The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-12 00:00:00

Hoaxing a Wife-hunter,

The Sheffield Independent gives the following ac-
count of a hoax played, a day or two ago, by seve-
ral young Sheffield gentleman on an old man living
near Glossop, who after carrying on a correspond-
ence with whom he presumed to be a young lady,
called to see her. Lothario knocked timidly, and
was ushered in by the servant. His "Dear Maria,"
who had assumed the name of Housley, adorned in
a profusicn of curls and the most elegant of flowing
robes, welcomed him in the person of the jolly
round-faced young gentleman, whose delicate hand
had so thoroughly deceived hint throughout a long
correspondence. in a conference of fitteen minutes
Lothariocontessed his age,occupation, and intentions,
and whispered not a few doubts arising from the
fact that there was no such name as "Housley" in
the directory, &c. Explanations were given, and he
was growing quite easy and at home when dinner
was announced, and, to his consternation, be was
led Into a room where were assembled fifteen of

Maria's male cousins, each of whom separately

welcomed him with the heartiest of shakes. Ho
inquired anxiously of "Henry,' Maria's cousin.

whether thy were all " piousyoung men." He
was emphatically assured they were, and what
was more, that they were all delighted to see him.
The assurance proved not in the least assuring,
and he expressed a desire to withdraw. The
" family" of course objected to part company with
him so soon. After a merciless amount of badi-
nage, Lothario was told that he had come to
Sheffield to be taught a lesson, and that he might
as well take it quietly as not, because take it he
must. He was then placed in the dock, the
judge took his seat on the bench, a jury
were empannelled, and counsel appointed for
the prosecutor and the prisoner. The prisoner was

formally tried for endeavouring to obtain money by
ialse pretences, perjury, hypocrisy, and various
other offences. The amorous correspondence with
Maria was read amid roars of laughter. The shafts
of ridicule struck so thick and fast that the old
man now betrayed extreme anxiety to go, and
begged permission to fetch a friend who lived near
to speak to his character. He was solemnly informed
that the trial must proceed, and the counsel for the
prosecution waxed vehement in his denunciation of
the prisoner's villany. The counsel for the de-
...

fence pleaded extenuation, suggesting that if
the prisoner would consent to fulfil his promise
to wed Maria, that ought to be accepted as
a full atonement for his offences. The judge
inquired whether he consented; and, with on
air of puzzled simplicity that produced a perfect
crash of laughter, the prisoner asked whether a
photograph that bad been sent to him was a correct
likeness of her. He was, of course, told that Maria
was before him ; and that lady put on her most be-
witching smile; but Lothario declined the offer,
declaring, like the youth in the " Merry Wives of
Windsor,"when similarly paired,that he" would not
have had him for a wife if he had married him." After
an able summing up, the jury found the prisoner
guilty on all the counts. He was sentenced to be
shorn of one whisker, and to have his face painted
with paint of many colours. Execution fol-
lowed immediately upon judgment. The culprit
begged for mercy, promising never to offend agaila,
if let off this time, bat was told with judicial stern-
ness that his repentance bad come too late. The
doomed whisker was shorn as close as scissors could
shear it. The adornment of the visage followed.
Eazth " cousin" had a brush and pot of paint of many
colours ready for operations. The ears were painted
black, the forehead brown ; a white border was put
round the face to bring out the colours; the nose was
white, with a tip of fiery red. rhe rest of the visage
was painted thus : Each artist in tarn calmly sur-
veyed the culprit's countenance, and put on a touch
of his own colour wherever he thought it would
be most effective. The result was a conglomera-
tion of colouring indescribably curious. Thus
adorned, the wife-hunter was turned out, and re-
quired to walk direct to the railway station. The
whole family of cousins followed, and at the station
they treated him to beer in the refreshment room,
and then paraded him about the station to be the
laughing•stoek of all corners. The old fellow bore
it all patiently, admitting that ho was rightly
served. He was seen into the train with his blush-
ing honours thick upon him, and was sent borne to
Glossop, it is to be hoped, a wiser if not a better
mun.

The Recent Extraordinary Outrage upon a
Liverpool Surgeon.

Yesterday being the one to which Mr, James P. Brice
and Mr. James Scott, the two persons charged with the
extraordinary and murderous assault upon Mr. William
Palmer Rowe, surgeon, of Pembroke-place, had been re-
manded, the police-court became crowded to excess, many
hundreds of persons were unable to obtain admittance, and
the case evidently bad excited great interest. Mr. Samuel,
barrister, on the part of the prosecution, said he proposed
to call Drs. Parker and Ayrton, who had been in constant
attendance on Dr. Rowe, and they would state to the court
in what condition the gentleman still remained. He (Mr.
Samuel) had a certificate signed by five medical men, to the
effect that Dr. Rowe was still unable to leave his bed, and
they did not consider him yet out of danger. Mr. Deighton,
barrister, on the part of the prisoners, said he was instructed
to apply that they should be admitted to bail. It was
quite linposs tble, in the absence of Dr. Rowe, to go into
those circumstances which could be entered upon if he were
present, and which would ultimately form a justification
or an excuse for the conduct of the defendants. Although
doubtless Dr. Rowe had suffered much, it was to be hoped
that the injuries he had sustained were not so serious as
was at first by the public supposed ; and he (the learned
barrister) could not help feeling that when the circum-
stances of the case came to be investigated in a court of
law, it would bo found that Dr. Rowe was not altogether
blameless, because an application had been made to
him by the husband of the lady for the delivering
up of a locket and certain correspondence, which it was
difficult to conceive how a gentleman and man of
honour could think himself justified in keeping. The
learned gentleman urged further that Dr. Rowe had com-
menced the attack upon the prisoners in anticipation of
violence on their part, and that that had led to all the
unhappy results. Dr, Rowe was in possession of that
which no gentleman or man of honour would ftel justified
in keeping from the lady after rho request made to him by
her husband, and that being so, and there having been
strong provocatien given, he (Mr. Deighton) urged upon the
bench to admit the defendants to bail, and they were will-
ing, he said, to find the most substantial securities that
might be required. Mr. Samuel having corrected a state-
ment made by Mr. Deighton, to the effect that Dr. Rowe
had obtained the letters from a young girl of 16 to whom he
was paying his addresses without the consent or knowledge
of her parents, Mr. Raffi,N3 said he was sure every one would
be glad to find that the circumstances of the case differed
From what they appeared at present, and no one more so
than himself, but at present he could not take bail. The pri-
soners must be remanded for seven days. On the application
of Mr.Deighton, Mr. Raikes said application could again be
made for bail within the 7 days, providing Dr. Rowe should
be much recovered, by notice being given to the other side
in the usual way.