The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-26 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—CARLISLE, Feb. 22.
Thomas Scott was indicted for an assault with
intent to commit a rape upon Margaret Agar, at
Dalston, on the 13th of January last.
M'OubreyMr. prosecuted, and Mr. Campbell
Foster defended the prisoner.
It appeared that the prisoner is an innkeeper at
Dalston, and the prosecutrix was his female ser-
vant, who had been in his service about a fortnight.
The prosecutrix (by no means a prepossessing-look-
ing young woman) swore that on Sunday, the 13th
of January, her mistress and three of the children
were driven out in a gig by the servant boy to a
neighbouring village, about two o'clock, to make a
call, leaving her master and his eldest child, a
girl nine years of age, at home. Her master sent
the little girl to a shoemaker's for some shoe-
strings, and during. her absence he followed
the prosecutrix upstairs to her .bedroom, and threw
he'r down on the bed, where she struggled with
him for 20 minutes, screaming out as loudly as she
could for assistance, when her master said " whist !"
jumped off the bed, and ran behind the door,
and immediately afterwards she heard a foot
on the stairs, and her mistress entered the
room, having returned from making her call. Her
mistress immediately said to the prisoner, " Oh,
Tom, Tom ! what have you been doing to that poor
girl ?" Her master said " Nothing," and " I beg
your pardon, Betsy; I will never do so again."
The prosecutrix followed them downstairs, and saw
the servant boy in the kitchen, to whom she showed
a tear in her frock, and said her master had been
ill-using her. She then went to a neighbour woman,
who lived in the yard, and showed her her frock,
and told her the same thing. At night she went
to the constable and told him, and next morning
got a warrant against her master and went home.
On cross-examination the prosecutrix stated that
she kept screaming as loudly as she could all the
time. She denied that she had tried to conceal
herself under the bed when her mistress had entered
the room. The church was close to the house, and
the people were leaving the church at the time.
The other witnesses called confirmed the prosecu-
trix's statement that she had_ complained to them

and shown them her torn dress; but none of
them heard any outcry whatever, and the ser-
vant boy was in the yard putting up the pony a
quarter of an hour before he went into the house
after his mistress, and was in the kitchen a short
time before the prosecutrix came down stairs, and
heard no cries.
For the defence it was contended that, though
the act of the master in pulling his servant girl
about was most improper, yet that whatever had
been done was with her perfect assent, and that
her statement about her outcries and struggles was
not to be believed; for not a soul in that quiet
village on a Sunday afternoon had heard any out-
cry, nor had the servant boy, who was actually in
the house at the time. As the prisoner's mouth
was closed, and his wife could not be called to give
evidence, the jury must weigh the girl's evidence
with the facts proved. It was suggested that,
having been caught by her mistress, sne had sud-
denly turned round and accused her master of
assaulting her in the way she had described to
save her character, and, to make good her story,
had shown a tear in her gown to the servant boy
and the neighbour ; and except this evidence,
which she had made for herself as an afterthought,
there was nothing to corroborate her story.
His lordship having summed up the evidence
with much care,
The jury, after a short consultation, acquitted
the prisoner.

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