The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-03 00:00:00

LAMBETH.

EXTRAORDINARY CAss.—Yesterday, Mr. George
.England, the eminent engineer and proprietor of the
Hatcham Iron Works in Pomeroy-street, Old Kent-
road, appeared before Mr. Elliott to answer to two
summonses taken out against him by the Rev. Angus-
his Kerr Boni Grenville, incumbent of St. James,
Hatcham, the one charging him with using threaten-
ing and the other abusive language to that rev.
gentleman.
Mr. Grenville, upon being sworn, said—On Fri-
day last I was walking with my wife, and met the
defendant and another man by the Railway Tavern at
New Cross, Deptford. They came out as we were
passing, and on seeing me he (Mr. England) called
me a vagabond parson. He also said I was a scoun-
drel, and that he should like to kick me. I looked to
see if I could recognise the person who was with him,
when the defendant said, "If he looks round again,
I will punch his face." The defendant also said, " I
will never let him alone while he is in the neighbour-
hood, I will stick to him." I had, by virtue of my
office, to remonstrate with the defendant, and I did it
in the mildest manner possible, in 1845, and ever
since he has annoyed me whenever he has seen me.

On his cross-examination by the defendant the
reverend gentleman said he was certain defendant
came out of the Railway Tavern, and thought he had
waited there until he and Mrs. Grenville came up.
On a former occasion he had slackened his pace on
meeting the defendant, because he was looking out
for a policeman. On this occasion he had also passed
his own house, because he was in search of a constable,
the defendant having then abused and threatened him.
On Friday last he (Mr. Grenville) did slacken his
pace; but that had been occasioned in consequence of
Mrs. Grenville becoming ♦ery unwell.
Mrs. Grenville was next sworn, and sail—l was
walking with my husband on Friday last, and we
were followed by Mr. England and another man.
Mr. England called my husband a rascal and a vaga-
bond, and on my husband looking round, he (Eng-
land) said, " If he does it again, I'll punch his head ;"
and also said he was sorry I was married to such a
vagabond. He then said, " I'll stick to him as long as
he is in the neighbourhood." I was so frightened at
the defendant's manner, that on my husband taking
me into a shop, I fainted.
Mr. England, when called on for his defence, said
the causes which led to the present complaint were of
some years' standing. In the first place, he had been
instrumental in the appointment of Mr. Grenville to
the incumbency of the hamlet of Hatcham, having
been a member of the committee who had petitioned
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to send him to that
newly formed parish. Having taken an active part
in the financial matters of the hamlet with the view of
checking as much as possible all unnecessary expen-
diture, he became obnoxious to the rev. complainant,
and considerable annoyance was the result.
Mr. ELLIOTT here remarked that he could have no-
thing to do with matters that passed some years ago,
and requested Mr. England would come down to the
circumstances of Friday last.
Mr. England, however, went on to say that Mr.
Grenville had summoned him before a magistrate at
Greenwich for an alleged assault, when he was
fined 51., and he in his turn brought an action for
damages against the rev. gentleman for a counter
assault, and got Is. damages, each paying his costs.
After this the rev. gentleman sought various means
to annoy him. On one occasion he went so far as to
denounce him from the pulpit for keeping a woman,
as he alleged, and called upon his congregation on
that occasion to assist bim in getting rid of him, Mr.
England. And on another he objected to his becom-
ing a member of the Foresters Club, held at the
Railway Tavern, declaring him, Mr. England, to be
unfit for the society of moral or respectable men, and
said that if elected, he, Mr. Grtsaville, should with-
draw from the society as its honorary chaplain.
The Rev. Mr. Grenville—ln reference to the alleged
denunciation from the pulpit, and ,the other matters
alluded to by Mr. England, he would only say that
at the time the whole of the circumstances were
brought under the notice of his bishop, who thoroughly
investigated them ; and, after such investigation, ac-
quitted him of any charge of impropriety.
Mr. England having been repeatedly requested by
the magistrate to come to the subject matter of com-
plaint, said that on the day in question he was
walking with a friend, and on seeing the complainant
be, addressing his friend, said, " That is my beautiful
parson ; that is my vagabond parson." He denied
using the vulgar language mentioned, and expressed
much regret that anything he had said should annoy
Mrs. Grenville, as nothing could be more distant
from his intention than that of doing so. He then
called a witness, who corroborated his statement.
In reply to the Msoisraivre, he said the de-
fendant's first expression was, "That is the parson I
told you of." lie then said "Heis a beautiful fellow
to go on about me as he has done. He is a pretty
vagabond parson to talk of me." He did not hear
anything said about pinching or kicking, nor did he
hear any bad language.
Mr. ELLIOTT remarked that there could be no
doubt the expressions and manner of the defendant
were highly improper, and for the abusive language
he convicted him in the penalty of 405.; and for the
other he ordered him to find bail.

The defendant complied with both, and was at once
discharged.

FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE
OF TUESDAY.
FOREIGN.OFFICE, DEC. 29, 1848.
The Queen has been pleased to approve of Mr. Spen-
cer N. Dickson as Consul in London, for the Republic
of Chili.