re. Such has been the defendant's
guilt--such his defence--such shall be my address to you--and such, I
trust, your verdict. The learned counsel has told you that this
unfortunate woman is not to be estimated at forty thousand pounds. Fatal
and unquestionable is the truth of this assertion. Alas! gentlemen, she
is no longer worth anything; faded, fallen, degraded, and disgraced, she
is worth less than nothing! But it is for the honor, the hope, the
expectation, the tenderness, and the comforts that have been blasted by
the defendant, and have fled forever, that you are to remunerate the
plaintiff by the punishment of the defendant. It is not her present
value which you are to weigh; but it is her value at that time when she
sat basking in a husband's love, with the blessing of Heaven on her
head, and its purity in her heart; when she sat amongst her family, and
administered the morality of the parental board. Estimate that past
value--compare it with its present deplorable diminution--and it may
lead you to form some judgment of the severity of the injury, and the
extent of the compensation.

"The learned counsel has told you, you ought to be cautious, because
your verdict cannot be set aside for excess. The assertion is just; but
has he treated you fairly by its application? His cause would not allow
him to be fair; for why is the rule adopted in this single action?
Because, this being peculiarly an injury to the most susceptible of all
human feelings, it leaves the injury of the husband to be ascertained
by the sensibility of the jury, and does not presume to measure the
justice of their determination by the cold and chilly exercise of its
own discretion. In any other action it is easy to calculate. If a
tradesman's arm is cut off, you can measure the loss he has sustained;
but the wound of feeling, and the agony of the heart, cannot be judged
by any standard with which I am acquainted. And you are unfairly dealt
with when you are called on to appreciate the present sufferings of the
husband by the present guilt, delinquency, and degradation of his wife.
As well might you, if called on to give compensation to a man for the
murder of his dearest friend, find the measure of his injury by weighing
the ashes of the dead. But it is not, gentlemen of the jury, by weighing
the ashes of the dead that you would estimate the loss of the survivor.

"The learned counsel has referred you to other cases and other
countries, for in