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

matter upon which he. would dictate to the magistrates;
but
,he thought there were good reasons why it would be
more satisfactory to send it •to the assizes. If sent to the

assizes, it would come before both a jury and judge, who
would give. it a proper consideration ; and should it
be found that it was. a case deserving of mercy, such a
jury would •be more likely to be merciful than any other
tribunal. Mr. Alexander Sleigh was residing with ,his

family, on

27 th of

uly, at y

it appeared, was also residing there,—whether temporarily
or permanently he did not know—at a house close to Mr.
Sleigh's. Two of Mr. Sleigh's sons were more immediately
interested in the ease. These two young gentlemen, with
their friends, were on the terrace at Waterloo, on the even-
ing in question ; and they had purchased what are cominonly
called Waterloo crackers, and were amusing themselves
with letting them off. There was no pretence for saying
that, beyond making a noise, it was possible for -them to do
any individual or bodily harm ; at the same, time, he might
perhaps say, that letting them off in the manner which
would be described, was perhaps a boyish trick, but nothing
more ; certainly it did not demand such aggravated punish-
ment as that which was inflicted on the young gentleman by
the defendant. The two sons of Mr. Sleigh, with some
companions, were on the beach at Waterloo.; and at the
same time, Mr. Neilson and Mr. Alderman
Turner, with . two ladies Mrs. Neilson and Miss
Turner were walking. there. As Mr. Neilson, Mr,
Turner, and the two ladies were coming along, one of the
boys sent up one of the crackers into the air, and it fell and
exploded near Mrs. Neilson. Seeing. this, Mr. Neilson
turned round, and expressed himself towards the boy in a
very violent manner. He (Mr. Aspinall) would not say
anything about that, because under such circumstances it
was natural to suppose that a gentleman might be angry at
the moment, thinking it was of greater consequence than it
really was. If Mr. Neilson's anger and hostility had:stop-
ped there, nothing more would have been heard of the
matter. Even if had gone fnrther—if he had turned
round and given the boy a tap on the head—nothing more
would have been said. But he did not stop there. Mr.
Neilson, and his wife and friends, went on, and passed into
their own house, and the boys went away along the terrace,
four or five of them together, and passed Mr. Sleigh's
house, as they had done over and over again, on that
and other evenings. Several_ of these boys would be
called before the magistrates. The boys, he had 'said,
passed Mr. Sleigh's' house becanse they- had no desire
to go in, and he saw no reason why they should go
in, for their parents were from home. They went to a place
where there were several persons standing about, but they
were females. Had there been any gentlemen about, the
occurrence which had led • to the present charge would, in
all probability, not have happened, because the person who
made the attack would have come off a great deal worse
than the boy upon,whom the attack was made. After the
lapse of about twenty minutes from this time, Mr. Neilson
came out of the house' with a heavy stick, and after using
language which he was afraid he should be obliged to ask
the witnesses to give, he struck young Sleigh violently with
his fist, and he then proceeded to use the stick upon him in
iantinerttt wunhmateervceifruiln
troes. Ile struck the boy over and over main, so as to
mthaenmneart'telvr, hiwcohuldwditenseerssibese towhtohehMulaginso-
produce injuries which would be described to them by
medical men ; and conducted himself in a manner the most
disgraceful and cowardly for a man in any station of life,—
so disgraceful and outrageous, indeed, was his conduct, that
if a person in the lower class of society had committed such
an outrage, it would scarcely have been necessary
to ask the magistrates to act promptly. lie
should call before them the boy himself, and he should also
call before them a lady who resided in an adjoining house.
She saw what occurred from the window of her own house,
and such was the effect of the defendant's treatment upon
her that she fainted away. He should also' call before
them a gentleman, and he would tell them that he saw the
defendant, and that he thought at first he was not.dealing
with a human being at all, but was performing upon some
inanimate substance for the purpose of gymnastic exercise.
a
Ile should also show, by the evidence of the medical men,
that the injuries were of a most serious character, for they
would tell them that one of the blows,
.if_tit beenhad struckto
boy at a distance. f a fraetipn—have—have
ii.e-snount also show them that a r;, o.
keys which the boy had in his pocket was smashed to
pieces by -one of the blows. Under these circumstances
he would ask them to deal with this person as they
would deal with a person in the lower class of society.
If one of that class had been charged there with such '
an aggravated attack, either on the son of a gentleman

or on a person in any class of society, he did not think
that that bench, or auy bench, would hesitate in taking
the only course they could, and send the accused for trial.
But he did not stop there. After this disgusting and
cowardly act, the boy went home. Mr. Sleigh and his wife
were dining out, and, after returning home, they had de-
scribed to them what had taken place. Mr. Sleigh then
went and called upon Mr. Neilson. He knocked at the
door, and had a difficulty in receiving a reply: At last Mr.
Neilson came doWn stairs, with an instrument in his hand.
Ile then conducted himself towards Mr. Sleigh in a manner
which. would be described. It was of a piece with that
-which he had already displayed towards the boy, for he
used most violent language to the father, who came to
complain of the injuries which he had inflicted on his son.
The next morning it appeared- that Mr. Neilson was in the
same mind, and it did so happen that a man who would
conimit such outrages as that still bullied, and Mr. Neilson
did so. They would notice the first letter which he thought
proper to write to the father. It was as follows
"16, Crescent, Waterloo, Thursday Evening.
"ALEXANDER SLEIGLI) ESQ.
" Sin,—l wish you to have a distinct knowledge of what occurred
with regard to your son yesterday, which I am fully prepared to
justify in any way you please, either personally or by the law ; and
if you select the latter, I beg to inform you that my solicitor is
Mr. Simpson, of the firm of North, Simpson, and North, to whom
I shall relate these circumstances as soon as I arrive in town."
He was not at all surprised that Messrs. North, Simpson,
and North were not there to-day, after making themselves
acquainted with the facts of the case.

"My wife and Miss Turner were walking on the Crescent footpath,
and I, in company with Mr. J. Turner, was following them, when
' we saw a boy throwing crackers, and he deliberately- threw one
at my wife and Miss Turner, which hit them and exploded at their
feet, fortunately not quite under their petticoats, which would
have caught fire at once, as they both had muslin dresses on. They
were both exceedingly alarmed, and I turned to this boy and at
once charged him with his conduct, which he admitted in the most
impudent and insulting way,—fipon which Mr. Turner addressed
him, and he still justified himself, and said that he did it
for fun. I walked to my door, which was close by, for my stick,
and eame.out at once, and when he saw me coming with the stick
to some empty houses on Marine-terrace, where be
he walked off, but not to his father's house, whose door he passed,
tbhuotugahwAe should escape me. I had asked who he was, when he
would not tell me. I had never seen him in my life before, to
my . knowledge, and I therefore gave him what he richly de-
served- I told you last
night, when you collected a crowd, and were shouting
dooratmy—agood thrashing—and which, as
in the middle of the night, after I had gone to bed, that
I would or any other, man in England, if your
conduct d
had been yourself,ensilar to his. He put my wife and Miss Turner
in danger of being burned to death, and then was most insolent to
both myself and Mr. Turner, when we addressd him on his conduct.
Englishman as a magistrate, or twelve of my
I would have saved any man the trouble of thrashing my son, if I
had ever caught him guilty of such blackguard conduct; and I will
trusto justify me in the course I adopted."
Now he (Mr. Aspinall)
honest
was asking them to give him an
opportunity of trusting to twelve of his honest countrymen.
honest countrymen,
for it himself, and therefore there wasnothing
unreasonable had asked
trymanen,
unreasonable in his asking the magistrates to confirm the'
view which Mr. Neilson took of it himself. The letter pro-
ceeded—

ln
I knew no more that he was
ayyoutorwsoanrdtshtaxhiethoffaetnhdeewasr.
whtheethmeran
an•
rthedemagooa ;,
acbuttinazhlehaaavnie occur-
in
esaid
before, I would, if such conduct
or boy,---i remain, faithfully yours, JoiiN B YIT
B. N in -
.SON.
" I have taken a copy of this statement to show to my friends
and solicitor; and I have the evidence of an elderly gentleman and
141, Wifo4 ITAQ Arc total strangers to Wt but wilt' expressed very