The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-24 00:00:00

place was the mere.impulse of the- moment, or
whether it was a premeditated assault.
Defendant—Exactly so.
Mr. Roy—Upan the matter being put as I have
stated at Guildhall, a summons was not granted.
From that time to the present defendant has been
pursuing a course of communication with Mr. Al-
derman Salomons, who, with his usual courtesy,
has regularly replied to his letters, and who con-
sidered that he had given every explanation which
one gentleman ought to give another filling the
position of Lieutenant Higginson. To Mr.
Alderman Salomon's surprise, upon walking out
of the London and- Westminster Bank yesterday,
the defendant addressed him and asked him if his
name was Mr. Alderman Salomons. Upon being told
that it was, he said, " You have accused me of being
a madman." " No," said Mr. Alderman Salomons,
"I have not. I consider you are acting under de-
lusions." The defendant retorted, u What do you
mean by acting under delusions ?" Mr. Alderman
Salomons said, " You are acting under impressions
which are not correct." Mr. Alderman Salomons,
who was accompanied by his brother-in-law Mr.
Cohen, had not proceeded very far when the de-
fendant placed himself in front of him, and in a
threatening attitude, with a stick in his hand,
stretched o.ut his handto commit some personal vio-
lence, and he then applied the stick. Mr. Cohen
immediately rushed forward, seized the defendant,
pinned hini to a wall, and a crowd collected, Mr.
Alderman Salomons all this while remaining quiet,
satisfied that _however much Mr. Higginson might
believe he_was sane himself, he was actually then,
as he was throughout all this proceeding, suffering
from delusions, which I will prove. He said that
the Atlantic Telegraph Company had bought up a
book and suppressed it for £l,OOO. I have the com-
pany here to say that they never gave the publisher
£l,OOO for the purchase of his book. It is monstrous
that a gentleman_ cannot walk about the public
streets without molestation of this description, after
he has acted in his magisterial capacity. The de-
fendant has a notion that the Atlantic Telegraph
is a mere farce and bubble ; that fr.-wcig,ht can go
no further down in the sea—
Sir R. W. Carden—l have nothing to do with that.
Mr. Roy—The defendant states that the cable
can only go down 20 or a certain number of fathoms,
when the water is so dense that it supports it. He
is going against the common stream of intelligence,
and therefore you cannot imagine that he can be a
sane person. Ido not treat this as a common as-
sault, but call upon you to protect the public from
the acts of a man who is labouring under this one
delusion, however sane he may be with respect to
all other matters.
Sir R. W. Carden—Let us now have the evidence,
and any further observations you may think it ne-
cessary to make can follow afterwards.
Defendant—Do pray let the learned gentleman
go on, because aLthis is of vital importance to me,
I assure you. "'-rc'T'.
Sir R. w Carden—l do not wish to enter into
this.

Defendant—This gentleman has imputed to me
insanity, and it is necessary that all these things
should be gone into. lam perfectly sure that you,
as the presiding magistrate, will take care of my
interests.

Mr. Alderman Salomons was then sworn, and
said—l am an alderman of the City of London, and
reside at Tonbridge Wells. Yesterday afternoon,
about 4 o'clock, I left the London and Westminster
Bank for the purpose of proceeding by train 'to
Tonbridge Wells. As I crossed from Lothbury to
Bartholomew-lane a person accosted me and said,
"Are you Alderman Salomons?" I said I was. I
looked at the gentleman and said, " Are you Lieut.
Higginson ?" He replied, " Surely you remember
me ?" I did not at the moment, and I said " No."
He then said, " You say I am a madman." I replied
" No, I never did to my knowledge, but I have said
you are under delusions." Upon which he said,
" What do you mean by delusions ?" I said, " I
don't know exactly, you must put your own inter-
pretation upon it,". or words to that effect. My
brother-in-law, Mr. Cohen, was on one side of me,
and the defendant, who was on the other, rushed in
front of me, and tried to take hold of my nose. I
raised my arm. I then saw him raise a stick, which
I had not seen before, and he attempted violently to
strike me with it. Mr. Cohen threw himself round

the defendant and pinned him against the wall
?.nd a crowd collected. I desired he skould be hell

till an officer could take charge of him. Defendant
was rather violent in his language to Mr. Cohen.
A gentleman of the name of Mill, whom I had not
before the pleasure of knowing, said he witnessed
the assault. To the best of my recollection I never
uttered one word of an offensive character to the
lieutenant, because I pity him and believe him to be
-subject to .a c cliz iori. An officer aryived4nd took
charge of the lieutenant, and I accompanied them
to the Bow-lane station and made the charge. I sug-
gested that they might take the lieutenant's own re-
cognisanccs to appear to-day. I never saw the
lieutenant since I saw him at the Guildhall till
yesterday. I have received letters from him which
were answered, it being my invariable custom to
reply to all communications, whether from the
highest or the poorest, either by myself or through
my secretary. (Applause.)
Sir R. W. Carden—Lieut. Higginson, do you
wish to put any question in cross-examination ?
Defendant—Oh yes, sir; a good many. (To
Alderman Salomons.) Did I inquire why, having
chosen to adjudicate at Guildhall in your own case
as an admitted partner in the Atlantic Telegraph
Company, you had debased and perverted thejudg-
ment seat on the succeeding day by having Alder-
man Rose as the second sitting magistrate, under
the pretence that he was impartial and disinterested,
when in fact he was likewise an active shareholder
in the Atlantic Telegraph Company ?
Sir R. W. Carden—You must put your questions
in conformity with law.
Defendant—l am doing so.
Mr. Goodman—l can take down nothing that is
irrelevant to•the charge before the court.
Defendant—l assure you I wish to be most re-
spectful, but if you will not allow my :questions to
be put and answered I don't know how I am to
proceed. Is that question to be put down ?
Sir It. W. Carden—It is not usual for a defend-
ant to ask whether questions can be put down
or not.

Defendant—But I want some record of these
questions and answers.
Sir It. -W. Carden—You may put any question
you like, and they clerk will ,take down what he
considers relevant.
Defendant—l iiiskt,upon being heard in my de-
fence. I insist respectfully upon justice being done
to me.

Sir R. W. Carden--.I never allow any defendant
,o insist upon having justice done to him in his

own way.
Defendant—l will -h
have my questions put down.
Sir It. W. Carden—There shall be put down
what I like. We have only one mode of doing
business here.

Defendant (to Mr. Alderman Salomons) —Will
you swear that I did not make use of words to that
effect ? •
Mr. Alderman Salornons—l will.
Defendant—Did I say that such a dishonest
packing of the bench was a disgrace to the judicial
integrity of the City magistracy?
Mr. Alderman Salomons—Nothing whatever
passed from the time I net, you till you were given
into custody except that which I have stated.
Defendant—My course is to justify what has oc-
curred.
Sir R. W. Carden—Nothing in the eye of the law
justifies an assault. You may state extenuating
circumstances, but nothing can justify a man tak-
ing the law into his own hands; therefore, suppos-
com
ingmitti all you
ng an assault to be true, you are not justified in
.
Defendant—I am not attempting to advocate my
cause after the decision at which you have arrived
not to allow me to put 619 questions. My object is
to get you to send this case to the sessions, where I
shall have an opportunity of getting it properly
adjudicated upon.
Sir R. W. Carden—lf I cannot keep you in order
I shall adjudicate upon it.
Defendant—The complainant has deposed to
something before you, and I wish to cross-examine
him upon that statement. Surely lam entitled in
common justice to that. This gentleman has de-
posed to a certain fact, I want to cross-examine him
for the purpose of testing the truth and accuracy of
his statement I should be very sorry indeed to
give you any offence, but I must maintain my posi-
tion. I merely want the truth to be arrived at and
understood.
Sir R. W. Carden—Any other question ?
Defendant—Oh yes.
Sir R. W. Carden—The assault has been proved.
I have told you before that nothing justifies an
assault.
Defendant—l want to lay the facts before you.
Sir R. W. Carden—Do you desire this MSC to go
to the sessions ?
Defendant—Yes.
Sir R. W. Carden—Lieut. Higginson, I must
in £lOO,
bind you over in your own recognis ances