The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-10 00:00:00

A Theatrical S candal,

Yesterday, at the Bow-street Police-court, Mr Henry
Bateman, of the Garrick Club, an eared before Mr Flowers
to answer a summons charging him with having assaulted
Mrs Augusta Bristow, box book-keeper of the Theatre
Royal Adelphi, by striking and kicking her, in the Strand,
on the night of Monday, the Ist inst.
Mr G. Lewis, sen., of Ely-place, appeared for the com-
plainant ; and Mr Sleigh, instructed by Messrs Webster and
Robinson, solicitors, attended for the defendant.
Mr Lewis was about to open the case for the complainant,
when

Mr Sleigh rose to make a suggestion before the matter
proceeded further.
Air Lewis said he would not allow himself to be inter-
rupted, Ho was quite aware of the suggestion which his
friend was about to offer, but he had been instructed by
his client to proceed with the case, and he should do so
regardless of hte consequences.
Mr Sleigh—lt is only with the view of avoiding pub-
licity.
Mr Lewis was aware of that, and within five minutes
overtures had been made to that effect, which the complain-
ant felt it her duty to disregard. The complainant and her
family had been for some time on terms of intimacy and
friendship with the defendant, who had visited her house,
and had become acquainted with Miss Turner, a daughter
of the complainant by a former husband, who occasionally
assisted her mother in the booking-office of the Adelphi
Theatre, A letter was received by the complainant, in-
forming her of an intimacy, of a kind he would not charac-
terize, which had sprung up between her daughter and the
defendant.
Augusta Bristow examined—l am the wife of George
Bristow, wine-broker, and reside at 20, Tavistock-street,
Covent-garden, I have been acquainted with the defendant,
Mr Bateman, ever since the engagement of his daughter to
play Leah at the Adelphi Theatre, which was probably a
year or more ago, I hold an appointment at the theatre,
in the booking-office, and my daughter Georgians occa-
sionally assisted me there. He saw us on business at the
theatre, and afterwbrds became a friend and a frequent
visitor to our house—taking meals with us, playing with
the children, &c. The defendant left England for a time
on his own family matters, and the friendship with us was
resumed on his return. On Monday evening, the Ist of
August, in consequence of a letter which I had received, I
went into the Strand between 10 and 11 o'clock to watch my
daughter. She did not see me, When she left the theatre,
where she was occupied t.ll 11 o'clock, I saw her go the re-
verse way from her home. She hurried along the Strand,
and when near the corner of Bedford•strect I saw Mr Bate-
man join her. They did not see me. They hurried on to
the cab-rank, and he spoke hastily to the cabman. The
steps of the cab were let down, and my daughter was handed
into the cab by the defendant. He was about to follow her
when I sprang to the spot and seized my girl by the arm,
and endeavoured to prevent his following her. He turned
round, and I said to him " You wretch I you have taken
my daughter." He instantly gays rue a blow upon the
shoulder and kicked me in the leg, exclaiming " You d—d
woman.' I took my daughter out of the cab, and conducted
her to her home. I had given him no provocation beyond
the attempt to rescue my daughter. She absconded from
her home the next morning.
Cross-examined—When I used the expression " ab-
sconded," I meant that she ran away from her home, The
defendant's business took him to the theatre—at all events
he was there continually. I saw defendant the night after
the assault, and I asked him where my daughter was. I
am not certain that I said anything then about his having
assaulted me. In my anxiety about my daughter's flight
I may have forgotten it. Indeed, Ido not know all I said.
I certainly mentioned the assault to my daughter.
Mr Sleigh—ls your daughter hero to-day ?
Complainant—l do not know. If she is, the more is the
disgrace to her. She never said to me, on getting home,
that Mr Bateman did not assault me. I shook her violently,
no doubt, in consequence of my being aggravated by her

_
conduct, vv
Mr Sleigh—For the sake of your daughter's character,
you ought not to accuse her.
Mr Lewis—Her character I I fear it is gone.
Mr Sleigh—You are shamefully misinstructed.
Mr Lewis—l have her letters, If you intend to call her
as your witness, I must request that she be asked to leave
the court,
Mr Sleigh thought it ungracious to make such a request,
at this late hour, of a young lady against whom the most
scandalous imputations had been made.

Mr Lewis had no objection to her remaining if she was
not to he examined.

Miss Turner then retired from the court.
The witness was next asked "if the cabman was present,"
upon which an angry discussion took place as to the right
of the learned counsel to put the q lestion, and Mr Lewis
advised his client not to Eir swer it, considering it apparently
as an attempt to use the complainant's answer as evidence
of the identity of a hostile witness. The question was not
answered, and his worship remarked that it was " a groat
fight about nothing "—the point being wholly immaterial.
Mr Lewis—That is my case,
Mr Sleigh said he could not help expressing his great
astonishment that any woman, having a regard for the fair
fame of her child, should have allowed her to be stigma-
tised in open court by her own legal adviser. On the part
of the defendant, no less than on the part of the girl who had
been thus maligned, he was instructed to declare that there
was net a tittle of foundation for the stigma which had been
so cruelly cast upon Miss Turner by her own mother. As
for Mr Bateman his position must be put fairly before the
court and the public. Be is well known—perhaps so well
known as to have been selected, by reason of his prominence
in the dramatic world, for this odious charge ; for it was im-
possible to divine the motives which has led to these pro-
ceedings. At all events, he had pledged himself that he
had not entertained any feeling but one of simple friend-
ship towards Miss Turner. Miss Turner had evinced a de-
sire to try her fortune upon the stage as an actress, and it
was only natural that she should seek the advice and aid of

one so experienced and so influential in the profession as Mr
Bateman, who was an elderly man, and one whom she oould
consult with tho strictest propriety about such matters.
Mr Lewis hoped his friend would prove in evidence the
assertions he was now making. It was not in his experience
that young ladies sought advice about theatrical engage-
ments in street cabs at 11 o'clock at night.
Mr Sleigh protested against the interruption of his friend,
and observed, with reference to the alleged assault (to which
exclusively their attention ought to have been confined), he
should place Miss Turner herself iu the box to swear that
nothing of the kind took place. He did not wish to impute
deliberate perjury to the mother, but she had been mistaken
on this point, and he should call the cabman to establish
the same fact. He sincerely trusted that, after the evidence
he should adduce, the complainant would leave the court
with the conviction that her daughter had not erred, and
was not going to err, and that she had wholly misappre-
hended the nature of her intimacy with the defendant.
James Puddicombe, cabdriver, of 71, Dudley-street, de-
posed that on the night in question defendant engaged his
cab and pat a young lady into it, upon which another lady,
dressed in white came up and pulled her out again, and took
her away. Ha did not see the defendant strike the lady,
although he was close to the door all the time, He did not
think an assault could have taken place without his seeing
it.

Cross-examined—lf the lady's dress was not a white one,
I can swear it was not a dark one. I was summoned to come
hero to-day. Another cabman found me out. I don't know
his number. I have not had ss. for coming hero to-day. I
can't say I am to be rewarded. On being pressed, and
desired by the Court to tell the truth, the witness, after
much hesitation, said he had received a sovereign. He could
not say that ho was to have LI more. A gentleman gave
him the sovereign.
The defendant engaged his cab for
Regent-street, but when the young lady was dragged out
he saw no more of the gentleman, and never had his fare.
By Sleigb—l did not recoivo the sovereign 55 A

awn
bribe. The gentleman said I was not to receive it in that
light. I said I meant to speak the truth, and I should
have done it if it had been VO.
By the Court—l did not hear any loud or strong lan-
guage used against the gentleman. The prosocutrix said
to the young lady "Come out; you shan't go," or some•
thing to that effect. I did not hear the prosecutrix say
"You wretch," nor the gentleman say " You d— woman."
Georgiana Augusta Turner, aged 19 or 20, was next
examined. The complainant, who was sitting in the body
of the court, seemed much afflicted on seeing her daughter,
and was led out in an apparently fainting condition by one
of the ushers. The remainder of the inquiry was conducted
in her absence.
Miss Turner's evidence was as follows :—I reside at 28,
Silver-street, Regent-street, and the complainant is my
mother. I remember meeting Mr Bateman and accompany"
ing him to a cab ; when my mother followed us. She
dragged me out, and I returned home with her. Mr Bate-
man did not strike her, nor use any violence towards her
whatever. It could not have taken place without my see-
ing it. There is no ground for the imputation that there
has been, or is, any other than a friendly intimacy between
the defendant and myself.
Cross-examined—l had seen Mr Bateman on Monday
evening before meeting him in the Strand, and I had myself
made the appointment with him. 1 said I would Bee him
as soon as I could leave my duties at the theatre. I know
Mr Bateman is a married man, but I do not know his wile*
I went to him purely on business motives, I wanted his
advice about a private matter. I had not packed up all my
things to leave home. I had only sorted my music. I 11a,,
not arranged with Mr Bateman where I was to go to. 1""
letter produced, written on the night I left home, is wine'
I meant to go to Paisley, to fulfil an engagement at the
theatre there, I was doing so against the advice of tr
Bateman ; a friend of mine, Miss Laura Dailey,
an actress,
took the lodgings in Silver-street, and we reside there
together. Mr Bateman has visited me there, but he has
been always accompanied by Mr. Mayhew. I cannot tell
you how often ho has visited me. A great many times.
They were all business visits, connected with the stage•
Mr Lewis—What do you mean by the expression in your
letter " I am not a prostitute ?"
Mr Sleigh objected, and the question was withdrawn.
Mr Lewis—Did you hear your mother call the defendant
a wretch ?
Witness—Yes, and he replied, " Will you explain wrvt
you mean ?" Ho did not call her "a d— woman."
mother tried to strike Mr Bateman, but I prevented it.
The cabman was standing near his horse, and not close t°
the door; but there were two or three men near us. The
t
friendship between Mr Bateman and my family bad 11„°-A
been ruptured through his attentions to me. I received e''"
letter from Mr Bateman, and I showed it to Itlr Bristow'
By Mr Sleigh have been on the stage, and I ba"
sought the advice of Mr Bateman solely with the view toogO t
professional engagements. He advised me not
Paisley without the consent of my parents. I did not leave
my home by the advice of defendant. He has always bcci.
hayed as a true friend and a perfect gentleman to Ins, 813
there has never been any improper intimacy between us'
Mr Sleigh said this was his answer to the charge. Thr:
was another cabman present, but he declined to exatelu-
hitn.
Mr Flowers—ln a case of this kind, where the evidence
is so conflicting, I cannot undertake to
The evidence must be sifted by a jury. I shall therefore
send it for trial, but, of course, I will take bail. The as;
fendant must enter into his own recognisances in allt
provide two sureties of £25 each to answer the charge
the sessions. give a decision.