The Sun.
London, England, 1842-12-27 00:00:00

N
CHARGE OF ASSAULT AGAINST
A MAGISTRATE.
'
AD.(
(From the Blackburn Standard.) 0i.4
On Wednesday last, Mr. Robert Grabs
at the Sessions' Room, in this town, to su • fa!
charge of assault which he had preferr,Aiks.
William Henry Hornby, Esq., one of her
Justices of the Peace. The case excited jute NraS Palk'
terest, and the room was crowded to excess. •
Graham conducted his own case, and Mr. Elling-
thorpe appeared for Mr. Hornby, who was absent
during the hearing.
Mr. Graham gave his evidence to the following
effect :—On the night of the 20th of October, I was
assisting in extinguishing the fire at Mr. Eccles's
factory, in this town. I was in front of the building,
when Mr. Eccles gave orders to open the door. I
was standing on the causeway near the door,
when Mr. Hornby came up, and said, "What
business have you there ?" I replied, " Just the
same as you." He said, "If you do not go off these
premises I will give you in custody," and he then
took hold of my collar and shoved me off the landing.
I thought I would not quarrel with him, and walked
away. He next refused to let Mr. Ellwood go into
his own house, and then refused to let Coulthard, an
old servant in the employ of Mr. Eccles, come
forward. There was a great outcry for trucks to
convey away the cotton from the burning premises„
and I went to my shop and fetched mine. On bring-
ing it .up I encountered Mr. Hornby, who stood in
the road. I said to him, "If people who call them-
selves gentlemen would act as gentlemen, everybody
would be willing to assist." He said, "Do you mean
to say lam no gentleman ?" I replied, " I said no-
thing about you being a gentleman." Mr. Hornby
then said, " Damn you, we will send all you Radical
devils, to hell !" He then knocked me down. Mr.
Polding, sen., was present, and exclaimed, " Shame,
shame, Mr. Hornby," and then defendant walked
away. It was a few minutes after twelve o'clock
when he knocked me down, and the place was no
thoroughfare, but my own yard.
Mr. Ellingthorpe—How does it happen, Sir,
that you have not made this complaint before ?. This
fire occurred two months ago, and yet no seeps have
been taken by you up to the present time ? •
Mr. Graham—No, I went to Preston to consult an
attorney, who wrote to Mr. Hornby on the subject,
and received a letter which advised me to get an in-
dictment preferred against him, but this he said would
cost 60/., and that is a very serious sum, or else to
bring an action.
Mr. Henry Pearson was the next witness—l was
present at the commencement of the difference. I
was ordered to break the doors open by Mr. Eccles,
and Mr. Hornby would not allow them to be broken
open, and then Mr. Graham• and he had some words,
and Mr. Hornby pushed him off the landing place,
and they went out together. They were not at high
words.
Mr. James Briggs said, I was present on the night
in question, and heard what took place between Mr.
Graham and Mr. Hornby. I heard nothing improper
fall from Mr. Graham. Mr. Hornby asked where
Mr. Eccles was, and Mr. Graham replied that he was
somewhere there. Mr. Hornby then said, " I will
not have you here," and got hold of him by the
breast, and pushed him off. Mr. Hornby seemed
very fresh.

Mr. Lister—l considered it exceedingly reprehen-
sible in Mr. Hornby to push him off the steps, when
he came there to render his assistance. Ido not see
what wrong Mr. Hornby could suppose that Mr.
Graham was doing.
Mr. Simpson—We understand that Mr. Hornby
had pushed him off the parapet before Mr. Graham
made use of the language.
Mr. Ellwood--Mr. Hornby was standing at our
yard end when I came down. I thought that our
house might be in danger from the fire, and I said
to Mr. Hornby I want to come into my house, and
he said "'You shall not." He took me by the col-
lar and knocked me into the street, and said, " I, as
a Magistrate, recommend that nobody shall come
here this night." He said, " You may go where you
like."

Simeon Coulthard—l am one of Mr. Eccles's men,
and was going from the fire with a bundle of papers
belonging to Mr. Eccles, when Mr. Hornby came up
and threatered to strike me.
Mr. J. Polding—l was coming down the yard be-
longing to Mr. Graham, and met Mr. Graham and
Mr. Hornby. Mr. Hornby struck at him several
times. I said it was a shame. Mr. Hornby said,
" Damn you, do you say I am no gentleman," and he
struck him on the outside of the premises, and when
he was going into his own yard.
James Ingram--I remember the night of the fire.
I was standing by the side of the stable door when
Mr. Hornby came up, and he struck at Mr. Graham
twice. He said, "Do you mean to say lam no gen-
tleman ?" and then struck at him.
Mr. Ellingthorpe then called the following wk-
nesses for the defence :

Mr. T. Myers said, on the night of the fire I was
assisting in removing the goods. I never saw Mr.
Graham remove any goods out of the warehouse.
Mr. Hornby and he were together. They seemed
a little bit confused together, and I saw Mr. Graham's
foot slip and he fell down. He insisted on having
the warehouse opened. He called Mr. Hornby a
fool, and a puppy, and no gentleman. Mr. Hornby
said " the door shall not be burst open." I said there
was no danger.
Mr. Graham—Did you see Mr. Hornby collar me ?
—I saw him put his hand to your breast, acid heard
him tell you to go where work was required ; you was
not wanted there.
Mr. Ibbotson—l was present on the night of the
fire. I saw some persons attempting to break open
the cotton warehouse, and Mr. Hornby came up at
the time, and requested them not to do so. Mr.
Graham said it was necessary the Pace should be
broken open, and the cotton removed. Mr. Hornby
said that Mr. Graham had nothing to do with it. Mr,
Hornby inquired for Mr. Eccles, but previous to his
coming Mr. Hornby and Mr. Graham continued to
exchange words, and at last Mr. Hornby told him to
go about his business. Immediately afterwards I
heard Mr. Graham call him no gentleman. There
was not the slightest degree of violence used. I can-
not tell exactly the precise words used, but remember
the words fool and puppy. When he was on the
parapet he told Mr. Hornby that he had as much
right there as him. The parapet is about eighteen
inches high, and I will swear that it was not two feet.
I do a considerable deal of business for Mr. Hornby.
Mr. Hartley—l saw the scuffle between Mr. Gra-
ham and Mr. Hornby, and I saw Mr. Graham going
up towards the warehouse, as I suppose, for the pur-
pose of opening the door, but Mr. Hornby said he
thought there was danger in onening the door, and he
pushed him oft the parapet. Mr. Graham used some
kind of language, and came up again. The language
was very insulting, and I said to another person that
I would not take such language. I did not hear Mr.
Graham complain that be was hurt.
The case being then gone through, Mr. LISTER, the
Magistrate on the bench, said he should put off the
decision for a fortnight, remarking that there was a
great deal of excitement at the time of the fire, and
that above all things, on those occasions, a Magistrate
ought to be attended to.
Air. Hornby is brother to one of the Members for
Blackburn, and is one of the recent Tory appoint-
ments.

DEATH FROM OVER EATING AT A CHRISTMAS
FEAST.—Last evening Mr. Payne held an inquest in
the vestry-room of the church of St. Mary Somerset,
Upper Thames-street, on the body of Thomas Rod-
gers, aged 55. It appeared in evidence that the de-
ceased was a workman, in the employ of Mr. Rath
bone, of Trigg's Wharf, Thames-street. On Christ-
mas-eve all the men on the premises were, according
to usual custom, regaled: with a supper, and at eight
o'clock sat down to the table. The deceased ate very
heartily, and upon the removal of the cloth, drank
freely from the bottles of whisky with which his
master had provided them; they were allowed to take
as much as they could drink. After eleven o'clock at
night he could not hold his head up, and as he leaned
forwards on the table, his companions, thinking he
would be safer if placed by himself, conveyed him into
the counting-house, where they laid him on the floor,
and put a great coat under his head. At one o'clock
all the other men, with the exception of George Stagg,
left the premises, and he being so far intoxicated as
not to be able to get home, laid down by the side of de-
ceased. At seven o'clock deceased was found dead.
Mr. Pullen, surgeon, said that death was caused by
congestion of the brain, the result of eating and drink-
ing immoderately. He was predisposed to that affec-
tion, and had before suffered from fits of epilepsy.
Verdict, " Natural death."
THE APPROACHING LONDON SEASON—HER MA.
.TESTY'S DRAWING RooMs.—A morning paper, a few
days since, alluding to the probability of her Majesty's
accouchernent, taking place about the month of May
next, observed, that until that period, " and for at
least a month afterwards, her Majesty will be obliged
to restrict the circle of Royal hospitality, and society
will he deprived of that impulse which our Sovereign
has habitually given to pleasure, no less with a view
to the solid benefit of the industrious classes than to
the more ephemeral recreation of their superiors"
The paragraph then proceeds to state that there is a
" rumour prevailing in the highest regions of society,
that an illustrious lady will be deputed to hold the
drawing-rooms during the season," the " illustrious
lady" alluded to being evidently her Royal Highness
the Duchess of Kent. We have authority for stating
that no such arrangement as that referred to by our
Contemporary has ever been in contemplation.—l'imes.
A schism, says a letter from the canton of the
Valais, in Switzerland, has taken place between the
two first powers of the State. The Council of State
has just protested against the decision of the Great
Council, which confers upon the clergy of the Upper
Valais the right of appointing a representative to that
body, in place of the Bishop of Sion.