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

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT-CHELMSFORD, 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
defendant 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
an application made on behalf of the prosecution
that Martha Augus'a 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. Cutt., had
fer 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.
He had 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 dtsire
to become acquainted with the family ; and he 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 theyear
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 for
seduction, and another for breach of promise of
marriage against Mr. Smith, on behalf of the young
lady. While the proceedings were pending Mr.
Cutts, 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 bad been incurred in the ac
tions, and to discontinue all further proceedings ;
but upon one condition only, which
Smith should enter into an agreemethese
Harema'
Miss Hills within two months. During s t
o ghe
was, that Mr.
tiations Miss Hills, it appeared, returnedthe
21ett
of
house of the defendant Smith, anhde
orneceived, she,
Oct., in consequence of a ;otter t
ith and
then took place that was
office, and the proceeding
and her mother and father, wenyt to Mr. Cutt's
Mr.Sm
it appeared, were_ present, and a
the subject of the present inquiry.
both
Mr. Cutts,
paper was shown to Mr.anodn
the part
aHrtilolsf atvhheicfherpmuerr-
ported to be an agreement
to marry their daughter, and they were asked to
sign it, but they refused, and left the office, their
behind alone with the defen-
dants The young lady, as be had stated, had had
daughter remaining
a child during the intercourse that had taken place
between her and the defendant Smith, and she
was evidently impressed with the disgraceful cha-
racter of their connection, and she upon this occa-
sion positively declared that she would never go
back to Mr. Smith's house to occupy the position
she had done. A written 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. Smith to 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 conti-
nued to cohabit with him. Shortly after these
proceedings had taken place, the mother of Miss
Hills asked her daugh er to let her see the as;rtei et-
ment, but she told her she bad been requeste o
to let any one see it, and refused to do so. _ The
agreement was, however, at length obtained, and
upon it being shown to gr. Shepherd, he at once

NEWSPAPER

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pronounced it to be utterly .w., . b :.,-.,, . , 4
did not in any way bind Mr. St r 0 ,_ ~.,:,-,:i. .-,::. -,--,,
Mice of his promise to marry ,a :71.7e , ",a,.-[-I,,tcPtt
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learned counsel then read the a: r-,:::AlsAi% -,'‘/S
tion, which was as follows :
"An agreement made this 31st daf 04-45bert3
1856, between Robert Ezekiel Smith, of Finchny-
field, farmer, on the one part, and Martha A ucm_st :
• Hills, of —, spinster, on the other part. Wh7reas
an action is now pending in her Majesty's Court
of Common Pleas, in which the said Martha
Augusta Hills is plaintiff, and the said Robert
Ezekiel Smith is defendant, and whereas it ha
been agreed between the patties that such action
shall be discontinued upon the terms foll )wing :
`Now it is agreed that the said Robert Ezekiel
Smith shall pay all the costs incurred by the said
Martha Augusta Hills in the said action, and the
said Martha Augusta Hills hereby agrees to return
to Colemans (the residence of Smith) and reside
with the said Robert Ezekiel Smith "as hertt ;-
fiats ;" and lastly, the rail Robert Ezekiel Smith
promises and agrees to marry tlie said Mat tha Au-
gust t Hills within eight calendar months it )in this
date, provided always that it is exprass'y agreed
between the parties that this agreement, and all
obligations contained in it, shall be null and void
if the agreement or any copy thereof be shown to
the attorney or other legal advisers of the said
Martha Augusta Hillq' the said agreement being
elite ed into voluntarily by the said Robert Ezekiel
Smith."
Mr. Chambers then proceeded to state that the
present pr.)secution was founded upon this agree-
ment ; and he said he should be prepared to con-
tend that it was a fraudulent proceeding altogether,
that the defendant, Cutts, knew well, at the time,
that the agreement was illegal, and was of no value,
and that he thereby fraudulently induced the young
lady to return to the house of Smith, and in the
language of the statute, by false pretences, hid in-
duced her to contrive to have carnal connection
with him ; and that both of these defendants had
thereby brought themselves within the scope of the
Act of Parliament.
Sergeant Shee here interposed, and said that so
far from the agreement in question not being of any
force or value, the contrary had been proved, for
Mr. Smith had, in point of fact, married the young
lady. _ _

Mr. Chambers said no doubt that since these pro-
ceedings Mr. Smith had married Miss Hills ; but
the question for the jury was whether this was the
original object, and whether the agreement was not
intended as a fraud upon Miss Hills to induce her
to continue her disgraceful connection with the de-
fendant, and whether Mr. Cutts had not merely
acted as the go-between for that object. The learned
counsel then proceeded to state that the moment
Mr. Shepherd saw the agreement in question he at
once preferred an indictment, which was found by
the grand jury, and the case would have come on
for trial at the last assizes but for the illness of Miss
Hills, and since that time Mr. Smith, most probably
in consequence of the proceedings that had been
taken by Mr. Shepherd, had married the young
lady. This circumstance, had, however, created a
difficulty in carrying out the prosecution, because
it was doubtful whether, as her husband was one of
the defendants, Mrs. Smith -could be called upon
to give evidence against him. He therefore pro-
posed to consent to a verdict of acquittal being
taken as far as regarded Mr. Smith, and he should
then proceed with the case against Mr. Cut's, who,
it appeared to him, was the most to blame in the
transaction, and who, as an attorrey, ought to have
known better than to mix himself up with such a
proceeding.
The Lord Chief Baron inquired whether Mr.
Cutts did not appear to have acted all along as the
attorney for Mr. Smith ?
Mr. Chambers said no doubt he had ; but he
was still liable for the consequences of any criminal
act he might have committed.
The Lord Chief Baron observed that if Mr. Cutts
had done wrong there were other modes of punish-
ing him without having recourse to such a proceed-
ing as this.
Mr. Chambers said he could not withdraw from
the prosecution, and he again asked his lordship to
permit the suggestion he had made, to take a ver-
dict of not guilty in the case of Mr. Smith, and to
proceed against Mr. Cutts only, when Miss Hills'
evidence would be duly admissible to be calm(' out.
The Lord Chief Baron said there could be no
doubt that so far as Mr. Smith was concerned there
had been a complete condonation of the offence by
his marrying the young lady ; and he put it to the
learned counsel whether he thought, under the cir-
cumstances as he had declared them in his opening
to the jury, it would not he great cruelty to the
young lady, and if any prospect of domestic happi-
ness for her existed the proceeding of calling her
as a witness would not tend entirely to destroy that
prospect, and that, therefore, the matter ought not
to proceed any further ?
Mr. Chambers said that he felt the force of the
olsservations that had been made by the learned
judge, but he was bound by his instructions to pro-
ceed against Mr. Cutts, and he should be com-
pelled to call Mrs. Smith to give evidence.
The Lord Chief Baron then said he should take
upon himself, no only as a matter of law, but alto
having regard to the public interest and the feel-
ings of the parties, to decide that Mrs. Smith was
not a competent witness. If she were examined.
at all she must give evidence equalli, against her
husband as against Mr. Cutts, and ho shoul.l there-
fore rule that she could not be examined.
Mr. Chambers said as this was his lordship's
opinion it would be useless for him to proceed fur-
ther, or to call any evidence, as the case rested
almost entirely upon the evidence of the young
lady, who was the only persou present when the
agreement was given.
The jury then returned a verdict of not guilty.