for me. We had a long She promised to marry me. She was sitting on my knee. We had some wine together. She offered me a glass, saying, You have never tasted with me. We both drank out of the same glass at the same time. (Great laughter.) I kissed her. (Laughter.) She was all life and fun. (Renewed laughter.) I gave her £7 in Caledonian Bank notes. She refused at first, saying what was she to do with the money. I said, anything you like. She took the £7. I gave her a whole bag of confections. (Groat laughter.) I had it filled with the very best cakes that could be got. After that she took me into every room and bedroom in the house. I was rather astonished. She showed me her own bedroom and bed. I said the bed was rather "we." (Laughter.) I gave her a ring. I kept a book at this time, into which I wrote everything I said, and every time I visited her, and all the presents except the confections. (Laughter.) On the 10th of April, I wrote her again : " My dearest loving Darling,—Allow me to congratulate you upon the sweet conversation we had together in your own house on Monday last, when I told you how I loved you more than any other woman on earth. I said I never will be happy in this world till you be my own dear wife. I daresay you have not forgotten what I told you and recommended you to consult your own mind fully about the comfort of the married state. If I dare judge, it is to possess a more blessed amount of happiness than a life of single loneliness. And now my dearest darling, for your marriage day, and then a trip to Edinburgh city, on by moss and moorland going wi' my bonny blooming Emma. And now believe me, my dearest dear, your every truly and affectionate sweetheart, Jamks Miller. Please drop mo a note if I could have the pleasure of seeing your own dear self." She wrote me as follows :—"Dear sir,—l will be happy to see you on the 15th ; will you come here straight from the train if convenient for you.—Yours, J. M." I wont on that day. She again promised to marry me. She said she would take nobody but me, and that she would take me out and out. We had some

wiue together. I had a bottle with me that day. I wrote her again on the 20th of April, and also on the 29th. In that last letter I expressed the hope that she would not keep me longer waiting without fixing the happy day. The letter, which was read in court, concluded as follows : " I have explained my mind fully to your own dear self, whom I love with all my heart, and 1 must confess I cannot get peace of mind night or day till you become my own darling wife— Oil come to me my own darling Emma, Oh come my dearest loving Emma, Oil come my bonnio, blooming, cheerful Emma Wi' your ain Jamie, and he will make you Ins bonny Ever your ardent admirer and true and faithful sweetheart, James Miller." The Sheriff: Where did you get the poetry ? The Pursuer: I took it out of my own head, my Lord. The Sheriff : Your head and heart both. (Laughter.) , Pursuer continued: To that letter I received a reply on 2nd May from Miss Miller. [The letter complained that pursuer's last letter was not one which defendant could show to her friends, who must know what income pursuer had before they would consent to her marriage.] I gave her a ring on the 7th of May. I took of them with me that she might have her choice. She said they were all beautiful, but the one she liked best was one with the emblem " Dearest" upon it. I gave her that one, and she kept it. I wrote her again. She wanted to know my income by this time. I told her as near as I could, that it was £IOO, more or less. (Laughter.) She wrote me in reply--"Dear Sir,—Your tetters are not satisfactory, so I must beg of you not to write again. AY ishmg you well. AVere you coming this way and would like to call as a friend, I would be happy to see you.—Yours respectfully, J -^ l ' I did not correspond with her for some timeas I was unwell, but on the 22nd September, I wrote again—- " Dearest loving darling Emma,— . . . I daresay you was thinking I had forgotten you, but that I never will do, for I ever believed your love was sincere and constant. It could scarcely be otherwise, for it was founded on the real spirit of love, for many a thought I had about my beloved darling Emma since I saw you last in Nairn, as I always believed your love for me siucere, and it could scarcely be otherwise, for it was founded on sincere and ardent esteem and respect, arising from a mutual conviction of superior excellence and merit in your kind and loving heart to me." To that letter she sent me the following answer : " Sir,—l am much surprised that you would write to me in such a way, I having told you so often not to write to me again, and the next time you doso I will return it unopened. "J.M. I was quite astonished, and wrote to that effect. My feelings were very much hurt. (Laughter.) It affected my health a good deal. In . cross-examination, Pursuer said when he kept his " love-letter book " it was not with the intention of getting up a breach of promise case, but to keep his mind fresh. He kept copies of all his letters to her, and a record of what passed. He had no objections to produce the book, which was handed to the Sheriff. If he had not kept such a took he never could have brought this action. The Sheriff : How old are you ? The Pursuer: Between sixty and seventy, and Miss Miller is between forty and fifty. (Laughter.) The Sheriff : I did not ask you the lady s age. In what year were you born ? The Pursuer : In the year 5, my lord. (Great laughter.) I mean 1805. Miss Miller, the defendant, was then examined. She met the pursuer on a journey to Aberdeen. He travelled with her from Forres to Elgin." He offered to get her a warmingpan for her feet. She did not know who he was. She received a letter from him dated 4th February, in Edinburgh, but did not answer it. She got one on the 24th of March, in Nairn.' The letters produced were hers. She merely wrote he might call. He did call. I took him (witness proceeded) into the diningroom, and he stayed a little while. I never promised to marry him. He asked me to marry him, but I asked him what he was, and what he had to live on ? I never said I would marry him if he satisfied me as to his income. I never said he would have to get a house for me. He was talking about houses, and I told him if he wanted a house he ought to build one, but not for me. He offered me money, but I refused it. I showed him through my house, as he said he knew of one who would take it. I let my house every year in" summer. I gave him a glass of wine, as he hinted he would like one. No endearments passed between us. He was a perfect stranger to me. He called again on the 15th of April. He asked me again to marry him, but I refused. He never sent me the letter stating his circumstances which he promised. I never agreed to marry him conditionally or unconditionally. He called one clay, when I went to the door, and I told him, " You can't come in here." He pushed himself past me into the dining-room. He asked' for a wineglass and took a small bottle of wine out of his pocket. He filled out a glass and wanted me to take it. I would not take his wine. He had a lot of rings with him, which he laid on the table. He said he wished to give me a present. I told him I did not want any present, and that he had better pack them up and go away as quick as he could. He rt-ould not go, and I went out, of the room. , I came back again and told him to go away. I went away and left him in the room. When I. came back he was standing' writing something in a little black book. ' I stood at the door to see him off. He told me he had left a ring for me. I, told him I.would not have it, and would go for it and give it to him back. Ho said he never took back presents. I ran for it, but before I got back he was gone. I have never Seen him since. I would not have him if he had £IOO,OOO a year. He only called twice and the once he pushed himself in. My agent offered to give him back the ring he left, but he refused to have it. After the agent' had been heard, the Sheriff said there seemed to be no promise made, and he could only give a decree of absolvitor and expenses. , .'