Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-08-04 00:00:00

wmiytehriosthfiesrt.
track him
He
knockedlifted u
of Mr.. Johr, Turner and his daughter, and of my own wife, to
stron opinions of your son's conduct _both to himself and to us;
andil
confirm the accuracy of what I state."Plaimhisdorwignh.
-- •He then-be at him -witlrantick. HO was then down- on the
Now that was the letter which he thought proper-ta write
grourallean ing to a post.. He struck him heavy blows. He
;the, next morning:Wfter. being told of the- extent. of the hand aininde's it
used very ba d language whilst doing so. - -I did .not see ank
• injuries winch - 'hodadlnflicted on the boy. cJR did not,
men near wl tilst this was going -on. - I went home with my
know at that time with whom he was dealing, hut he did
brother- after 'ho beaten. Cross-examined : The post
know it very shortly afterwards; and
,then he .wrote . . . . t• I iel i mytn-othei was holding on •' st
agains w 1• was just over the
letter, and' he wrote it in such a manner as a ma:would:do
hole, and hit i feet were hinging over the area. I was not
who first insulted A child as lie had done, and afterwards
with my brotl ter the whole time. 'When I saw Mr. Neilson
found out that the man.to whom -he had written4would.not
- submit to his bullying:. The following is the secondbeating
letter.: .. .
hint. so cruelly I. ran away for help. • Mr: N eilson
Liverpool, Julz 24 ISO.
was going awa,v when I returned.-. -
ALEXANDER SLEIGT4 £84.. t)- .
3as..Letitia: Forwood examined.—l am the wife. of Mr.
-
Sir,--I have had a conversation with Mr. W. If..J.bnes, from George o of the firm-of Forwood, Callan, and Co. • F r.wet) a, -
'
which I gather he thihiri the boys conduct was very=-wrong, and merchants. in.: I;iverpool. We reside at Marine-terrace,
that he might himself have • acted towards him as .I. do:l;;;.httt that - Waterloo:- s the next door to where ' this
he should not have struck him. so hard, for that his.arm is very Muir 'house i
much hurt. Now for this I am quite willing. to• express my I was sitting at
beating- took. place. •At 'tile time, . . 8- . the
ext e! regret ; for -1:: had, intended ' only 'to chastiSe. him as drawing-roonr window, in sneh
_a position as t
- I would . have_ done my. own son. if he had acted towi.i.a.l-..", . - -

azIL. LW(
n a similar way--; but I do not doubt that from constailt prac.
Lth wires and other instruments, and gymniettic exercises,
hn.VP ArrLL a.vnro - _

thought of this ;, b
feelings, that after
myself, his conduc

!assure, yAr., without Wishing
had, been spoken to both hr 11

'firmer and
y did make

Lain anger, tn.= if he had told
me his name and conuectson with you, I should never have touched
him, or done more than telling you. of his conduct, and, leaving him
to your own good senselor correction, but as you murAnee yourself,
he would hot show even his residence, evidentlly -to. avoid your
displeasure, for he must have passed your door When he saw me
coming with the stack. I shall add one word. lam extremely
sake. whom r •

his mcil

I feel since
hayed ill, I

uLLIL L 1.110,V71, out for whom
w,lng that she must feel that here child has be-
. thinkino.n,.., +,.,+r •

'"''see what
o6k-place: P saw the bay-standing by the rails,. and Mr.
Ntil4on beating, him with a-stick, on the arms and body.

laeard'heaevy• Idol's, and Pr said, " Good God!' there is a
man- killing a, boy." My attention was attractediby hearing
the blowS, and dreadful latikuage. I saw him give from
t '

weive to fifteen heavy blows: I went out at the' window,
and'said, "-Mr. Neilson, what bas the boy been doing that
you are testing him so?"' Ile replied, " A has been
throwing• crackers at my wife:" I then saic}, "If he has
d6ne that he is a naughty-boy, but it does not justify you
in beatirw hint so violently." I then went inside the
',ouse, and was so agitated at what I *bat I

saw t, ..)ecame
perfectly unconscious. My, boy afterwards came in, and
said ,to me, " Mamma, the little boy is young Sleigh."
They were dreadful blows that Mr. Neilson struck.
Cross-examined : I have a family of my own. lam not
very strong in my health. I do not know the state in which
Mrs. Neilson is at present. lam not aware that she is near
her confinement. I cannot justify the throwing of crackers.
It is highly improper. Bnt I cannot justify such beating
of the boy as= I saw.
Robert Samuel, 13, son of Mr. R. Samuel, merchant at
Liverpool, eorroboratecrthe other boy's evidence.
Mr. John Dudley Slack : I am a broker in Liv

rpool,
Ind at present am staydng at Seaforth. On the evening of
the 27th of July, I was at Waterloo. At-about sixty yards'
distance from where I. was standing, I saw a man raising
up his hand with s stick in it. lat first thought he was
laying it on to some-rafters, from the strength he seemed to
use, though I saw a_ boy leaning against the wall. I after-
wards saw it was Mr. Neilson. My attention was called by
a gentleman, who said, " By Jove, see how he is leathering
the lad." I then distinctly saw three or four heavy blows
struck across the boy's arms and hips.
Mr. James Stoekdale Irving : I am the principal in the
firm of Irving, Son, and Jones, merchants, at Liverpool,
and reside at. Ifaterfoo. I know-Mr. Sleigh. On the even-
ing
of the 2i7th of July, in consequence of hearing some-
thing about this matter, I went to Mr. Sleigh's house. Mr.
and Mrs. Sleigh were out. I saw the boy. I heard his
statement. His clothes were taken' off, and I examined his
arm. He had been shamefully beaten. His arm was in a
disgraceful state. There were blood marks. I saw his back
when he was stripped, later in the evening. There were
many bruises on his back and upper part of his body.
I waited until Mr. and Mrs. Sleigh came home. On In-
forming Mr. Sleigh of what had taken place, we both went
to Mr. Neilson's. Mr. Sleigh knocked at the gate, and
after some time Mr, Neilson came down. It was about
half-past ten. Mr, Sleigh Called out, " Mr. Neilson, I want
you." Mr. Neilson then came out with a stick in his hand,
which he was holding in a threatening position. It was a
very thick stick. Mr. Sleigh asked him for an explanation
as to why he had been beating his son. He said that his
son had been throwing Waterloo crackers, and that he had
given him a d—d good thrashing, and it served him right.
He said he would do it again, and would serve his parents
in the same way, or any man in England, who did the
same. Nothing else occurred.

Cross-examined.—lt was about nine o'clock when I first
heard it, and when we went to Mr. Neilson's it was about
ten o'clock. We made no more noise than was sufficient to
make Mr. Neilson hear. My younger brother was with me
as well as Mr. Sleigh. When Mr. Neilson came down he
seemed very angry. The skin of the boy's arm was broken
in some places with the marks of the stick.
_ _

Mr. Joseph Churton examined.—l am a surgeon, practis-
ing at Waterloo. I have been upwards of thirty years in
practice. On the 27th of July I was sent for to see Mr.
Sleigh's son, but did not go that evening. Next morning
I went, in company with Mr. May. We saw the boy, and
he complained of haVing spent a very restless night. I
made an examination- of his body. There was a good
deal of fever about him, and he complained of giddiness.
The injuries were Fincipally on the left side of the head
and body. There was a swelling on the hesd, of which h e
complained • very much, and which was very tender
to the touch. It might have been done either
with a fist or a stick ; but must have received
a severe blow. On the thigh there were severe
occasioned by a stick ; and the appearance of one stripe was
bruises, in the shape of bullies, Withal have been
a guide to the size of the stick. It was about half-an-inch
in breadth, and must have been vroduced by a stick au inch
and a-half in circumference. Ihere was a severe blow on
the buttocks, six on the back, and four stripes across the
shoulder. On the right side there was also a large mark of
extravasation of blood, and the back of the left arm was
sadly and severely bruised—in fact, it was a mass of bruises
froonitehre-joeinlbto.N" I on
intto within about six inches of the
shuldorder to produce such severe blows,
considerable violence must have been used. Some of the
blows were about five or six inches from the spine. Had
the spine been struck, it would probably have caused con-
cussion of the spine. Concussion of the spine produces a
v.eept that in the case of a delicate child
character
swelling
tpoaprarloydtuicceeffile the muscles ; but hardly likely to cause
loss of life, unless the spine was 1,,,0kcn•
blows were
aCofuta:
it
necessary Cross-examined
to
give
v e :
him e
in, c
ee
mignt have laid the foundation of disease. I thought
btol
or fever. If one of the crackers produced were thrown at
the feet of a lady in an advanced state of
pregnancy, it
would, very likely, create a great shock, and might make
her faint. Ido not think it would be likely to lead to a
miscarriage. Ido not think that the blows on the back and
those on the arm were produced by the same blow. They
did not correspond in appearance.

Mr: Arthui Pyn' e Mo,7y, surgeon, of Crosby, corroborated
the evidence of the last witness.

Mr. Henry Theakstone was next called to prove the
handwriting of the prisoner, but he did not answer to the

summons

This closed the case for the prosecution.
Mr. Deighton then addressed the bench,on behalf of the
defendant in a lengthened and elsquent speech. In the
outset he remarked that, notwithstanding tho observations
of his learned friend with reference to the presence of Mr.
Simpson, which, he thought, was- hardly complimentary to
Mr. Snowball, who instructed him (Mr. Deighton,) h.
begged to say that he felt no shame whatever in appearizq
before them as the advocate of Mr. Neilson, instructed by sc
respectable an attorney as Mr. Snowball. Mr. Deighton,
in continuation, complained of the course which had been
taken from the commencement to create a prejudice in this
case in the public mind against Mr. Neilson. Ire believedi
that it was net because 111 r. Sleigh wished to press this
charge that he now brought it into court,
towards
t_z was
i
_
because there was a vindictive feeling Mr.
Neilson elsewhere ; and notwithstanding the regret which
Mr. Neilson had expressed at havingotht
heberesedneweo had
toonce hasty,which
Mr. Sleigh had been houndedWohnatbwyas
prejudice against Mr. Neilson.
Mr. Neilson instructed him to set up? Did he tell him to
say that he had not been guilty of an assault? Certainly
not. Did he say that he had not used more violence to this
youth than he ought to have done ? Certainly not. lie
was in a passion at the time, and he most bitterly regretted
the excess to which he had • gone. The learned counsel
having analyzed the evidence, and referred to Mr. Neilson's'
letters, which he contended, were honourable to him, and
did him credit as a gentleman who frankly admitted his
error, urged that the system of throwing crackers in the
manner described, was exceedingly dangerous, and calculated
to cause irritation to parties situated as Mr. Neilson and his
wife were on that occasion. " The angry feelings 'of a husband
said Mr. D.) were on Mr. Neilson then. lle felt that in-
dignatian which every husband would have felt on seeing
his wife placed in a state of personal danger. I know not
whether I address married men or not; but I am sure there
is not a married man in this court, who, seeing his wife t
placed, would
into that state in which Mrs. Neilson was
not have been as warmly excited as Mr. Neilson was' ." Mr.
Deighton, having dwelt for some time on the great provo-
cation which Mr.- Neilson had received,y consider-
ing the condition in which Mrs. Neilson was at t time,n nmanner
called upon the magistrates to deal in a
summaryw me
a
with the case, and the ends of justice would be satisfied.
In conclusion, he said he 'did not think that Mr. Sleigh
was there on his own account, or from his own free will.
There was an excitement on the Stock Exchange, which he
could not but believe had induced him to come there. There
was prejudice—the worst of all prejudice—acting upon a
statement of facts which were not correct. And it was at a
time like that that magistrates ought to be carefuj, when
the viction of public opinion had everything thrown into the
scale against him. Every error of his life was dragged from
the store-house of memory, and brought to bear .against
li
him, to swell his crime, and to aggravate his guilt. e did
hope that at suoh a time the bench would not allow any
prejudice to operate on them; that they would not be led
away by prejudice founded on a mis-statauest of Emits, but that