The National Register. — London, England, 1817-12-08 00:00:00

TOMBS OF THE KINGS OF FRAYCE. JIRITISII IV SOUTH AMERICA. TO THE EDITOR OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER. Sta.—Observing in your Paper of Sunday last. an article copied from the limes on the subject of embalming. and preserving of dead bodies ; 1 send you the two following anecdotes translated from the Monuments Francais of M. Le Noir, as bearing upon the saute subject, while they present a striking picture Of the sacrilegious spo liation which marked the first days of the French Revolution. 1.. " Ire 1793. when the tombs of the Kings of France at St. Denis were broken mum, to get at the leaden coffins, the body of Henry the IV. was found in such perf..ct preservation, that the lineaments of his countenance were no ways changed. It was deposited in the passages of the lower chapels, wrapped up in its shroud, which was equally well preserved. It was exposed to public view till Monday the 14th, when it was carried into the choir, and placed at the foot of the steps leading to the chancel. where it remained till 2 o'clock, in the after noon : it aas transported thence to the burying ground called Vi/ois, and next put into a deep grave dug at Me bottom, to the right, on the-north sole. This Node, which may be considered as a dry mum my, had the scull divided, and instead of the brain, which had been removed, was tilled with lint steepest in a fluid extracted Irons arotia tic spices. which still imparted so strong an odour as to be almost un sapmirtable by those who approached it. A soldier who was present impelled by a heroic enthusiasm. threw himself, the moment the coin was opened, upon the body of the conqueror of the Ligue, and after a long silence and wonder, he drew his sabre, and respectfully cut oil' a slip from the beard, which was still fresh, exclainUng, at the same time. in the most energetic manner " I ton, tun a French .m%- diet.! Itenr•litrth f sill war no other atitstarhint;" then placing this precious slip of hair on his upper lip, " Noir," said he "I am sure at' ranquertag the Entioirs ty' Prow .. . awl I in to tt to Victory." lie then withdrew. On October ifs, 1704, during the exhumation in the church of St. Denis. the workmen, under the order of the Commissioner from the Convennon, opened at 3 o'clock on the afternoon the coffin of Louis XV. It was found at the entrance of the vault belonging to the Bourbon family, in a sort of niche, made in the thickness of the wall. For the greater safety, it was opened at the edge of the grave dug for the body in the burying ground ; the body, when taken out of the leaden coffin, was found quite entire, fresh, and wellpreserved,wrapped in its clothes and bandages : the skin was white, the nose of a violet colour, and the thighs as red as those of a new born male infant, and swimming in a endow liquid formed by the decomposition of the marine salt with which it had been covered, not having been em balmed, as was the usual custom. The body was immediately cast into a grave in which a bed of quick lime had been laid, another bed of the asme substance was then thrown upon it, and the grave next titled up with earth. " In the same year at St. Marcel, the tomb of Pierre Lombard, Bishop of Pais in the I.2th century. was broken open ; the body was found clothed in the pontifical habits, and on the feet were embroi dered shoes with cork soles ; those curioas relicks were stolen." [From the Leeds Intelligencer] It will be recollected that about the end of July 100 British officers embarked on board the " Two Friends" to join the Spanish Insurgents. Amongst these was a young officer, the son of a respectable gentleman in Leeds. nom his father we have received the following extract from his first letter : " Island of St. Thomas, Oct.:. " Dear Father.—We arrived here on the 21st of Septafa ber, after a most unpleasant voyage ; but the most unplea sant part of the event is, that we have all completely been imposed upon and taken in ; for you will scarce credit me when I inform you, that instead of meeting an agent here to pay us our dollars and give directions as to our removal to the Spanish Main, and to trams:Kt the other necessary business of the ship, as promised by that selves most slannefully doped, and not a single soul to ad vance a farthing for the ship, neither by bills, or any other plan; so the Captain has been under the necessity of selling part of the ship's stores, ,sze. to pay the port charges, and we to part with our clothes to get a meal, having left the ship, and endeavouring to get a passage for our return to England, the :Oldies of the independents being in such a wretched si tuation as to preclude the possibility of going on. Such un• fatimate officers, Americans, French, Engli , b, Sm. as had entered their service, have been returning by this island, in a most wretched state, having been robbed of their cloth's and effects.; and the descriptions they give are truly shocking, being nothing but is set of banditti, living on raw meat like cannibals, all quarrelling one with another, and instead of an an army, there are two or three parties, jealous of each other, and consequently injuring' the cause they *ish to serve. On my first arrival here, when 1 femnd the situation of things, determined to return, as did also a great n u mber en the most respectable characters, amongst *hum is Lieutenant P—t of the mariues,who resides at Portsmouth, and who will put this letter into the pest fur me. " We are not the oily sitip that have been taken in : a schooner with 30 or 40 °threes left England on the same terms that we did, NI Eivt.4l here, and f ina l themselves in a similar situation with out selves ; after selling their erects to pay their debts, tht y cot into debt again, and being unable to pay, some were put into dungeons, others lied to the moun tains, were three of them died through want of food, and the rest of them in the greatest distress, returned back to Eng land. There is no British Consul here, therefore no means • of getting mom y, even by hills. All the places on board the two brigs that Are here direct for England, are taken lip by the passengers, eowerpiently I tinned my attention towards New York, thinking I could f asity get a passage from thence to England, by introducing tnsself to Niessros. hot how to aceomplidi this I was at a loss, being without money, and the Captain having refused to take me On my promise of paying him on toy artisal at New York , and it is more than probable I might have staid to perish, 'had it not been for a nettle act of gene rosity I met with from a resident Frenchman, Monsieur Smarm), a respeetable merchant, who most kindly offered to pay env passage 1110IWy in the " Wil!'am and Mary," to New Bedford, t about nixteen days' sail!, and from thence in the stage to New York, in one day ; when I suffered lnm an acknowledgment for the money, lie refused it, saying, he knew I should pay hint when L was able, and %%hick 1 pro mised to do from New York. It has been a common practice with the Officers of Pali e c upon apprehending per-ors, wholly' the mimes with which they are charged leave any ielarelite to the property they may . carry about them or not, to take front them every thing valuable that may be found in their pockets. Sheritl Aldee - son WAS a short time ago furnished with a list of names of Officers who are under this impioatiom One of them has opposite to his name the sum of between aol. and 101. alledged to leave been taken from a prisouer, now confined r in Newgate, attke time of his apprehension, and wholly miaccountial for. Mr. Alderson having no !omelet to proceed mem but the as sertions of the several persons who eomplained of smearing these robberies, lead not acted rytrospy e n v oy, hut finding that abase was veryairactica tam he weep tett. at the suegestion of Mr. Brae n, the Keeper of Ne wit ete, a plan by which these will be an effectual cheek upon all (Ware attempts at spathe titne in this way. In company with Nle. Blown he visited se veral poio•e offices, lull advised the. Magistrates to keep a book, in which the pro perty' of each prisoner should be en tered upon their centioittal to prism). The Magistrates ex pressed their readinesx to adept the suggestitemand observed, Recent accounts from Malta state, that the Weymouth that at the same tune that it would b e som e g narl n ail "' store-ship, Mr. Turner, had sailed from that inand tar Tri mly imposition, the obloquy louder whit; Police-officers la- poli, to receive on board the curiosities collected at Lebida bowed mead subside, by thits r amiderina to the Politic an (the seit e of the ancient Carthage), and destined for the impartial statement of the particular laictinislances of each Prince Regent by the Bey. They are represented as highly prisoner i t , r e l a tion to the officers. 'II r. Brown has ;dreamy saint hie and curious, consisting of massy columns of ?Gristly. establishes a book at Newgate, as a counter-check, in which re, statuary, and other treatetents of enticed art. ' l leis col lie registers the property lot each prisoner. The consequeuces I ,. .ction has been made make the direction of Capt. Smith of of tha wilt be, that the ',miserly lot amulet ed prisoae. a will at the Royal navy, who has been some time employed la Peer restared to item, and I tie property ~t those Yam are convey!. veying that part of the African coast, and is nequently with .t,i will t e, lute '.t., p.oper cleaned- the Ion& of Inc Sheriff, .. H ey , b y w h om l e ; „ time ~ey, oy e% attoweil it guard ofJanissaries is his Oats preamee has stalk:a, that al eitlVer tone: from him, lay several journies through the country. At one MM. audiences virtue of his autleie ity to searat, hilis of exeloinge to the the Bev of Pezatei sin. present ; and he relnted to Captain aamula of soul An I a memorandum to receive a di v idru I of 'Smith, that about 17 years since, an Piegliehenan travelled 2,ey. laeet hay with some plat. , Art, &e. tv:tla him to the smith ward of ' , ream, and was taken ill tin tier Flie. Kin Mer, la years of age, servant to Mr. Andrew 7, of Solis- road of a fever, whit le caused ins death, and he enemies der bury, was on Friday charged by her neater with the fallowing O. s ,, ,er . I . l e i t a . l .. l o a l e n iietl. 'l'Ms person , !here can he no doubt, was fence :—R was stated, that tor f o ur or tire nights Billowing Nll..and i 4 . eneart. tile son tit a hernial' (*l'll:pilau, employed Mrs. Andrews were greatly nlarnici by haul:an:l repraic i noise, ."' '. for making thscoveries in the interior of heard in and about the house and preiniaa , the cease of steel dal by .the Boe s ch for .afreca. As in the mow of Park, sete intedi:ienee of this tra could not discover. The circumstance so 0110•11 alarmed Mrs. An drew: t who is near her canline ;tient) that she molt lodging in Salisbury yeller had been received Munoz the period before ineeitioned ; Mr. Wiltshire, of and as he wasl..llo %in 111 leavebeenill OW direction slated by on Taursdity week. Mr. A. pas tired a f- itt, Wilton, and five other ma, in watch with him during Thuralay the Bey of t'yeame, no doubt of his death exists, especially night. The girl sat up with them in a large wainscotted parlonr as this oe e t , ,,t1 Of hit disappearauce exactly corresponds with and the man who had fallen asleep, were rou.ed by a violent noise tar alleged It ere of has decease. occasioned by the tall ng of a tea-chest. The girl appeared to he ex • „,, . .. medingly alarmed. After same time all the own went again to sleep, I ot, • Totilowin 7, appeared lot so evening paper, if the statement excepting Mr. Wiltshire, who, having enm!sitspicion, feigned sleep; he con eel, w e e know not which is most deserving of censure • ; and in a short tint ' he p aeeival her going gently to the ota.v side of the preacher it ho outraged elle feelings of his coneregation, the fount, where she trerk up a heavyeartiele of weed, concealed it or the congeal; aeon who quietly endured the insult : - under her apron, returned to her scat, and then threw the article A! St. NFOT . L.-Welltleltilety, the 19th of November, being against the wain ,cot at s remote part of the roam. Bann this Mr. till day appointed for the interment of the lamented Princess Wileshire seated her, anti delivered :ter into the eietody of a eon- Charlotte, our shops here closed with it general cessation stable. The girl aeon after enufettedl that site had made the reeks frotu busineas, pursuant 10 a resolution passed at a publie night aft_r night. It ii supposed, that she was itetuated by Sterne ino- Veatry Meeting, held in the palish churl; of this place. tire of revenge towards h a mistress. Iler mother, a widow.woman, . Ilte . i New Baptist Aleeting-hanve was opened for public with tic . oth^r ehiklren , was bonne' fur the girl's good behaviour, and . worship n the timeline., at half past 10 o'clock, where the she was da is •d from her servige. „ . , , a , n ees,—.ln Saturday week , the eleven priamere c ongregation assembled in expectation of hearing a sermon wh il ne li • ; • a s ' ili ‘ fte ( ni; has beer. commat ad to transportation. arrived at New- 111 lIIIISOU with those reflections their melaticholy feelings sug• get'- et theta o'clock, having trieeelled a ll ni g nt. Mr. Brown ordacd Keeled, and their somber appearance warranted ; but were the; to b • hedged in the transports'-mom on the north side of the disappointed by the pastor prefacing a discourse. from the epe i e in, were t h e y were made very comfortable. They are all in mewl 4th verse if the eall chap. Of Deuteronomy, with the follow_ hada' all spirits, and segued very well satisfied at the chime , in ing observation: "there is no doidet but some pee sous pre their destiny. aloa. of than have families. 'Choy tleclared n 0•..- - '-ail•I -- "-at have crane with the txpeelalloo of hearing a tuner it all. that if thee were onee more entrusted with their own liberty, rectum , for ~.„ ~ outte ; if so they wilt altogether they would use it with a discretion which shnidd keep them tint of ,be iii,, ,,, poin "4 ‘ . she , might t:1 lave 10,,,,,,,..1 saute amtahic his Majesty's pri ons. They were all sitting round tbe tire at this iina I . i!i . ea . lions,for aught ( know , . in a moral point of view ; ,net this i can assert , that all who ale not converted by th e visit, and were most thantatil for the efforts ma de to a13.0m. mutate them. Now and then they speke of their wivoi and faini li-s with delft:don ; and when any allusion was made to their crime, glace of Otitl will go to hell. Ot the Princess Charlotte (know C ' iere seamed :memo. them an (unveils] feeling or regro..fliefollow- utheltiug, therefere I fall say nothing abort her ; and it' °thee inn are te be transported fare it:, viz.--GemereWeiglitnete, Thomas people elioase to preach a (me rid smitten for a cat, that is no nurn,,, Samuel Hunt,am: l )t Sake, alias Manchester Tanya., Ea .• . I„boi l ~,,ii: . I should. • It may be proper to misers e, that thi s went Termer, Joan Onion ti cider. John Mae Ketswida .holm Bill, eiergym tee is a rit'll Iilit)0111 eleatamer. lie is supposed to George Brassington. end lawman Bu x ton. Th e f o ll ow i ng . t h ree have been ungugN i i ll evitaill pellUiliCal works %Omit made are transeorted Gtr at year t— Thomas Bytt . a aar : k ni sh . !toen, some attacks upon ;tee preiwut Iti‘iiip .-f 11.1/iitlatr." • Josiah Godlier. And the remaining six mulcts, vie.—Joan Moore,.. ._ . Edward Moore . willi abi Wcithtman• Alexander. Johnson• William (t he etantlay night the house of Mr. limo% butcher, of Hardwick, and Chariot Swaim, remain in prisou, their final sult 6 4 4 10.111(1111a1I-Illal k et, ens broken opt ii, and three a holy sleep, DO being yet settled. It is probable that they Will be 0 :m1m:tor for a large quantity of beef, mutton, and veal in joints, and sr- barter tams. viral cleavers and butchers' knives acre stolen. _AIL •' The seenes I have witnesved Isere of our di , tress, I was not prepared to expert: we have been obliged to s? 11 every thing usetial, and even necessary ; if that - could take a view of us, I think he wOutd repent." OLD BAILEY. DEC 8. Wednesday. these Sessions commenced before the Judges llayk.y and Greham. the Lord Mayor, &c.—There are near , too prisner.. be. trial. On this day, dire.: prisoners were capitaly convicted, but diem of dices exhibited no peculiar feature of turpitude. - • • - - - Thursday two lair, each 17, were capitally conyictad of a burglary in the dweliingbouse of George Phillips, of No. 7, Charlotte-street, Bbonisbury, and stealing therein a sanely of articles of wearing ap parcl.—The Jury recommended them to merey. M u anon.--Friday, Mary Cook was Milieux.' captally fur the wil ful mural( r of Thomas Cayes. Joseph Downes W 33 a bricklayer, and knew Thomas ('ayes very well. Ile lodged with hint at No. 4. Hooker-street Clerkenwell, and the prisoner at the bar cohabited with the deceased in the same house. On Sunday, Oct. 20, he heard a very disagreeable noise as the room where they lodged, and a sort of scuffle. He went up to the door and broke ;it open. It was at the time either locked, or some one stood against it. When he gut into the wont he saw a man leaning on the table, with his hand against his left side. The prisoner had a chopper in her hand at the time. The decessedatp neared to be in a very bad condition at the time, and could hardly fetch his breath. Ile said, "My wife has hit me with a hammer on the head." She answered " You should have let me alone then." The deceased added, 0 She has struck me on the left side with the tongs." The prisoner replied " Serve you right, you should have let use alone, then ;' adding, he has hit me on the left ann." The deceased made no answer, although she said it sufficiently load for him to hear. She gave this as a reason for having struck hint with the tongs. Witness did not notice the prisoner's arm at the rime, whether it had any bruises or not. He sent for a constable and dressed upthe wounds of the deceased on the head. He believed that both the prisoner and the deceased were in liquor. Ile never looked at the prisoner's arms, as his whole attention was drawn to wards the deceased, who was in extreme agony. He did not go for medical assistance, ashe did not then think the wounds were an dart- geroes. John Coneford stated, that he was constable of the parish of Clerk enwell, and remembered being called in on the Sunday when the de ceased received the blow, a little before one o'clock. He confirmed the testimony of the preceding . witness. Thomas Stretin, a silversmith, lived in Great Sutton-street, and employed the deceased. Ile came on the Tuesday morning, and from his altered appearance, witness was induced to ask what was the matter. Ile held his hand to his left side, and had great diffi culty in standing or speaking. On the morning of the death of the deceased, he saw a large berme on the prisoners arms; and she said she had received it from the deceased, who had hit her with the bel lows. It was a violent bruise. The deceased, when he asked him what had occurred, said, " My wife and I have been fighting in the house ;my lanlady," he added, " was the eanse of it. " Ile ap • geared unwilling to enter into any details. On the Wednesday or Thursday the deceased work 3 or 4 hours at a very laborious work, and witness was much surprised to see it. William Erasmus Hardy, clerk of the papers to Newgate prison, renumbered the prisoner being brought in on the tali of November. Ile observed her left arm to be black nearly frous the elbow to the shoulder. ....... Thomas Spencer, a surgeon, residing in Islington-mad, was tail ed on on the 4th of November to see the body of the deceased. Ile saw the 7th and Bth ribs were broken ; the one was still united. the other was quite separated. There was on that side of the body no appearance of intents! inflammation, and no mortification had taken hlace. That wound, he conceived, would not have been sufficient to ave occasioned death. He examined the right side of the body also, and found the left lobe of the lungs to have been in a state at disease for above a month, and there appeared to be great inflamma tion, which might have bean - , noised by catching cold, or drinking, or injury which he might indirectly have sust.dned. Ile thought cold was the most likely cause of this immediate inflammation. lle had considerable doubts a Maher the blows he had rece!ved, were the occa non or even acceleration of the inflammation which caused his death. The disease in the lungs had continued from a long period, and from cold or drinking, die inflammation might have ensued. Laborious exercise would have increased the disposition to inflammation. Mr. Stretton being again called, said, that after having worked-co hard on the Wedntaty or Thur , day, he WAS in a violent perspiration. Adout 6 or 8 months ago the deceased had had a serious fall down some stairs. . . _ Mr. Justice Bayley, with Out calling upon the prisoner for her de. feriae, gave his opinion to the jury, that the prisoner must be ac quitted; the surgoon had distinctly stated that he had considerable doubts whether the blows which the deceased had received (teen- ;ion, or even accelerate h:s death.. The indamation, it *Hie:utak, was not on the left side where the blow had been given, but on the right side where the lungs had been injures' for a period ling previous to the present transaction. Under these circumstances he conceited that a verdict of acquittal ought to be given. The Jury immesh:lt:fly returned a verdict—Not Guilty. 'file prisoner was nut old and apparently a feeble woman. She con ducted nee elf with firmness during her trial. William Moore was indiised for having forcibly violated Ellza Taylor. This trial occupied a very considerable portion of the time of the Pours. Th: prisoner is a soap-boiler, and the proveutrix was a ,;r1 living in his service. Si:: had. however, left his .erviee before the present transaction, which took place on the sth of November last. The examination of the Prosecutria lasted fur two tour !:cal a half ; and although the facts of the rase were distinctly proved, yet upon the cruse examination, the ease took a different turn. It rna pawed that she on many occasions suffered most inidecent liberties to be taken with her. While in the prisoner's service she had suffer:el het ma-ter to take her upon his knees, and tokiss her. (In this aticount she had been turned away by the prisoner's mother, who laid watched and seen what hail passed. On another oia:asion she tuff:red him to act still more indecently, hut still she withheld all information, and suf fered the prisoner tocontinue his caresses. Previous to the 4th of Nov. she had seen the misoner in Goawelhstreet, and then an appointment was made betwewn them to meet at a certain . spot at a certain hour (10 minutea to seven in the evening.) The p: toner at the same rime gave her a 3s. piece to buy her a pair of gloves. More than once, she confessed, she had joked with a woman with whom she was acquaint. ed of the name of Adams about her conduct with the prisoner. and had several time called him by the familiar name of Billy Moore" She admitted that 071 one occasion she had than surprised while in the company of the prisoner by a rtnging at the bell, and that at the desire of sir. Mome she just stepped into what was called the dog hole, to get out of the way of the exciseman. She was now in years of age ; bid been one year at service, during which time she might have been ilistni,•ed from service sin ti times. ;she had lived ice the service of a Captain Fuller six weeks, hut denied that she was turned away because she and her master were too familiar. With the prisoner she admitted, however, she Lad Er queasily been alone, that he had taken liberties with her, and that she hail in answer to a ques. tion from I s.: friend Mains, said, Yes, I think it would be a goad thing if I could marry him." During tree cross-examination a great deal more Mine out which it would be highly improper for us to de tail ; but it was most distinctly proved, that there was no foundation for the charge of violence, and that it was not until a fortnight or inure after the transaction that any information of the fact was given before a Magistrate. , The only other witness called by the keened Counsel for the pro. secution, was a Mrs. Aldridge, with whom die prosecutor after , her disnossal front the prisoner's service. She taatved her unstressed situation on her return home on the 6th of November, Si.. her dada ration of the whole circumstance of the ease. , Upon her eross,ixamination, however, it eame out, thrt instead of ittl'onning a Magistrate, she went to the priconer, and endeavour( d to compromise ts.e matter. She admitted that she lied asked him whether he intended to marry the girl, but deuiod that sl.c o.kcd hum thy any money. •r ITIONAL