The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-08-07 00:00:00


ALLEGED ABDUCTION OF A JEWESS.

One of the most extraordinary cases which have ever I
arisen in the Principality of Wales %OA last w tek tried at the
iiiiiiolo4(4lAiiiirs MAC. at Cardiff, and recopied A i.llOlO .
scot is its elucidation. Ike respectability of the presets I
iuvolved, the curious ineldents of WO one, and the emmult ,
of religious feeling which it has evoked, have all contrinuted 1
to mate the case one of more than ordieary importance. 1
Ou each of the six days which the trial occupied the Cardiff
Town-hall was beseiged by crowds of respectably-dressed
persons belonging to every religious coniuniiiity, only a por-
tiou of whom were rosined to gaits adnittame to the Assize
Cowl. The 3,10 or MO who were preseut daily included
nearly all the clergy and niluisters .A the town and neigh
bourhood, and a huge proportion of the local geutry—laddes
and gentlemen.
The case took the form of a civil action for damages, and
Was tried by Baron Chaunell and a special jury. The plaintiff
was Harnett Lyons, • money-lender at cardilf, and the
defendants were the Hey. Nathaniel Thom., a Welsh Di.-
Seating minister, and his wise; Mr. JOSS sauderson Hollyer,
an iron merchant, said his wife all of Cardiff; and Mrs. Keep
and Dr. Charlm A. Schwartz, isliWr of toe 4,cattered Nation,
bath of London.
The counsel In the case were Mr. Hardinge S. Hillard, Q.C.,
and Mr. Michael for the plaintiff; and Mr. Greve, tj.E.,
Mr. R. E. Turner of the Home Circuit, specially retained„
and Mr. Hughes for the defendants, who, it was understood,
were Indemnified by the London Society for the Conversion
of the Jews. The papers in the case were most voluminous,
and Included several hundred letters which had roamed be-
tween the respective defendants and the young lady who is
ealleged to have been abducted.
As the respective leaders occupied five or six hours each
la addressing the jury, and the witnesses took several days
40 01.4111ine, we will content ourselves with a general sum-
mary of the C 440 as presented by b.dli sides (writes the cor- I
respondent of Th 4 TM. The declaration consisted of two
counts, in the first of which the dm eudants were charged
with having" unlawfully enticed and procured Either Lyous,
, unlawnilly and without the consent of the Maintill, to depart
' his service, she being at the time his -meant," and in the
, second, that they "unlawfully received, harboured, and de-
tained the said Esther Lyons, his daughter." The defendants
pleaded that, they were not guilty, and that Esther Lyons
was not the servant of the plaintiff. The evidence showed
• that in the beginning of ICUS the plaintiff had a pawnstiop
' at Reath, near Cardiff, as well as his loaleoftlee at the Lute
• Docks, where the family resided—about a mile apart.
1 Esther Lyons preview-1y managed the pawnshop, and slept
at home, but In March, MSS, she was kept at home to assist
In the household duties. On the 23rd of that niooth her
father returned home about ten o'clock, and war smplised to
LISS that Esther was DOC in. The family waited till haltliast
eleven, thinking she had gone out for a walk, and then Ws.
persed about the town to seek for the missing girl. They
failed to hear anything about her, and could learn no trace of
her on the 24th. Au examination of her bedroom showed
hat she had not taken anything with her except her everyday
clothes. The distracted father went to Newport said other
places, but failed to get the least clue of her whereabouts,
but at hut heard that she had been seen at the door
of the Km. N. Thomas on the 23rd. Mr. Lyons went to
Mr. Thomaa'a 100.0 015 ounday, an. 05th, and told him his
Inlailless, but Mr. Taunus mid he had only returned from the
Monmouth assizes on the previous night, and knew nothing
about the matter. In reply to the question, "Can you give
me any information ?" Mr. Ilium. said, "I don't know;
I don't know nothing." The plaintiff was satisfied by that
denial, and went away, but the next day gaining further in-
formation, he repeated his trait and saw Mrs. Thom..
After expressing himself strongly that she knew something
about his daughter's disappearance Mrs. Thomas ut last ati;
untied that Esther Lyons hail slept in her house on the
Monday night, but on the father askitig where she then was
she replied, " You s.sk me too stroug questions. I told you
she was here one night, I cannot tell you more." The
father threatened proceedings, but failed to elicit any further
information from the Thomases, although he called almost
daily for weeks afterwards, and sometimes four or five thins
a day. In the interval he received various lots of informa-
tion which confirmed him lir his suspicion that Mrs. Thoinas
had been and was cognizant of his daughter's disappearmice
' I and present abode. Eventually overtures were made tor
. an interview, the father sta.ing that if he was assured
. that his damthter wished to leave his house he wool I not
Ipursue his heroines any more. The neg,itiationi called forth
the following extraordmary letter from Mrs. Thomas to Mr.
Lyons:—

" Roath, Cardiff, May 25, Ib6o.
"My dear Sir,-1 promised to reply to your letter of May
14 on Monday. Before considering your proposal alto see-
ing your dear thild, I must nmke one or two remarks. You
seem to imply that I have acted deceitfully, and assert that
the wlede of the time I have said I know nothing about her.
Tnis is not true. I never said so. I toll you L did not
know where she was, and I spoke truly. I told the police-
officer I was wilfully ignorant of her whereabouts. This was
also true, and is true now, I thank God. I fear falsehood,
nor hovel uttered any to you Sr either of the other querists.
I was placed in a very difficult position, for I had to shield
your child while I replied to ye, and others' many trues-
thom. The dear girl cattle to me for refuge, having felts very
wretched home. 1, of course, Cods her in, but fearing our
house was not safe, I advised her to leave us She did so,
and I took ciao the hands she fell into were of the very
safest and best in all ways. Of counte I shall never betray
these, which is why I hated in your examination of me, and
hinted to you that l had aalil enough, though I volunteered
to you the information that she had slept in our house, slid
was not obliged as you say to acknowledge that I gave her
shelter, tirc. Perhaps this is your awkward way of puttieg
it, however, and not meant as all implieation in any way.
And now f i.e your threats and accusations, the. I can only
say soy conscieuce is perfectly clear; that I should act the
same over again; and that I am not at all afraid of any
punishment you can inflict. I am a friend and no enemy
ot yourself and family—would not hum a hair of your heads,
and would do and suffer a very great deal for your welfare
and salvation, and that of your nation, and pray oh, how
fervently ! that the roilmay be removed, and that with joy
you may see and adore the blessed Messiah who died for you
on Calvary, and look upou him whoa you have pierced, and
mourn and bathe in the fountain opened for sin and for un-
cleanness, and be saved. Tee Lord—even Jesus—bless you
and all yours. And now for your proposal. I don't know
where your dear girl is but I can Mal out if I desire so I
to do. She could be brought to Cardiff to see you; Out
this would incur a heavy expense, for it would need the
far away travelling expenses of herself and a friend here
and back agam ; and it must be first-class travelling.
She was destitute of clothing, so that much expenses
bas been lectured by her friends, as you may suppose au i
ahe is dearly loved by all who have had to do watt lies', i hear,
and one friend remarked, ' What a mine of wealth in her
loving heart her mother has lost.' Now, are you willing to
pay for the expenses of the interview? Any overplus
you should, of i ourse, have returned ; and you could bring
any of yonr friends to meet her, and she should have a few
of hers present; also, you should then see that she was not
detained or n.fluenceil by any one front the first moment of
her flight from your roof ; and if she likes able can go back
with you, aml it not, as I understand, you give a pledge to
leave her to her own cleive ? If you give this pledge and
wish the letervlew, and will hand over the money, I shall
then endeavour to find her out, and she can have the plan
laid before her.—l am, Sir, yours faithfully,
" L E. A. THOMAS..
The plaintiff agreed to pay the £lO, and abide by certain
conditions In au agreement drawn up in respect of the inter-
view, but when the matter caine to the point of signing Mr.
Thomas drew back, and said he must make further inquiries,
as he was not certain if he could produce the girl Eventually
the interview fell through, and the plaintiff took legal pro-
ceedings by making an application to Judee Biackbani In
chambers. Tile matter was before the Judge at several
sittings, when both Mr. and Mee. Thomas were called upon
to make affidavits. hi the course of one of her affidavits
Mrs. Thomas made the following statement :
" I never induced the said Esther Lyons to leave her
father's house, as until the night ot the 2 ird day March last
I never spoke with, or directly or indirectly had any commu-
nication with the said Esther Lyons, and tiie first time I ever
In any way spoke or communicated with the said Esther
Lyons was at half-past ten o'clock on the night of the said Sled
day of March, when the said Esther Lyons, with two other
girls Ws., perfect straogers to me, came to my house and
inquired or ma. I west to the door Mild asked what was
wanted of me. One of the three said they wanted to speak
privately with me. I then took Esther Lyons and one of the
, girls with me into my back parlour, leaving the other girl
In the kitchen, and when In the parlour the girl with Esther
I Lyons told me who Esther Lyons was, and that she bait rim
away from home because of the ill-treatment she had tea-
-1 freed from her mother, and that she wanted me to shelter
her for the night and find her a situation. I inquired box it
was they had come to me, and was told that a woman hail
directed them. After biome conversation, and after telling
, Esther Lyons that I would only shelter her for one night,
and that I would try to get bees situation. I consented to
allow Esther Lyons to remain in my house all night. At this
time my husband was out, but he came home very shortly
afterwards. 1 related to Min all that had passed, and he
approved of me haviog the girl all night. The two other
girls went away and left Esther Lyons. On the next HOMO
tug, the 24th day of March last, I again told Esther Lyons
that 1 could not keep her any longer, and she agam asked
nos to find a situation for her. I said I would go and see
what I could di. I then went out, leaving Edher Lyons
at my house, and I went and called at a house in
Brighton-terrace, Cardiff, aforesaid, used as a boarding.
school. 'the arrangement was then made that Esther Lyons
should go to a house in Canal-street, Cardiff, aforesaid, and,
in pursuance thereof Esther Lyons went accordiugly, where
elte remained only a few hours, and then she went to No. 2,
Brighton-terrace, aforesaid. From the time that I left
Esther Lyons at No. 2, Brighton-terrace, as aforesaid, I
have um had any control over her, nor has she been In my
house, nor havel seen her, except that I called almut the
middle of April last at No. 2, Brighton-terrace, not knowing
the said Father Lyons was still there, and then I only saw the
said Esther Lyons for about ten or fifteen minutes. Neither
have I commuuicated with, or written to, or received any
letter from the said Esther Lyons, except the two letters
hereafter mentioned; neither have I in any way contributed
towards the eninetenance, clothing, or support of the said
Esther Lyons, or to her travelling expense,, 'tor have I known
her whereabouts."

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas further declared that they had no pos-
sible means of discovering where Esther Lyons was, nor
could they assist Mr. Lyons in recovering his Ilaughter. The
consequence was that the Judge was unable to make any
order in the cafe, and the plaintiff was unable to recover his
daughter. Soon after the examination in chambers the local
and London newspapers published a long statement by the
ether, which led to a mass of correspondence, and gave rise
to discussions in nearly all the association meetings of Welsh
ministers throughout the Principality. The discussion ula-
mately led to o•. nrervlex 0 I held between the daughter
and father in ti.c ILI4-,3 4 i a Lon solicitor, at which the
girl informed her father that she had embraced the Chris-
tian faith, and that she positively declined to return home.
She alm alleged that she had been ill.treated at home, p ir-
ticularly by her mother, who had used various weapons when
id-using her.

The evidence brought forward at the trial showed that
Esther Lyons had been taken to the house of Mr. Thomas
by a girl named Sarah Carver, that she had remained there
one night, then removed to Mrs. Boll) er, 2, Brighton-ter.
race, in the same road, where she remained for two or three
weeks, and was then finally taken to Mrs. Keep's, In London,
where she was seen by Dr. Schwartz and lotus other persons
who interested themselves on her behalf. She was first
placed in a religious educational establishment, afterwards
baptized, and fondly removed to Germany, when the pro-
ceedings were taken in chambers. A mass of letters were
read by Mr. Giffard in his opening speech, which connected
all the defendants with the disappearance and concealment
of the girl. These letters and ensconce also showed that the
girl Sarah Carver was seat to Bristol by Mrs. Thomas Boon
after Esther's thaappearance, so that she might not lie
traced. Carver was instructed to change her name, and was
supplied with money, and written to by both Mrs. Thomas
and Mrs. llollyer under assumed names. Six or eight letters
were also read trim Mrs Keep to her sister, Mrs. II ollyer
describing the girls' career in London. On the 2nd of June
Uollyer wrote the following letter to Mrs Keep—
June 2, 1868.
"My dearest Ellen,—l must just write a line and send to
telt yin just for a bit not to aodress the letters yourself
in your handwriting, not to name the child at all, directly
or indirectly, in any letter sent to our address. If you
Wald to say any thsng sdiont her, be sure )our writing
noes not paes the post to any one or any part, especially
the plate where the letter as. posted. I shall not yam
icy writing to you if I name her for a bit, till the storm is
over. Mrs T. has not received the letter you Dante, and this
is Tuesday afternoon. They will very likely gets the Court of
Queen's Bench with it. If you have any difficulty, 1 can sug-
gest a very suitable and godly man abroad, who has suffered
notch persecution and imps isomnent, rte., who wombs ksmw
how to manage—aver) apostle—but I Must manage eornehow
to let you know other than by post. It may be needful for you
Lotto know, if by any means they get any clue. I don't know
n that will he yet. They tU spend £5OO, the mother's brother
says, to get her. Poor Mrs. I , she is so much upset, and
the mother is near confinement, and not unlikely to die-1
say of mortified rage—they eay of grief. They are in a great
rage just now Pray much to the Lord to defeat their
efforts. I enclose this to be posted. Sorry you did not keep
• copy of the refusal, as another may be needed it that does
, not turn up. l expect there is bribery at the post-office.
Write to me just as usual in your own writing, rirc , If you
don't allude to her. All's well; good night,' will be a suf-
ficient notice to me in any letter that all is well. Any
special communication address to Mrs. Sleeman, No. 2, its
very different writing to yours, or the child's, or Mr.
Thomas's. Could you not give me an address, may to Pheny's
school. Then you can easily get it; but mind how you send
the midi,. V,dir loving, " LoVe Is ALL"
. .

- - -- • - --
A few days after Airs. Ilollyer sent the following letter to
Air-. Keep, which to principally composed of a quotath.n of
a letter which Stn. Thomas had written Just before she tile.
lier affidavit to Judge Blackburn -

" Porthcawl, Tuesday.
'' bear have just received the letter copied :--last

_
Saturday both of us were served with a notice to appear,
either in person or by our attorney or agent, on Thin sday
nest, before Odin Blackburn, in Chancery, to show cause
why a writ of habeaw corrse be not issued to produce the
body of—, detained in our custody. Noir the cam! has
, assumed a serious aspect. The crisis has come, and we most
Ibe prepared to meet it. As there wae no time to lose. we
I called upon our mutual friend .F. B, a lawyer, who said he
Was not at all surprised at it lie advised as to put our- ease
in the hands of Mr. and kindly promised to do a, y-
thing he could for us—So we I dlowed hi+ directions, and
called on the gentleman, who immellaiely wrote to London
for copies of the affidavits by 1.. and Mrs. G , and said, 'ln
order that we may know what we have to answer' Now, a
thought has come into my head that it would be very pleu
tacit, should we be compelled toga to London on this affair
that the person concenied should suddehly appear in court
and prove that we used no influence to unlace her to leave
home, and then and there to appeal to the Judge for pro-
tection in future We do not want you to inform us of her
whereabouts ; still, in case we should be pushed hard, it may
be we shall want her to give evidence that we had nothing
to do ad h her leaving home or staying away. Therefore,
we should be glad if you have that information ready in case
of need, ax.
" The letter needs no comment. You can address me here
In the name Jess will assume when married—Mrs. Ann--.
A second envelope Weide for me—not in your own writing.
" AbIEU."

Among other matters proved in the course of the plaintiff%
case were certain correspondence with Dinah Lynne, • cousin
to Esther, who previous to March was urge I by the
Thomases to become a Christian convert. They also sent a
New Testament by Dinah to Either, but it was not proved
if this reached the latter. Mr. (Baud endeavoured by various
portions of the evidence to show that all the defendants
were combined in one long series of acts to procure the con-
version of young Jewesses, and urged in his address that
there was sufficient evidence to show that after Esther
Lyons came into the power of the defendants she was so
influenced as to be prevented from expressing her own
free will, lie noticed the letters which she was said
to have written soon after her disappearance, and main-
tained that they could not p bi-, the goniiastiion of a
young girl just converted to Christianity, while in one—
intended to he shown to the father—the writer gave a de-
scription of Swiss scenery which the had not even seen The
evlience he thought sufficient to show that there had been
combined action upon the port of the defendants to a con-
mon object. That object was the conversion of a young
Jewess, which would not be unlawful in itself ; hut he main-
tained that, after the girl bad got into the defendants' power,
they, by cajolery and falsehood, prevented her expressing her
own mind until she had been sufficiently instilled with their
views and steeled against the natural influences of borne.
Then, and only then, did they permit an interview between
father and child, and the result, as may easily have men
anticipated, was that the child expressed her determination
to remain with her new-found friends, who had released her
from the labours of a pawu-shop and placed her in the position
of a lady.
Far the defence, Esther Lyons, Dr Schwartz, the Rev.
N. and Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Ilollyer, Mrs. Keep, and several
other witnessest were all put ho the box. The excit,ment
which attended the earlier dabs of the trial reached its
climax on Wednesday Light, when Esther Lyons fainted on
one of the most important of the questions being put to her
—namely, whether her earlier letters were the result of her
own thoughts, sr were dictated to her by other persona.
The J udge considered the evidence ,d this witness so mate-
rial that ho directed that she sh-mid be given in charge of
the Governor of the gad, Mr. Wrenn' during the iligult so
that she might not be communicated with by the wiinesses
iin either side. Both on Wednesday and Thursday on Esther
Lyona being brought into court a " scene ' occurred—the
mother, who with the rest of her family were sitting in a
seat behind the jury.box, crying out, " E-ther, dear Esther,
come and sit by your mother ;" and her excitement was such
at seeing her child after an interval of fifteen months, that
she fainted away, and had to be carried out of court on
each occasion.

The girl Esther gave her evidence with great deliberation
and care, and in the course of several hours' questioning she
stated that she was nineteen years of age last March. Site
spoke to num.., ms acts of cruelty on the part of her mother
who had heat her , tilt a variety of missiles, frequently offered
to "alit for her,' and on one previous oczasion she had left
home on accouut of her violence. Esther denied having the
slightest communication with Mrs. Thomas or any of the
'titer defendants prior to the day she left home. She de-
termined upon leaving home Olt the 23rd of March, and
arranged with Sarah Carver to meet her in the evening She
diet meet her, and asked Sarah Carver if she could
get her guilt to allow her to stay at her house for
. a night, and afterwards, if she would not take her to
her Carver's mother's house at Newport. Afterwards
Sarah Carver suggested goingto Mrs. Thomas's house, and they
went there. They told Mrs. Thome. that the ;Esther had been
ill-treattd by her mother, and that after some conversation
Mrs. Thomas consented to allow her to remain for the night.
Esther expressed her desire that she might get into seine
situatioo, and the following morning she was taken to Mrs.
Shaman's house, next door to Mrs. Hollyer, where she re-
mained for four or live weeks. She was several times asked
if she would not go home, and even advised to apply to a
magistrate for protection. but Esther expressed so much
terror at the thought of being given up to her parents lb it
she was ultimately sent to Mrs. Keep's ill LOlnlOil, where she
remained for two months Afterwards she was placed in an
e mcational institution, and in consequence of the pr .ceed-
logs which were being taken by the father in Chambers,
she was despatched to Germany, where she remained till
this mouth

---
Both Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, in their evidence, denied that
they had seen Esther from the time she left Cardiff till the
day of her appearance in the witness-box, and stated that
they were ignorant of the whereabouts of Esther fr. m the
time she left Cardiff. Mr. ThAllae admitted that when he
drew up the agreement regarding the lot rview lie had an
expectation" of being able to secure the girl's attendance,
but from what he afterwards learnt he thought it advisable
to withdraw the bah-stoned agreement. Mrs. Mollyer cor-
roborated the Thomases in their statement that she was the
only means they had of comniunicating with Esther, end she
proved that within a very snort time after Esther left Cardiff
she ,Mrs, ilollyer)was also completely ignorant of her where-
abouts—her sister, Mrs Keep, stating that it was better for
Esther and all parties that there should be a complete sever-
ance of communication. Mrs. Keep proved that she acted
upon the advice of her London friends in cutting off their
communication with Esther. She denied that the letters
Esther sent were, with one or two exceptions, anything
hut her 4:sther's) own composition, anti gave particu-
lars of Esther's conversion to Christianity awl baptism in
London. .

The summing up of the learned Judge was commenced at
the opening of the court on Saturday morning. Ile said the
action war brought for enticing away a person named Either
Lyons, eupposed to be in the service if the plaintiff, and
damages were claimed for the loss the plaintiff had sustained
by reason of the lons of services of his daughter. lie re-
marked upon the uniqueness of the ease, arid said in the
whole course of his experience at the Bar and on the bench
Ito had never known a case of so very painful a character, or
one in which f amily affections and religious prejudices were.°
MiSell up. Few persons had heard the ease without feeling sym-
pathy—he would say well-founded sympathy—for the suffer-
ings of the rather, nut theli verdict must te t lie founded On
synimithy lame. is his judgment it was not enough On the
part of the plaintiff to prove that the defendants, knowing
the whereabouts of Esther Lyons, concealed their knowledge
of the fact from the father, or was it enough to show that
they remained ignorant, wilfully Ignorant, for purposes of
their own, of her place of residence. There had been a great
deal in the conduct of the defendants which they inight sit
approve, but the question they had to try was this—that
assenting they were of opinion that there was on the part of
the defendanta or any of them a proper and shiver° desire to
convert a Jewess to the Christian religion, whether, in the
zeal that might have influenced them in their determination
to carry out that purpose, they had oveistepped the pale of
the law and brought themselves within its operation. They
must be satisfied that the defendants had done one of two
acts—either that they had enticed the girl away from her
father'shouse or that they harboured her, knowing thatshe was
her father's servant at the time they harboured her. He was
of opinion it was sufficiently clear that Either was the
servant," in a legal view, of the plaintiff as regards the
first count of the declaration. The jury would see if it was
proved that the defendants enticed her away, and in con-
nexion with this it was important to notice the evidence of
one of the plaintiff's witnesses, Sarah Carver, who stated
that a hen she went away with Either she at first proposed
to go t, Carver's aunt's, and then to her mother's, and that
it was not till Carver suggested Mrs. Thomas's that they
went there. In order to sustain the second count, the Jury
must be satisfied that the defendants harboured the girl at
a time when they knew she was the servant of the plaintiff.
The girl being of a certain age, she was quite qualified to
express her determination to leave her father's service, and
if she did so, the father had 110 right to detain her. Sup-
posing it was proved that the girl had been enticed away, if
the girl expres,ed any determination not to return hi-stir,
then the second count could not be maintained His Lord-
ship adverted to the various portions of the evidence which
reflected on these two points. In conclusion, he saint that if
the jury were of opinion that the plaintiff was entitled to a
verdict, then would come the question of &alleges, and on
that point he was In great doubt, for there hail been no
previous case like it. His opinion, however, Wise that the
plaintiff would only be entitled to damages for the loss
of services sustained and not for solutions damages, as in
the case of seduction.
The jury retired, and were absent front the court four
hours, when they returned the following verdict:—" we
find that Esther lyons was enticed away front her father's
home by Mr and Mrs. Thomas, and we award the plaintiff
£5O damages."
His Lordship said that was • verdict for the plaintiff on the
first count only.

A verdict was entered in favour of the defendants, Mr.
and Mrs. Hollyer and Mrs. Keep, tLe action having been
withdrawn against Dr. Schwartz at the commencement of the
case. The erdict was received with applause by the Jewish
portion of the audience present; but, as the co:* has
created. both political and religious feeling, the result was
generally received with surprise, particularly atter the sum-
ming up of the Judge, which was considered to preclude the
possibility oi a verdict being found for the plaintiff. Mr.
Turner, on behalf of the defendants applied for a case for
the Superior court, and his Lordship immediately gave leave
to move generally,