The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-01-27 00:00:00

CORONER'S INQUEST.

DiATH HT BURNlNG.—Yesterday an inquisition was held be..
fore 'ftiostas SIILLTON, Esq., at St. 'licmas's llcepita/, Bo-
rough, on the body of Thomas Jones, a fine child, under ur
years old.
Louisa Mitchell deposed that she resides with her aunt, the
mother of the deceased, and occupies a room on the second floor,
in Bull-court, Tooley.street. Last Sunday evening she asked the
deceased, to whom ehe was very partial, to have his tea with her,
which he had often done before ; she took him up stairs and placed
him in a chair near the window, eating some sweatmeats. Wit-
ness left the room to fetch some milk from down stairs.; she had
not been absent two minutes when she heard the child screaming ;
she hastened up stairs, and met the child near the door enveloped
in flames ; she put her apron over his head, trying to stifle the
flames ; a young min also came to her assistance, who wrapped
the bed.clothesabout him and extinguished the fire. The deceased
was immediately taken to the hospital.
The young man, whose name is Carter, stated, that he was
alarmed by the cries of the deceased, whom he found as before de.
scribed ; he immediately threw the child on the bed and rolled the
clothes about him, which put out the flames,- his brother then
conveyed him to Guy's Hospital, and afterwards to St. Thomas'is,
where the deceased was taken in. . . . .

Nathaniel Lister, dresser to Mr. Green, stated, he saw the de.
ceased on Sunday evening immediately after being brought in ;
the breast and shoulders were dreadfully burnt ; the face not so
much. 'Witness had no hopes whatever of the child's lite, but the
usual remedies were applied. The deceased lingered in escruci.
sting tortares till Monday afternoon, when death terminated his
sufferings.
Verdict—" Accidental death by burning."

SnOCLIXO OCCUILIIENCE.—Yesterday evening an Inquisition
was taken at St. Bartholotnew's Hospital, before T. shelton, Esq.
on the body of William Hale.
Mrs. Susannah Hale, the mother of the deceased, stated, that she
resides in Farthing-street, Spital.fields. On Thursday, the 13th
iast. about nine o'clock In the morning. the witness, the deceased,
and another r.on named John, were at breakfast ; the deceased had
toasted some bread, when John snatched it from him, and ran away;
the deceased followed, and picking up a shoe front the Boor, struck
him on his head, on which John threw a knife he was holding iq
his hsnd at his brother, which inflicted a deep wound on the back
part of his head ; the deceased put his hand up to his head, and
exclaimed, " \%here am 1?" His brother was verr much affected.
The deceased bled copiously from the wound. )fe was taken to
a surgeon, who attempted to stop the effusion of blood, but could
not; the deceased was afterwards brought to this hospital. The
brothers were upon the most affectionate terms. The unfortunate
deceased was 22 years of age, and his brother 17.
Mr. Wm. Birch. house surgeon to the hospital, deposed, that
the declased was brought to the hospital on the 13th inst. iVitness
examined him ; he (the deceased) had a wound on the upper and
lower part of the back of his head, about an inch in length, and
the third part of an inch in depth ; the wound laid the skull bare,
a great quantity of blood Rowed from the wound. Witness dressed
it ; every thing requisite was done, and was going on very favour.
ably, until the 20th, when the deceased was seized with a fever,
the following day an erysipelas made its appearance, of which the
deceased died on the morning of the 23d.
Corouer—Was the erysipelas caused by the wound ?
Witness—Could not take upon himself to say positively; that
complaint was now very prevalent in the hospital.
The Coroner addressed the Jury, and said, that as it was proved
in the evidence of the mother, whom he had no reason to doubt,
that no previous malice or ill-will existed between the brothers,
but that momentary irritation was the cause of the lamentable
event, he considered that the amount of the brother's offence could
not be more than manslaughter.
'•

The Jury consuhed for ; few minutes, and reterned a verdict of
Manslaughter against John Henry Hale, the hiolher, alto was
consequently detained in custody.