Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-08-13 00:00:00

I tried to

resist, and he -behaved indecently .to _
succeed in kissing me. I got away, and vi
sister. I went back with my sister and Miss Charlton. _
complained of Smith's conduct to them, and also to my
mother, when I got home at ten o'clock. By my parent's
desire,. I went to sec Mrs. Smith, the defendant's wife, at
Mrs. Showell's.. I did not see Mrs.. Smith, but I told
Mrs. Showell what had happened on' the previous even-
ing. Mrs. Showell requested me to stay
Mr. Smith ; "for," said•she, "he
will believe him." (Laughter.)
the chair back for a short time

t to my

re came, and sitting on
l it was a lie. I said

if it 'was, it was on his part. Mrs. 'Showell said she
wished his neck had been broken rather than she had
seen him again. I said I thought it was a planned job
between him and Mr. Showell. He said it was a lie,
and added, "Go along, you wretch," to me. Mr.
Smith afterwards came to .my father's shop. He said
if I did not write a letter and acknowledge my fault, and
give him £5 by, to-morrow, he would ----." Without
allowing him to finish the sentence my 'father ordered him
off the premises. He did not go, and then my father got
hold of his shoulders and pushed him down the show-room,
sayina. " Go along, you vagabond, .you tried to ruin my
daughter." He resisted, and father then turned hini out.

Cross-examined : I and my friends were walking- ailout
the park from six till nine. I do not remember that we
spoke to any one but Mr. Smith. "I :ant not a frequenter of
the park. It is two years since I was at the Soho-pool.
Was thirty yards from the dancing platform when I
.met
Smith. Did not walk with a Mr. Parker, and never had
done.

In re-examination the plaintiff was overcome by emotion,
and the Judge requested an usher to support her as she left
the witness box.

Phoebe Adams, the plaintiff's sister, was then called, and
corroborated that portion of her sister's evidence which re-
ferred to events occurring in her presence.. In cross-ex-
amination she said their-object in going to the park was to
ascertain if Mr. Showell,was inconstant. (Laughter.) •
Mr. Benjamin Thomas Adams,'the father of the plaintiff,
was then called, and stated the part he took in turning Mr.
Smith out of his shop.
This being the, plaintiff's case,
Mr. Elers addressed the jury for, the defence. Ile said
his client would be called to contradict the whole of the
plaintiffs statement, and it would therefore 'depend on the
amount of credence to be placed' on his- testimony whether
their verdict was given for-the plaintiff or defendant. The
amount of damages, £lOO, was ridiculnus. It was not pre-
tended that the defendant committed an aggravated assault,
but that he had simply attempted to kiss the plaintiff.
The folloWing witnesses were then called :
James Nemo Smith, the defendant, said—On the day in
question I was passing through Aston Park about eight
o'clock, on my way to a friend's house. When I was near
the dancing platform I saw the plaintiff and her two friends.
_Shook hands with the plaintiff. The two friends moved off,
"and the plaintiff beemn to cry, saying, " Have you semi
Ted ?" meaning Mr.°Showell. I said " No," and she re-
plied, "If he does .not do his duty my father will make
him." In the course of the conversation we walked about
forty yards. She conversed on the same subject.. We then
returned, and she shook hands with me and
,joined her
friends. The defendant then denied all that the plaintiff said
had taken place during the interview, and also gave quite a
different version of his interview with Mr. Adams.
_ _

Edwin Showell.was then called. He stated that he was
with the defendant when he went to Mr. Adams. This wit-
ness, like the defendant, denied the substantial portion of
the evidence given by Mr, Adams, In cross-examindion