The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-10 00:00:00

INDECENT ASSAULT.

At the Wilts quarter sessions on Thursday, before
Sir John A wdry and other justices, the Rev. Her-
bert Williams, curate of 'fidcombe and Fosbury,
was indicted for assaulting Maria Beckingham, a
girl about 17 years of age, on the 26th of November
last. The case has excited a great deal of interest
in the town and county. Mr. Swayne appeared
for the prosecution, and Mr. Herbert Saunders ap-
peared for the defendant. The defendant in this
case is a married man, and prior to the alleged com-
mission of this offence has officiated as curate of the
parishes of Tidcombe and Fosbury. The defendant
lodged with a Mr. Barnes, who lived in the parish,
and was waited on by the servants in the house.
'Fhe prosecutrix, a respectable-looking girl, was
servant in the employ of Mr. Barnes, and from her
statement it appeared that on the evening of the
26th Nov. she and the defendant were alone in the
house. She took his tea to him in the parlour, and
he then entered into conversation with her about
going to America, asking her if she would like to go,
to which she replied that she should not care about
going alone. The girl was nursing the baby at the
time, and the defendant put his hand round her, at-
tempted to kiss her, committed an indecent assault
upon her, and made a most improper request.
She resisted defendant's importunities, threatening
also that she weuld tell her mistress. The defene
dant begged that she would not do that, and pro-
mised her if she would not he would take her out
to America with him. After this Mr. Williams
left the house and proceeded to the evening school.
When the girl's mistress returned she informed her
of the assault committed upon her, and the mis'
tress, as may be imagined, became very angry,
and at once proceeded to the school, called the de'
ferment, and acquainted him with the nature of the
charge made against him. The defendant denied
the truth of the statement, and alleged that it was
a trumped-up charge by the girl. On the follovi-
ing day the girl made a complaint to her father,
who, during the dinner hour, had an interview
with the defendant, when the latter said if he had
done wrong he was very sorry for it, and a roll
could do no more than that. He also said he
hoped the father would forgive him and say no:
thing about it, as it would do him no good, and
it would ruin him. He also held out his hand,
and wished to shake hands with the father, who
however said he must take time to consider whether
he should take any proceedings against the de'
fendant. The Rev. Mr. Williams wished to Imo',
how long he would be in coming to a decision, and
wished him to go to his lodgings that evening. The
father did not go, and legal proceedings were thencommenced. On the application of the prisoner
counsel he was allowed to sit at the table by the
side of his counsel, and not to appear in the dock•
The prisoner pleaded not guilty, and the witnesses
Ns era ordered out of court. Mr. S wayne opened the
case to the jury, and stated the facts as given in
the above narrative. Evidence having been given
at consideratee length, the chairman summed up,
and said he thou ,ht the magistrates were fully jue"
tified in sending the case for trial, and he was
always inclined, in cases of this kind, to send thern
for trial by a jury. He should be very reluctant
to expose himself to the imputation of trying to
suppress and keep quiet a matter of public scandal'
The learned chairman then went through the eat'
dente, and left the case in the hands of the jury
The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the pri-
soner having been placed at the bar, the chairman
addressed him, telling him ho had been convicted
on evidence which lett no doubt of his guilt, and
his sacred position would tend greatly to aggravate
the punishment that the Court would feel it its .1.11
to inflict. The sentence of the Court was that the
prisoner be imprisoned to hard labour in the House
of Correction at Devizes for six calendar months.'
Western Daily Press.

RACING FIXTURES FOR 1863.

FEBRUARY.

Lincoln
MA:

25

Nottingham Spring
LD
ievrebryp Springool 5
s pr n
3
g 10
Shrewsbury l2

Doncaster Spring lll
1
Warwick Spring
Northampton .. 24
21
Croxton Park

Newmarket Craven 6
Durham
Catterick Bridge.. 8
Thirsk l4

Epsom Spring 16
Newmarket F. S 20
York Spring
....28
Salisbury

M.
Chester
Bath
Marlborough l4 ,

.Y.
Harpenden l5
Epsom
Rl anchester 27

JUNE.
Ascot 2 Stockbridge lB
Newton 10 I Chelmsford 23
Hampton
Odiham 16 Carlisle
Bibury Club ......17

The Civil Tribunal of the Seine has just given
judgment in an action brought by Mr. Voignier,
the master of a boarding-school Passy, against his landlord,
M. Lenormand, under the following circumstances. TO
plaintiff is lessee of a house and garden in the Rue Ste
Andre at Passy, adjoining a piece of ground at the
corner of that street, and the Boulevard du Roi d°
Rome, belonging to aM. Philippon, The latter in
April last began to dig the foundations for building 5
house fronting the boulevard, and as the boulevard is soma
metres below the level of the Rue St.-Andre he removed
the soil near the foundations of Voignier's house to the
depth of nine metres, so that it was found necessary t°
take down the party-wall and provisionally close in tb°
end of the house with planks. Four of Voignier's room/
were consequently rendered uninhabitable, and he or
plied to the civil tribunal demanding that an architect
should be appointed to make a report on the state of the
premises and on the compensation to which he wag
entitled for being thus disturbed in the possession of 11'°
house. The architect reported accordingly, and, on the
strength of his report, Voignier commenced proceeding/
against his landlord demanding that the premises should
be put into a tenantable state at his expense, and that 135
(the landlord) should be condemned to pay plaintiff 3,0001 r•
for the loss already incurred, and 6Jofr. per month till the
completion of the works. On the part of the plaintiff it
was stated that sixty of his pupils had been taken away
by their parents in consequence of the dangerous state of
the house. The defendant's counsel argued that his client
was not responsible for the damage, and that Philippont
who had cau-ed the prejudice, was alone responsible. Tb°
Tribunal, however, after hearing counsel foe all partieo•
decided that the landlord was bound to secure his tenant
peaceable possession of the premises against any third
person, and, therefore, condemned him to put the house in a
tenantable state, and to pay the plaintiff 2,500 f. for the
injury already suffered, reserving the right of the latter to
recover for any future loss that might ensue. With re-
gard to Phillippon, the Tribunal condemed him to indeur
nity Lenormand for the above damages and all costs of the
preseut proceedings.

The funeral of the late Archbishop of Paris tools
place yesterday morning at Notre Dame, in coo'
formity with the programme. The ceremony in the cathe
dral was imposing in the extreme. The whole of the news
was hung with black cloth, and lighted by thousands °f
candles ; the clergy were in full canonicals, and the Jay
part of the congregation consisted, with very few exceptions,
of officials in uniforms all over gold lace. Not less than throe
cardinals, 20 bishops, and 100 canons, were present. Tll°
outside part of the cortege was remarkable chiefly for ita
military display, Four regiments of infantry, four squad'
rons of lancers, and a battery of artillery followed tho
hearse ; but the ceremony, on the whole, lacked that one ele-
ment that makes such displays something more than a mere
show for the eye—the deep feeling and emotion of the
crowd. Far different was the case when one of Mgr. Mor
lot's predecessors, Mgr. Affre, was taken to his last resting'
place at Notre Dame. He was killed, as you know, by. "
chance ball at the barricade of the Faubourg St. Antoine,
on the IGth of June, 1848—and the population of Paris 011
the morrow of that fearful struggle, still under the imprer
sions caused by a street battle of five days' duration, re-
garded him as a martyr in the cause of order, and when the
archbishop's corpse, clad in his canonical robes, and
face uncovered, was borne along, the crowd was swayed I)y
emotions which this day's pigeant wholly failed to 40"
though, as a pageant, it was splendid and imposing.
General Count do Seran, formerly aide..cle•can3P
o the Duke d'Enghien, has just died in his 93d year. li„e
was one of the last representatives of the Army of 178'-'•
He had been a fellow ,student and even the corpo7a °i
Napc.lowa, §c11991 91 Brit e,