The National Register.
London, England, 1818-11-01 00:00:00

WEST KENT QUARTER SESSIONS.

John Curtis, who had been amt on bail, appeared, charged
with olfences of a complexion too dm k almost for conception.
The indictment contained several counts, severally charging
hint with all SRN Mit on Mary Olivia Turner, • child, with an
Intent to violate—with an assault, with an intent to gratiiy lets
inordinate lust—to defile her mind and injure her morals—
with In assault on her .prrhou—atiitl with indecently exposing
his person to the said Nliity Olivia 'fattier.
Mr. Adolphus midi esseii the J ry in this ease, in a speech
replete with feeling and energy. He stated the following
feels : Turner, who is a timber niastei's ino.istant, fm
the 1)ork-yeril of %Void (which situation he ha. held for
20 years), had long been in bahiea of the closest intimacy with
the tlefentlatit, who was Use 16(4.4 in the same yard. The
latter, alienl three years age, went to Ntr. Towner under very
distressing c. canistances —that is to ski, not with tespeet tie
eeminiary matters, but as regarded his feelings as a Inismini
and w Whet. lie, had two children, and his wife was at the
WAN orlYing-in, and he conk! proem 0 no habitation Its which
he misfit place his family. Mr. Turner, impelled by friend'
ship, took him into his house, mild Mt's,
menu had taken place. itisteisti of i.unit gt•tefiel for sties
act of friendship,the intendant plumed a line of conduct the
tm.st diabolical that can be conceived. He had not been long
in Ili.. ions..e of his Iriend,liet.re Atiry Olivia, a (*lliad 01 Ali.
Tllmes.',, under 10 years 4Wf age, a:flamed his notice. tile
began by taking liberties with her poll 11, which be contiou-
ed with ince eased crimiindity tOr upwat it. of t‘% 0 3 edl4 I),ir-
ng period, the conduct of the defendant was sm.. as
We Cannot polliiteintr columns by describing; :11.41111e n .11
tem which, delis (Ted ny Mr. Ailooplitis with a.) e, 0.1 e
f"ini.u. miletatire, caused insoluntaiy exclmomtiol.s f r
1 oat In,eny of his 4stoitsqltril and inelega amt hem eta; we s )
4,10 ii.lied, became die ;vow' W.V. til dual nature, .hat it it"v
dahcolt to soppose thy salmi existed who could devise and
Walt:trete such mirth:Wes. The child, pecvcuted by the de-

NOV T

fend:stirs injtinctions,at hod. mentioned the affair to no one ea'
slept Miss NI usitett, a young fentale companion, a little eider
than heist:ll. That young lady, at the expiration of two years,
made inquiries of Mary Olivia Turtle' as to e heater the de.
fendant colitinswd his abominable practices; and being
intinaistel that lie did so, site, being by her own advanced age
become aware of the evil tendency of the defendant's rue d eet,
told the story to a Woman, who very propel ly COnininhied3 el
it to :he parents.—The father was it first inetim d to
hush op the matter, to prevent a public exposure of his child;
but it being known to two or three persons, the story soon
became a geiteral theme of conversation. The Dock yard ens
placarded, and the defendant was universally execrated as
the monster of the age. The father, by this untidtunate pub.
lieily, felt compelled to bring the matter into a Court of Jus-
tice, though it wits with the greatest pain he did so. In the
course of his narrative, the Learned Gentleman made many
oleiervations on the several parts of the case as they arose.—
He said, that he wag addressing au assembly of Christians ;
he need not tell them, that man is horn in sin 'but regener-
ated by baptism. By that Holy Sari amen'', a ;lOW is render-
ed pure, mad noshed from the original sin in which It was con-
ceived and born. The man will, c.,nld step fur th to conta-
minate a child regenerated—to defile its pure mind—to
break down the moral principle—was guilty of a crime of the
MOM dia:)Olieill stature that could be imagined. It was the
act of a demon. The defendant hail been guilty °filial crime.
In minty other criminal cases, the reistembianee of a man's
guilt might die away, but the wickedness of the defendaat's
conduct was Such, that nothing could (planet ate it—even the
flood of time could not wash it away. His offence was
attended by every passible aggravation. He was a snaffled
man, and had two children aids owai—lie was iii the house of
his benefactor—the object of his brutality ails the child of
that beneliselor—he had, by a series of etas, dm tug a lung
period, dune all in his power to defile the mind of an infant—
to mule:mine every feeling of modesty, propriety, and morn.
lily, which it is fur the welfai e and happiness ofsoriely should
be int:ideated in the mind of a female. He could not tell
what defence would be set np for the conduct of the defeude
alit. It might he said that the behaviour of the child was
improper—that her keeping the matter so loug a secret im-
plied eousent on her part. It might be attempted to show
that she was guilty of levity. Bat suppose all that was proved,
how C0111(11 it extenuate the conduct of the defendant ? If she
Iced been guilty of improprieties, who aas the cause of those
improprieties?—the defendant ; be wilt) had by his nauseous
einninality poisoned her mind, and led her into the paths of
immorality. As to her consent, what could he drawn fa UM that
in Insane of the defendant? In law she roold nut consent ;
she was an infant under ten years of age. She knew nut
right from wrong, and could not be sensible of the evil ten-
dency of the defendant's acts. Here was it Min in years
seducing a child to oonsent to acts, the criminality of which
her tender years presented her from conceiving. The Learn.
eil Gentleman said, he remembered an observation made by
a late Jude, whom he always quoted with pleasure and ho.
noise, nut inure on account of his legal knowledge than fur
his exquisite acquaintance with the human heart, and human
atfairs—lie meant the late Chief Baron Macdonald. The
observation he alluded to was made is, a ease of ataluelloo„
where the deleutiant was an °likes, and the victim of ,isms
due • a female about 14 years of age. It was attempted to
be set up as a defence, that the girl had been guilty of great
levity ut conduct ; amongst other things, th owing stones at
the defendant's window. His Lordship said, tbat such 4
defence was a very unjustiffable one. The girl was but a
child : her acts ought to have been considered by a man as
those of a playful child; and he ought not, as a man, to have
condescended to agree to her seduction. In the case he had
just alluded to the girl was 14 years of age ; in the present
instance, the child was under 10 years of age ; she could not
consent in the eyes of the law, and her silence could lie no
palliation of the defendaut's offeuce. Mr. Adolplais, having
concluded his address by some animated observatious on the
criminality of the defendant, called
Martha Olivia Turner, the object of the defendant's brats.
pity. She was an interesting child, about 13 years of age, and
gave her testiinony with great precision ; and from her an.
savers, evinced a considerable degree of intelligence. Her
iP evidenc went fully to prove the lam stated by Mr. Adel-
pins; they were so inconceivably disgustiug, that, as we ht-
fore observed, a repetition of them is impossible. It appeared,
that the defendant did not perpetrate the actual crime for
which so many Men have suffered the extreme punishinerit of
the law ; but his conduct towards her, from the age of 10
years up to July last, was, perhaps, more deinuralizingeetuare
pornicimis to the mind of the child, than au act, the repetition
of which, by its speedy detection, would have been Inevented
by the p Awing of the offender. To add le the guilt of
Curtis, it appeared that he had not confined his criminality
to Mimi Turner, but had ou one occasion scandalously es.pwed
himself to her, in company with his own ele t
Miss Musket,, a young lady of 17 years of age, was next called,
and depaied to the amenuincation of Curtis's conduct he ink made ro
her by Miss Turner, two year; ago; and of her info:ming Lae child's
parent, of the circumstance in July last.

Mr. Turner. a very respectable looking man, the father of the
child, was next called. lie deposed that, previous to this horrible
discovery, he Ind the defendant were on terms of the closest friend-
ship. they having formerly been on service together. lle was inform-
ed of tite defendant's vile conduct on the evening of the 6th of July.
The next day he went to hiss house, and charged hint with his crimi-
nality. The defendant acknowledged that he had acted improperly.
and expressed great contrition fur what had pawed, offering to make
any reparation in his rov:er. Witness told him, that the injury he
had done to hint by the destruction of his child's purity and innocence ,
was beyond the reach of repasation. After loathing him with re-
proaches, he left the house, trod had not sped to the defendant since
tlatt day. Witness, in the first instance, resolved to hri.l.4 the of-
fender to justice, but his wife prevailod on him to abandon his
inten-
tion, she being at the time in a state of great nervous debility (to
which she was occasionally subject), and de:lared that, to have her
child exposed in a Court of Justice, in such a case, would deprive tier
of reason. The matter has since b:comc so public, that he was
duati to take use necessary steps for the puni: Ilium of the offender.
The Jury deliberated for a short time, and returned u s enact et—
Guilty of the arsatilt with intent to violate—which was, in fact, a
verdict of guilty on all the counts or the indictment.
Toe Earl of Itoinney, the chuirinan, its passing thesentence of the
COUr on tow defendant, ohs reed, that he had men found guilty of
an off-tic,: of u far more criminal nature than onlinarily came before
a Coe, tof Quarter Sessions. As a legal offence, it wa; one of a
moet serious nature, and in a moral point of viZ!v, it was almost the
worst that could be committed. Ills conduct was atten. ell ity every
circuinsance of aggravation; he. had injured his benefactor. acid,
having:. thmily of 1.i5 own, he iaui endeavoured to effect uie de-
struction of all moral principle in the mind of the child art him who
had ever treated hint a.: a friend. The punishment whicti the Court
lead it in its powser to indict was very inadequate to the defendant's
guilt. but his Lordsdip hoped, that the imprisonment he would or-
&ego. would Wing him to ref ection aad repentant eof his crime.--.
Ills Lordship theu sentenced Lint to-tvro years imprisonment m
Maidstone taaul.

NOV. '1

OLD BAILEY.

WEDNEiDAY, on. 28.

These Sessions began before Mr. Justice Dallas and Mr.
113.11.011 Oat row.
John Brett was indicted for putting in fear and foreibly
taking fount the persouel John Litchfield, a canvas bag COD.
taming 30s. in silver.
The prisoner is a countryman, atedldld his tale with much
simplicity. He was coming to London to the funeral of his
sea. end tort the ptisoner on the road, ntar Barnet. The
prisoner said lie would accompany him, as he also was going
to Loudon. They had proceeded on the road a short distance
when the prisoner pulled out of his pocket a heutikerchief,
which he wanted to sell for a shilling, saying, that he had cu
munev, and was almost broken down. Witness agreed to bey
it far a shilling, and pulled unt the bag. containing the 30s ,
with which lie had provided himself for his journey. The
prisoner remauted at the time, " Oh, you has e got some sit.
ver there, have you?" They went use to a place rolled Col.
ney-limitele, and the prisoner proposed to put up for the maid
et a public house on the road side, where, be said, a comfort.
able heigiog could be obtained. Witness, however, war
desirous of proceeditig a little further to Hampstead, over
Finettiey common, mid time prisoner said he knew a short way
over the e lime°. They proceeded for about a mile further,
and in grunt./ over a stile. witness, by accident, fell back-
wards into a ditch. Before he conld get up, the prisoner began
pollnhg and rolhmg hint abont, and used threatening language,
such as " your money, or sour life," and such like express
sions. ,H' then pot his handle witness's pocket, aad having
pulled out the hag eantaining the money, tall off. As soon as
witness terns toed lie told his story to a horse 1141101,
and Alive an accurate eleertiption of the matt. 'Die patrol
Immediately went utter hint, and witness saw him agile at
the atettiagie,, paa!te lionse, sail recognized him, aititough
•in a different dlrss. Tito primmer had a smock frock on'
when he ran away, hat had none a lieu he saw him at the %Vet-
lingtom
Bice, the patrol, stated, that in consequence of what the last
whitest had said to Into, he sent after the prisoner, and came
with him about two 111111'S -041 the road. The prisoner had
then no ionork (sock on, :end had a bundle under his arm.
Witness I:ke,l him what be had done with his smock frock.—
" What ela yon mean ?.. said the prisoner ; " I have no
smock fro 'k." %llamas then asked 111111 what he had in that'
bender. " Oh," said lie, " this is se.ne of say linen." After
iiverregating him as to where he carne front, witness was
satisfies: he ails the man ; and, fearing be might throw the
money away, said, " If yen putt your hand to your p icket, I
will blow your letains out." 'foe prisoner was then taken to
a pulthe house, the sign of the Wellington, by the side of the
road; and the property was found apost hint, is well as a suck
.which 1.11011141.1/ to the prosecutor. Litt-Wit Id Was immedi-
.ately :mitt for to the Weiliagton, and was told to go up to the
primmer, and shake bawls tembh Min, if lie saw Item lie
was introduced into a room, where there were six or seven
persons, 11111011 r N loin was the prisoner, and, as soots as hr
entered, lie walked an to the prisoner, holding out 1114 11 0111
Islam! saying, " You slid not expect to see me. again so soon, I
suppose." In the ',mettle which the prisoner html under ins
attic was a amuck frock, watch he acknua 'edged was li.s
own.
The prisoner, in his dere:tee, deified all knoWleilge of the
prosecutor before he saw him at the Wellisigtou. The Jury
• Intend a verdict—Guilty.
Gaiirge Beck was convicted of the nffeeee of returning
front transportation before the expiration of his term. Iti hi.
defence he at dist said that he had been improperly Ivan,.
Toiled, and elle. wards stated, that in proceeding to New
South IVaies, when °apostle Ulu Jadeimo, a soldier in the
ship tell overboard; and in eitmleavolllieg to save fain, lie
himself fell tutu the water, and remnaMilea there for six hours
and a halt a ith au holt upon hits leg. Wheel at last hit did
get on shore, lie was wiable to stand, and re imitated in tite
w hot' ItiuJaneiro for three or fuer days without clothes
or victuals. The captain who. could prove this wets 110 W .11
-tea; limit upon a referettee to the proper office,, all would he
touted to be true.
.Mr..Jetitire Dallas observed. that the prisoner had had
abundance of opputtuitity of sending for the layers, ilea: haul
thought proper.

Tl4ultSl3 IY.
Thomas Morris was littlieted fur stealitm a Bank...note for
tile payment of 401. the property of Mr. Audrey/ Histock,
lu
the dwelling house of John Gainer, Esq.
The prosecutor is coachman to Mr. Gunter, anti the pro.
„perty ii question was placed in a trunk in an out house be.•
longing to that ge ttlemair. The prisoner lodged in that on
house, and was ice apenter by trade. On the 12th inst. the
wife of.the proseeutor haying neeilSiUll to go to this trunk,
and not being able 11/ get it open, asked the prisoner to open
it for her. 'elle prisoner complicit, and a shilling was taken
ant by Mrs. tliscork. In about a week afterwards, baring
occasion again to go to the bus. she inissed the 401. note in
question.
Jones, a salesman, living ill ilitywell-street,Straitil,statt
u.
that on the Sunday alter the 12th inst. the prisoner I 4:11C
to his •Nlrop and purchased a quantity of wearing apparel,
amounting to SI. /it payment he t. littered a 401. woe, gis
iu
the 11:11111. and 114.1 fest ut•• This w..s.
written ilium the note ; hot witness sit .perting something w 4.
wrong, asked the prisoner if he kie w any one in tow ii. The
prisoner referred him to soineone itt St. Cientent's, lutsrefosed
to go there with the witness. The prisoner was then allowed
to go assay still, the 401. rule.
James Morris, brother to the prissmer, staid, that ott the
13th of 4tetotti r, he Was sent by ate prisutier to get change
of tt 401. note, but did nut obtain it.
MES.S11111134111•1 deposed, Inat tier hashar 11 kept a woollen
draper's sh.up its the ltraiitl. On tie 13th nest. the last Wit.
110 s% came to tier shop change for a 401. note. %Toe,.
instil:l2ml that it %sic. a it ill note, mid promise.' to send tier
young matt to the Bank In, cinmge. thi• the prisinitn.,,
brother roe-witted, mid the yielog row went to slue lima,
ob
ta• tied change for the note, and himself ausemided with slue

ninney.
The note was produced by a rig' k of the Bank, and was
gomplett.ly ;0m:1.14A.
The iv i-oncr, who appeared 6, be a ,v,.ry respertable marl.
lid 140111111,4 in 018 defence, La, haul tatatNelf aputt the sum e)
'of .the Cutsrt.
A great ',wither of Wilne,c-e% of ro4pOrt 61,11ky gave the
lfrt~lllll sr an atrll.eot 5114r,icter tor honesty) some of them
bad how.% ot him 6,, si•tt.en
. eta' on Lia. tn.% A.S.I, 1114 the capital part of this charge
done ,tViny NVitO io this VOA. prOlority wax
lilt Ilitite.lll. ot 10 have helm ,toleu rl, aa 0111 house, hetangiet;;
to Mc. Gainer. attached to the dw ..i.ing-loose, if 9d+
wire
the ease, the capital Cliall3r %ADAC{ he mark not ; lost
it:yet:seed 'bat Abe Dullthag, caned au °AI bobs:, was so