The Sun.
London, England, 1857-07-18 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT—CHELmsroRD, July 17.
(Before the Lord Chief Baron and a Special Jury.)
THE QUEEN ON THE PROSECUTION OF JOHN HILLS V.
JOHN CUTTS AND ROBERT EZEKIEL SMITH.

This was an indictment removed from the crown
side of the court by certiorari, which charged the
di-fendant.4, under the statute of the 12th and 13th
Victoria, commonly known as the Bishop of Oxford's
Act, with having conspired together, and by false
pretences induced one Martha Augusta Hills, a
girl under the age of 21 years, to have illicit carnal
connection with the defendant, Robert Ezekiel
Smith.

Mr. M. Chambers, Q.C., Mr. Lush, Q.C., and
Mr. T. Chambers, appeared for the prosecution ;
Sergeant Shee and Mr. Woollett defended Mr.
Cutts.; and Mr. Prentice was counsel for the other
defendant.

This case stood over fromthe spring assizes, upon
a►n application made on behalf of the prosecution
that Martha Augusta Hills, the principal witness,
was expected to be brought to bed every hour, and
was consequently unable to attend and give evi-
dence.

Mr. M. Chambers, in opening the case for the
prosecution, said that the circumstances under
which the charge was preferred were of a very pe-
culiar character. The defendant, Mr. Cutts, had
fur a great many years carried on the profession of
an attorney in the county of Essex, and was a man
of considerable wealth, residing at Little Bardfied
Hall, and Mr. Smith, the other defendant, was a
farmer at Finchingfield, and also reported to be a
wealthy man. It appeared that in 1854, Mr. Hills,
the prosecutor, took a small farm near Mr. Smith.
Ho Lad a daughter named Martha Augusta, who
was at that time 16 years old, and a girl possessed
of very considerable personal attractions, and she
speedily attracted the attention of Mr. Smith, who
was very much older than the young lady, and he
went to her father's house, and expressed a desire
to become acquainted with the family ; and be ul-
timately made the young lady a promise of mar-
riage, and was received in the family as her acknow-
ledged suitor, and it was arranged that the mar-
riage should take place from his house. The young
lady, under these circumstances, used to go to
Smith's occasionally, and in 1855 he succeeded in
seducing her. andshe subsequently gave birth to a
child. It appeared that Miss Hills, during tbeyear
1855, resided for some time at the defendant's house,
but she returned to her father's house, and upon her
informing her parents of what had occurred, they
consulted a Professional gentleman named Shepherd,
and he subsequently brought two actions, one fur
seduction, and another for breach of promise of
marriage against Mr. Smith, on behalf of the young
lady. While the proceedings were pending Mr.
C iitt s, who was acting as the attorney for Mr. Smith,
communicated with Mr. Shepherd, with a view that
some arrangement might be come to between the
parties, and, after some negotiations had taken
place, Mr. Shepherd consented to take a sum of
501. for the costs that had been incurred in the ac

tions, and to discontinue all further proceedings;
but upon one condition only, which was, that Mr.
Smith should enter into an agreement to manly
Miss Hills within two months. During these nego-
tiations
tiations Miss Hills, it. appeared, returned2tiostt
0_
+louse of the defendant Smith, and on Ore
,she,
and in consequence of a ;ester they roecmeirv. d
Cutt's
and her mother and father, went to
that was
office, and the proceeding then took placeir.
A Smith and
the subject of the present inquiry.
bot present, and a
Mr. Cutts, it appeared,
ltvhhei lor.pmu er
paper was shown tq Mr. were
o Mrs.p
ol
s and they were asked to
r
ported to bean agreeen
to marry their daughter,
behind alone with the defen-
dantssign it, but they refused,ond left the office, their
daughter remaining _
The young lady, as he had stated, had bad
a child during the intercourse that had taken place
impressed with the disgraceful cha
between lice and the defendant Smith, and she
I.‘-‘a'a:teerVoidfe'tirieliYr connection, and she upon this occa-
siGn positively declared that idle would never go
back to Mr. Smith's house to occupy the position
she had done. A writ.en paper was then shown to
her which was afterwards placed in an envelope
and sealed up, and Mr. Cutts then handed it to
her and told her that it was a good and valid
agreement on the part of Mr. SmithNto marry
her after a certain time had elapsed, and,
upon the faith of this statement, Miss Hills again
returned to the house of Mr. Smith and couti-
nued to c:ihabit with hTm. Shortly after these
proceedings had taken place, the mother of Miss
Hills asked her laugh er to let her see the agree-
ment, but she told her she had boon requested_nheo
to let any one see it, and refused to do so. The
agreement a once
agreement was, however, at length obtained, and
upon it being shown to Mr. Shepherd,