The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-04-13 00:00:00

I A POLICEMAN'S NOTION OF AN ARREST
AND AN ADJUDICATION UPON IT.

Miss Elizabeth Lough, a respectably-attired young wo-
man, was charged before Messrs. Smith and W. Rath-
bone yesterday with having, on the previous day, rescued
two persons from police-officer 95 (John Wilson).
The prisoner, an exceedingly delicate young woman,
who had been " booked" at Bridewell on the charge,
but subsequently admitted to bail, displayed great ner-
vous trepidation in court.

The Complainant (the officer) is perhaps one of the
most athletic and robust men in the force. He stated
that about half-past two o'clock on the previous afternoon
he was taking two persons into custody for begging. The
prisoner came out of a house, from somewhere behind
him, and made several attempts to rescue the persons in
custody from his charge.

Mr. Smith—" If she came from behind you, how did
you know that she came out of a house ?"
Officer—" She came from somewhere from behind."
Mr. Wybergh (magistrates' clerk)—" In what did the
attempt to arrest consist ?"

Officer—" She got hold of me by the arm, and asked
me if I would please to let them go, as they were poor
helpless children. I said I should not; I should take
them to bridewell. She made three several attempts, and
then dragged one of the prisoners out of my hands, and
the other got away. She (the prisoner) was the worse for
liquor on the occasion."
Mr. Smith—What became of her after this
Officer—l le ft her in Bridewell.
Mr. Smith—Was she bailed afterwards ?
Officer—l don't know that, sir.

Mr. Hime, attorney (who appeared for the defendant),
said this was so. She was bailed out at six o'clock at night.
Mr. Hime (to the officer)—What ages might these pri-
soners be ?

Officer—One six or seven, and the other nine or ten
years old. (Some display of feeling was manifested in
court on this declaration.)
Mr. Hime—Had you hold of these cbildrenby the hands ?
Officer.—l had hold of them by the arms.
Mr. Hime.—Were you dragging them ?
Officer.—No ; I was taking them quietly, but they
both jumped round and made a great noise.

Mr-. Hime.—Are you sure yoil were not pulling and
dragging them ?

Officer.—Yes.
Mr. Hime.—But they were screaming violently.
Officer.—Yes, they were.
Mr. Hime.—When the young woman (the prisoner)
came up, what did she say ?

Officer.—" They are poor children ; let them go."
Mr. Hime.—Did she not ask you not to treat them so
harshly ?

Officer.—l don't recollect that she did.
Mr. Hime.—Do you recollect your letting go the
children, and saying, " Now, I'll take you !"
Officer.—l told her not to interfere, and said, "if you
dare to rescue them I will take you." She got hold of one
of them (the children), and then I took her.
Mr. Hime.—Did you not let go of these children on
your own accord ?
Offi 7er.—No, sir.

Mr. Hime.—Then would you have the magistrates to
believe, that a great strong man, like you, could not take
charge of two children, in consequence of the interference
of a weakly woman like this ?
The officer remained silent.
Mr. Hime.—You said a young man came to assist you:
who is he ?

Officer.--I do not know his name, but have seen him
before.

Mr. Hime.—Did she the prisoner) ask you to allow
her to put on her bonnet before you took her to bridewell ?
Officer.—Yes.
Mr. Hime.—And why did you not allow her to do so ?
Officer.—That is not my duty. My duty is to keep a
prisoner, when I have one.

Mr. Hi me.—You say she was the worse of liquor ?
Officer.—Yes.
Mr. Hime.—Upon your oath had she tasted liquor, or
do you believe that she had been drinking ?
Officer—Yes.
Mr. Hime—Was she much exhausted
Officer—l do not know whether she was exhausted or
drunk ' • but I took her for drunk.
Mr. Hime—Dld any one apply to you not to use her
so severely ?
Officer—Yes ; several of the mob did.
Mr. Hime—Did you twist her arms ?
Officer-1 held her tightly.
Serjeant Wright, who received the prisoner at Rosehill
bridewell, stated that when brought in she was followed
by a tremendous crowd. She was very violent, and would
have struck the officer. He considered she was drunk ;
and in answer to a question from him as to how she came
to rescue the prisoner, she said, " I would not have done
it if I had not had some drink." She had had drink,
and was far from being sober. In a quarter of an hour
after being brought to bridewell she fell asleep.
Mr. Hime then addressed the bench on the part of the
defendant. He said if his client was drunk,. he had been
most grossly misinformed. He would call six or eight
witnesses who would depose that a more well-regulated
girl did not exist, and amongst them was her master and
Mr. George Holden (the musician). Ho must observe
that the story bore untruth on the very face of it. It
would be monstrous if he could suppose that the
magistrates would believe that a man such as the
officer could have allowed a fragile creature like the
defendant to have rescued from him two• children
of tender years. As to' the charge of drunkenness, he would
nullify this beyond doubt. Mr. !lime, after some further
remarks, proceeded to call a number of respectable wit-
nesses, including those already named, Mr. J. H. Smith,
clothier, of Lord-street, and others, whose evidence placed
the character of the accused beyond impeachment. The
magistrates intimated that they were quite satisfied on this
point : they did not believe that the defendant had been
drunk. They thought at the same time that her inter-
ference with the officer, although perhaps prompted by a
degree of humanity, wrong in itself, but excusable to a
certain extent, amounted to what was an arrest in
law. The duty of a bystander, if an officer did wrong,
was to take his number and report his conduct:- but it
appeared that the defendant had been carried away by her
feelings. As to the charge of drunkenness, they did not
believe a word of it. They thought if she had been in the
wrong she had been sufileiently punished.
Mr. RIME hoped the magistrates would express an
opinion as to the officer dragging a respectable woman
through the streets to bridewell, without allowing her even
to get her bonnet, and to her being kept in bridewell
until one o'clock, when bail was offered at four.
Mr. Rathbone said the other side also must be a little
looked at. People were begging in the streets on a Sun-
day, and the instructions to the officers were to take them
to gaol, otherwise they rendered themselves liable to dis-
missal. It was no business of the prisoner's to have
interfered.

Mr. Hime.—With deference, I would submit that if a
police officer will swear solemnly that a person was drunk,
when there is the most positive proof that she was sober,
it is surely a point affecting the veracity of his statements
as to other parts of the transaction.
Mr. Smith (the magistrate)—l believe that the officer
exercised his duty very severely. It is an extremely un-
fortunate case, and I am satisfitd the officer might have
conducted his case much more quietly ; and for all the
prisoner has done she has been already sufficiently punished.

THE GREAT BRITAIN, STEAMER.—Up to a quarter
to six o'clock, a thousand persons, principally strangers,
had visited and inspected the splendid steamer Great
Britain, which was on view in the Nelson Dock yes-
terday, and is to be so to-day and to-morrowy at the
charge of is. each. The admiration expressed of her ex-
ternal proportions and her internal arrangements, was
most enthusiastic.

THE EASTER HOLIDAYS.—Easter came ushered in by
sunny skies, smiling countenances, and hilarious spirits.
Friday was not only a good but a beautiful day : the azure
sky was not marred, but beautified, by the few feathery
clouds thatfloated on itasurface. If aboveall was delightful,
below all was interesting and animated. Liverpool itself put
on its best garb, and thousands of thousands of the inha-
bitants turned out for- a day's enjoyment. The railways
aided to increase the pleasure-seekers. About 2,000
persons were brought' into the town by the excursion-
trains of the Lancashire and Yorkshire line. The East
Lancashire Company conveyed about 1,500 persons from
Burnley, Colne, Leeds, Bradford, and the eastern part
of this county. Those arriving by the Lancashire and
Yorkshire Railway were chiefly residents of Man-
chester and the neighbourhood. About 1;200 persons
left Liverpool on the same morning for Southport ;
and, in addition to these numbers, five or six hun-
dred persons were brought from Manchester by ex-
cursion trains on. the Manchester and Liverpool line.
To attempt to describe the scene in the town, in the
suburbs, the landing-stage, the Cheshire shore, and the
thousand other places of attraction, would be to do that
which has frequently been done before; it is sufficient to
say that all was life and joyousness. The arrivals by
railway since Friday have not been so great as on former
occasions. Yesterday six special trains arrived by the
London and North Western Railway, which conveyed about
2,500 persons principally from Manchester, Leeds, Mac-
clesfield, Stockport, Sheffield, and Birmingham. By the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Line there were three special
trains, and by the East Lancashire two, bringing jointly
the computed number of 500 persons.
LONGCHAIS/P.—Yesterday was the third and last day of
the promenade of Longchamp. The third day is that on
which generally the most display is made, and on the pre-
sent occasion the usual custom was not departed from; but
although the weather was dry, a cold north wind was
blowing, which must have deterred numbers of the fair
sex from venturing out in spring dresses in open carriages.
Notwithstanding this drawback, however, the scene was
gay and animating. The number of carriages was very
great, and some of the equipages were brilliant. The great
advertising houses, and some of the minor establishments,
which find their advantage in puffing, did not fail to take
advantage of this opportunity of making their existence
more generally known. There were vehicles of all kinds
profusely decorated and pompously displaying the names
of the shops or warehouses to which they belonged. Some
of the hired carriages were evidently occupied by modistes,
who were displaying the new fashions which have been
adopted, or which they are endeavouring to get adopted.
The display of yesterday was satisfactory, for it gave
evidence of the re-establishment of order and security, and
showed that the wealthy inhabitants of Paris are no longer
afraid of exhibiting the external signs of fortune, now that
the productive classes have been made to comprehend that
in proportion as the possession of wealth is manifested by
display and expenditure, their own means of existence and
comfort are promoted. Four years ago what was yesterday
regarded by the productive classes as anexcellent symptom
of the revival of trade, and, consequently, as the harbinger
of general prosperity, would, under the exciting influence
of demagogical chiefs, have been looked upon as an insult
by the wealthy to their less fortunate fellow creatures.
The President of the Republic honoured the promenade
with his presence in an open carriege, as he had done on
the two preceding.

A SUSPICIOUS CIRCUAISTANCE.—On the evening
Thursday last, (says the Sligo Journalj as a gentlen-
was proceeding from Boyle in an open carriage to Drums:
he was met between this town and Ardcarne by th

armed men, who ordered the driver to-stop. They then
approached the machine, and having ascertained who the
occupant was, they gave him permission to proceed,
observing that he WAS nat the person they were desirous
to meet.