Now, assuming the fact to be that Mr. Church was in the room at the time this offence was supposed to have been committed, that alone imposes upon him the necessity of giving some explanation for the occasion which brought him there. If, in addition to the fact of being there, which he admits, himself, to be true, you should believe the boy further in his statement that such an overture was made to him, and that the hand of a man was put upon his private parts in bed, you will have to say with what other purpose than as an inducement to the commission of an unnatural crime, it had been placed there. That is, supposing you believe the facts as stated by the young man. I should apprehend that no reason can be suggested for such an indecent intercourse (supposing it did take place) with this man’s person unless it was a prelude or inducement to the committing of the crime imputed to the defendant. Now the main question for your consideration will be, whether that which is sworn by Foreman, and confirmed by Mr. Patrick, is truly sworn. I think too much stress has been laid upon the circumstance, stated about the searching for thieves, which it is said, on the part of the defendant, was the avowed object of Foreman in returning to the house. It was very natural and highly probable when he apprehended, if he did truly apprehend, that a male person had come into his room and had accosted him in the manner he stated, that he should be clearly satisfied before he went farther in communicating to the potter the indecencies offered to his person, that there was no other male in the house, and seeing that no other male could come into the house at that time of night, unless he came for this purpose and no other. In this point of view, I think it is not at all unnatural or improbable in his conduct, even if he had said that he had gone in search for thieves; and, if you recollect, his evidence was, “that he had searched the house, not for thieves in particular, but to see if there was any body in any of the rooms.” “I did not think of thieves,” says he, “because I knew who it was,” and so on. He now says, that at that time he knew it was Mr. Church, and therefore he did not think of searching for thieves, his object being, in searching the house, to ascertain whether there was any other male in the house besides the one to whom he attaches the crime imputed by this indictment.
Gentleman, I shall now proceed to state to you the evidence as it has been given on both sides.
Adam Foreman, the first witness, states, that he shall be twenty years of age the first day of December next. “I am an apprentice to, Mr. Patrick, the potter, of Vauxhall; I have been with him about five years. I have known the defendant, John Church, by sight about two or three years. He is a preacher, and I have attended as one of the congregation in the chapel where he preaches; I have often seen him. I sleep generally at my father’s house, but when my master goes out of town I sleep at his house. The defendant Church lives near his chapel in St. George’s Fields. The defendant came to sleep at my master’s on the 25th of September last.” It seems, Gentlemen, he came there by invitation from Mr. Patrick, having weak health, and it being more convenient for him to sleep in better air. “He slept there on the night of the 25th September; I slept there also, that night. I don’t know whether the defendant had been there before; I cannot say whether I had seen him there before. My master was out of town that night, but where I cannot say. The persons who slept in the house that night were Mr. Church, my mistress, the children, and the two maid-servants; there was no other man in the house except Church and myself. My bed-room was the front parlour on the first floor, over the kitchen. It was not usually a bed-room, but I slept there because there was no other bed-room that I could sleep in. A temporary bed was put up there for me. I went to bed at near one o’clock. There was a kiln burning, and I was obliged to sit up to let the man in to the kiln when he came. It was necessary for me to sit up to attend that kiln, and to give the man the key. That man’s name is Thomas West. I went to sleep directly I went to bed. I had not been asleep more than half an hour, before I was awoke by some one putting his hands under the bed clothes, and laying hold of my private parts. He laid hold of me very tight. I put my hand out of the bed clothes and caught hold of him, and asked him who he was. I said, who are you? I laid hold of him, as near as I can guess, by the upper part of the arm; and I felt lower down, and found by the sleeve that he had got a man’s shirt on. I had a hold of him by the upper part of the arm, and running my hand down to the wrist, I found he had a man’s shirt on. The wrist was buttoned. I knew very well it was man, because he had got a man’s shirt on. The person, whoever it was, said, in a feint voice like a woman, “Adam, don’t you know me? I am your mistress.” It was not Mrs. Patrick’s voice. I knew the voice directly I heard it to be Mr. Church’s. He fled from the room directly; he went out of the room in a hurried step. I got out of bed and put on my small clothes and shoes, and went out to the door. As the man opened the door, I saw by the lamp that it was Mr. Church, and he had only his shirt on. The lamp is outside of the street door, on the Terrace, and throws a light through the fan-light of the hall door. It is a parish lamp. At the time I saw Church by the light of the lamp I was sitting up in bed: I had not then left my bed. I saw that the person who went out through the door had a man’s shirt on. I did not see his face at all; his back was to me. I then got up and put my small-clothes on and shoes, and went to the pottery to get the man to come up to the house. I told Thomas West what had happened. He was in the pottery, and was there I before went to bed. The person who went out at the door shut it after him. I saw him by the light of the lamp when he opened the door. There was no light in the room; the light came from a lamp on the terrace. That lamp is about five or six yards from the door of the house on the terrace. The terrace, on which my master’s house is situated, is a row of houses raised above the road. The lamp is upon the terrace opposite to the door. The light from the lamp is given to the passage through the fan-light over the door. When the man opened the door and went out, I saw him by the light from the lamp. I could not see the face of the person, but I saw that he had a shirt on. I was rather alarmed. It all took place in a minute. It was not long about. I don’t know how long he had been there before I awoke. From the moment I awoke it took place as fast as possible. I immediately went to West. We did not know whether any body had got in or not. West and I directly came and searched the house for thieves. We went and looked at every chamber door in the home except Mr. Church’s and my mistress’s. We looked at the door of Mr. Church, and that of my mistress. They were both shut. We found all the doors in the house shut except the servant’s, which we found on the jar.”
Now, Gentlemen, great stress is laid by the learned counsel for the Defendant upon this circumstance. It is suggested that it might be Mrs. Patrick, or one of the maid servants who entered the room. It appears that one of the servants was the prosecutor’s own sister, and it was not likely to be her that went in. It is said the prosecutor’s counsel ought to have called the maid servant and Mrs. Patrick to negative the supposed circumstance of their having gone into the room. Now, this observation is to be made, that it was open to the one side or to the other to have called the maid servant, and have proposed that question to her. It was clearly open to the Defendant, if he chose to call the maid, and to have asked her that question; and it was equally open to the counsel for the prosecution. It was also open to both sides to have called Mrs. Patrick. It is probable that the prosecutor’s counsel did not like to expose her to the pain of an unnecessary examination, because the Defendant might have called her as a witness for himself.
“I went and told West that Mr. Church came down into my room, and behaved in a very indecent manner. I told him that Church had been there and laid hold of my private parts. I did not search the house for thieves in particular, but to search if any body was in any of the rooms. We searched the house. We looked all over it to see if there was anybody in any of the rooms. We searched the house, but not for thieves in particular. I did not think of thieves, because I knew who it was. We did not go into the maid servant’s room; we only looked in. We found the door open and looked in. The maids were in bed. One was my sister. The door being a-jar, we pushed a little, and we saw that they were a-bed. We did not speak to them. We did not search the house for thieves, because I knew who the person was. The reason of my searching the house was because I wished to be quite right before I made the accusation against Mr. Church. We found that there was no other man in the house but Mr. Church. There was no door, no window open, at which any other man could have come in. The light from the Terrace came through the fan-light over the door. The lamp gives a pretty fair light to the hall, and shews a little light up the stairs. The time when the person opened the door and went out, was the time that I got a view of his person. I did not hear him when he first came into the room. I was awakened by the application of his hand to my person. He was standing by the bed-side on the floor. I did not call to him by name, or give him to understand that I knew who he was. I did not see any part of his face, but I saw his back as he went out of the room. He was a person that appeared to be the height of Mr. Church. I cannot say what height he is. I cannot say exactly whether he had a night-cap on. I think it was a handkerchief tied round his head. I could not tell what sort of a handkerchief it was, whether coloured or not.”
He does not say positively whether it was a light or a coloured handkerchief, but he says he could not tell. He did not see whether it was coloured or not.
“We went to Church’s door, but we did not touch it, nor did we go in. West wanted to go into the room and pull him out.”
That is confirmed by the testimony of West himself.
“I objected to West’s pulling him out, because I was afraid of disturbing my mistress. She would have been very much alarmed.”
That was the account he gave in his original examination before the magistrate, as the reason for his not going into the room.