The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1804-09-12 00:00:00

QUARTER SESSIONS,

HICKS's HALL, CLERKENWELL. •,
Yesterday the second day of the Middlesex Ses-
sions was held at the above place.
John All'Alider was indi,Fted for violently as-
saulting, with an attempt to commit a rape, up-.n
the body of I lAnnali Hanson, a girl only twelve
years of age.

Mr. KNA PP opened the prosecution, by calling
the most serious attention of the .fury to the nature
of the ct ime with which the defendant was chat ged.
in which the public morals of the country are deep-
ly involved. He stated the Defendant to be em-
ployed to superintend a number of men engaged
in the works of the West India Docks. The father
of the Prosecurrix is a Captain ot a G'reenlandman,
and her mother kept a brazier's shop at Poplar.
Before the evidence was gone into, the witnesses
on both sides were ordered to withdraw.

The Prosecutrix said, the Defendant had lodged
with her mother about two years, bad left her nearly
about the SARI:: time, and had not been in the habit
of visiting since. On the evening of the I rat h of '
last M tch, between eight and nine o'clock, her
mother sent he.. out in the neighbourhood, when
she met the Defendant, who asked her to take a walk
with hint, and laid hold of her hand. She asked
him for what? Ile replied, to take a walk in the fields
and play together. She declined, but he said she
was all he loved upon earth, and forced her to walk
with him, and when he got her against Mr. Stokes's
iron rails, lie made the assault, and she called out,
" 0 M.Allister ! 0 M'Allister !" At this time some
sailors were comint- up with lighted links, and he
told her not to make a noise, hut she lift him, and
ran away. As smin as the sailors were gone, he
ran after, and overtook her, and said, " y dear
Hannah, if you say any thing to your mother, you
don't know what I will do to you,"
It was about nine o'clock when she got home. Her
mtither asked her why she hart stopped so long ? She
answered it was not her fault but M.Allister's ; the
m.:ther answered, " What has hl'Allister to do with
your She replied, " Nothing," but did not tell her
mother what had happened ; the reason she assigned
was a very extraorslinal y one: she said the Defend-
ant is an Irishman, and she was afraid the first
time he met her in the dark be would kill her. On
the -Ith of April her mother was making nut the
De endant's bill for some money, when she told her
it was of no use, for she was sure he would not
come to p.y it, after what he wanted to do to her ;
and her mother insisting upon knowing what that
was, she told her as above. She related her story
with such cor.9drnce, that the Counsel tor the De-
fendant, ruspeaing it vas a tale she had bean well
instruesd in. pretended not to have heard her, and
' asked her to relate it again, which she did with the
saw? assistance, without differing hardly in a single
word.

3he mother of the girl was next called, and told
her story. as if she and her daughter bed been re-
hearing a tale out of a book; for site did not deviate
a syllable from the girl. Sh • added. since the
evening. when her daughter was out with Mr.l
*Allister, and when she told her what had hap•
pened, had often observed her daughter vying,
asked her if the was ill, alai would have a donor'
On her cross-examination, she acknowledged she
had been at enmity with the Defendant. lot a con.
side:able time, and had frequent differences with
him respeting the settlement of an amnia She
denied having thrown a hook of his into the ire.
which made the balance in his favour. when lie
called upon her for the purpose of settling. She
acknowledged she did :cot give information against
the Defendant. for h. ving uttered seditious words,
till after cur daughter riade her charge, although
they wcrs said to have been spoken a week before.
W. M'Cann was celled, as Mr. KNAPP stated, to
prove. that the Defendent had offered terms to the
prosecutries mother, to make up the business ; but,
instead of this, he completely turned the tables, and
proved the contrary ; and positively denied that he
had ever bad instruftions from the Defendan' to
offer terms to the prosecutrix to settle the busi ea.
He stated himself to be a publican, residing in the
neighbourhood where both parties live, and is well
acquainted wi:h them both, and did not wish to
have had any thing to do with the business. He
said, one day last week, he met Mrs. Hanson, when
she stopped him, and said she did not know why he
and she should be at variance, although he was
snb-
prrt a ,c 1 by M.Allister ;he replied, he was not at To-
ranee with her, nor did he wish to be wi:h either
;arty, being all neighbou 3. She made him drink
some rum and water u oat her, and she told him she
had a great mind to subpeena him herself : he re-
plied. he did not wish to have any thing to do with
the business.

Upon his cross-examination, he •aid, at the time
the Defendant was taken np with a warrant upon
this charge, he asked Mrs. Hansen what they had
differed about? She replied, nothing particular, only
the prisoner was a very bad man ; she could not get
the payment of some money of him ; hut it he
would pay her, she would think no more of what
had passed; she was determined to have her money
by some means. This conversation he related to
the Defendant, with a view of s•ttlirg the differ-
ences between them; but the Defendant replied,
he owed her no money, and none be would give,
and would sooner take his trial by the laws of his
country.

Mr. Guitars' then, in a rery able speech, ad-
dressed the Jury in behalf of the Defendant. He
dwelt for some time upon the girl saying, the reason
why she did not tell her mother sooner was, on ac-
count of the Defendant being an Irishman, and
would kill her ; which must be fare, as he is a
Scotchman, and she must have known it, as ter
mother was from the same country.
A number of very respectable witnesses attended
far the Defendant, and gave him a most excellent
character.

The 1...114111M Alf then summed up the evidence.
and the Jury, without mucn hesitation. returned a
Verdift of Nat Guilty.
The same Defendant was tried upon a second
inditiment for seditious words. Mrs. Hanino was
the lt itness in this al.o s and her testimony ap-
peared so improbable, the Jury eequithd the Pri-
soner. whose chArailer fie the most Arden: loyalty
wa. established by Captains Bartley and Burroughs.
of the West India Dcciss Company.