The National Register. — London, England, 1813-06-06 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. the sheets taken from his master's room, in a sheet pulled from his own bed ; he had not been desired by any one to do so ; he said that Mrs. Boner was still alive; he was the fir-t who made this re mark; it was not made to him : he said he must go to town, thougl . , she desired him not to leave the house withent a man in it. Williams, the groom, hat been in the service of the family since December ; he was iu the hall when the footman put the sheets into a sheet pulled froth his bed : witness does not sleep in the house, but ever the stables. He w.ei in tile house till after twelve o'clock on Sunday evening, sitting with the footman, and never saw him in -better humour. Had never heard him say any thing disrespect ful of his master or misrri-ss, except now and then an angry expres sion at being outs' orked,---such as " D—n the old woman, she sears me out." When the examination of this witness was finished, begetil-to state a circumstance which he had just recollected. Ile said that he saw the footman dabbling the sheets in the blood, at the foot of the bed. Being pressed upon this point, he said that the housemaid, who was in the room at the time, could tell more about it. Susan Ciirnick being called, said, that she never was in the room with the footman, as stated by the groom ; she said also, that the groom had exclaimed, at the foot of his mistress's bed, withl a dread ful expression, " this comes of keeping company with Jews." The groom, in answer to a question from the Coroner, said he had not seen the butler (Dale) from the time he left the service till yesterday (Monday). W. Randall had been coachman in the • family for eight years; slept over the stables; came to the house about half-past seven, and went to call Nicholson; found him sitting on his bed-side ; almost immediately heard the cry of murder from the female servants. It was not long before he saw Nicholson come down stairs with bloody linen, and wrap it up in a sheet in the servant's liad. rie footman was a very quiet, goodifellow-servant, but used, when he had money, to get drunk. The rest of the servants observed they could not have handled the sheets as Nicholson did. Nicholson was very anxious to go to London, and would have a horse. Coachman thought Nicholson wild-looking when he went away, and appeared as if he could not ride, though he had been in the dragoons. Charles King bad been a labourer for seven years in the family ; slept in Green-lane, Chiskimrst ; came to work at between five and six on Monday moreing. The washerwomen were up ;he came to the house about .2n minutes after six, got into the house by the laun dry, went into the hall, and found the trout door open. Philip was then in bed ; he went to him and said, how is it you sleep with the door and window-ehutters open? He answered, " I did not know that they were open." lam sure he was in bed with his shirt on. Williams, a washerwoman, came to the house about four the morning. The hall windows were all open. Philip Shillington, the gardner, got up between three and four 'clock. About tour o'clock observed the middle drawing-room indow open, which he did not shut. Philip Nicholson was then called, and asked what he had to state. replied nothing but what lie bud said before the Lord Mayor. The windows ef his bed-room were shut when he went to bed. No irther questioas were asked (Whim, and lie was ordered into the !ustody of Lavender. . Mr, :!;mith. another witness, came over on the morning of the ander, and saw the bodies and bent poker. He then went to the iervauts hall and found a bundle, which he opened : it consisted if two bloody sheets, the one fine the other course, which was ihe most bloody of the two : they were wrapped in a third, which was scarcely stained. He gave the two bloody sheets to a servant called Sweetapple, to take to Mr. Bonar's room. A candlestick in Mr. B's room was bent and broken. There was a small spot of white paint on the poker. Lavem;er, the Bow-street Officer, stated, that he arrived on Aloeday about one ,o'elock : he found a pair of shoes by the side of the footman's bed, which he compared with the traces in the anti room, and as he thought, the impressions corresponded with the shoes : the shoes are not kllows ; a eight-cap was found on the foottean's bed, with some stains, 3 pparcntly blood. Foy, of Marlborough-street, compared the shoes, which he had found on Monday morning in a eioset in the servants'-hall, with the toot-traces, and found they tallied : the shoes were odd ; one common-heeled, and wore at the toe; the other with a spring heel, as was the case with the shoes which Lavender found ; nitre was blood both on the soles and the upper leather. He had just sliewn them to Nicholson, who acknowledged them to be his and said lie believed one of them had slipt off in th e room from which he fetch ed the sheets. Foy found them together in the cupboard. Nicholson had also acknowledged the night-caieand said he supposed the bloody Mains came trots the blood on the sheets. . The groom was called again ; auti said hs found the shoes this coma- JUNE t. Ing, in the closet where be went to look for a stick to beat Mr: Bonar's coat ; he saw they were bloody, and slimed them to King, and then put them back again. King confirmed thisstatement. The Cook, who made the servants' beds, and Nicholson's among others, was called : she had seen the sheets in the custody of the officers, and believed them to be the same with those which she had put on the footman's bed. The Laundry-maid did not recollect seeing any sheet on the floor when she first went into her master's room. The poker was then produced : it is bent in the upper part : it has been new bitted, and seems never to have been in the lire : tLe. other part is old, and a new top has been rivetteil on : it is a com mon kitchen poker, about two feet four inches long, and the bit is about nine inches long. ATTEMPTED SUICIDE OF NICHOLSON. Near one o'clock, when the Coroner (Mr. Martyr) was reading over the depositions to the several itnesses for their assent and signature, an alarnewas excited that Nicholson had cut his throat. He had been in the custody of two officers. of Bow-street, and of the City, and had been permitted by them to enter a water closet in the passage leading to the servants'-hall ; the moment that he was released, he cut his throat with a razor, which, it 'appears, he had concealed in the front of his bseeclus. The gash was so deep and dreadful in appearance, and he bled so copiously, that it was supposed he could not live many minutes. The wound was so large,. that an hand might have been inserted in it i the head seem ed a lmost severed from the body. Fortunately, Mr. Roberts and Mr. liot, Surgeons, of Bromley, were in attendance ; and the lat ter Gentleman immediately rushed forward, and stizieg the gushing arteries with both hands, and, with gredt presence of mind, con trivet'. to stop the blood with his mere grasp and pressure, till more regular means could be applied. An express was sent to Mr. Ash ley Cooper, who arrived in three hours ; and it was the opinion of this Gentleman, as well as of the surgeons of Bromley, atter the dressing of the wound, that the man would recover. At seen o'clock on Wsdnesday evening, he was in a favourable state. lie had, for some hours, been able to speak. though he had said'very he would make no confession, nor give any explanation, but per sisted in declaring his innocence. To a question put to him by Mr. Angersteiu, jun. in the presence of Mr. Bonar, whether he had any concern in the horrid murder? he looked in the face of the en ' (piker, whom he seemed to know perfectly, hut moved his head slightly as if denying all knowledge of it. He appeared calm and composed during the whole period that he was sensible ; but there was a fixedness and determination in his countenance, from which it may not unfairly be interred, that lie would, if possible, repeat his attempt at suicide. Very stlict precautions, however, are very properly observed to prevent such a result. lie lies down envelop ed in a strait-waistcoat, his arms being likewise held by two per sons, one on each side of him ; his head also is kept in a steady pos ture, to prevent any motion which he might make to open or increase the wound. An officer of Bow-street and servants are al ways in the room to watch him. Mr. Bonar was there during the whole of the night. As he had stated that he was a Catholic, a respectable Gentleman, a Priest of that persuasion, was sent for, who was at the house the same afternoon : but Nicholson had made no declaration. He states -that his parents were Irish, his father a Protestant, his mother a Catholic : he pretends to be in doubt as to the place of his birth, but says he has lived chiefly in Ireland, where he was brought up, and where his friends live. His accent, according to the statement of a Gentlemen of the family, and the domestics, is decidedly Irish. He is a man about the middle height, not bulky, but well fixed and muscular. Ills countenance bears in it a decided resolute character, but his features are neither nnfavourable nor unpleasiug. His age is t 9 years. The Jury, after a long and patient investigation, found a verdict against Philip ^Nicholson, for the Wilful Murder of Mr. and Mrs. Bonar. We apprehend, that one passage in the evidence before the In quest is not stated quite so clearly as it appeared in delivery. It refers to the remarkable fact, that each pair of shoes, those found on Monday morning, by Lavender, by the bed-side of Nicholson, and also the pair discovered in the closet by Foy on Tuesday, were all of them bloody. We re-state this circumstance, because we learn that there has been some misapprehension as to this striking feature of tire case. The poker, of which the appearance is so peculiar, may be seen at the Office in Bow-street. The inspection- of it may perhaps tend to produce further facts confirmatory of the present general Opinion as to the author of the murder, and iu corroboration of the verdict of the Court of luqueit. in o'c wi 'tl fai cu 3111 Sc. of 111 I