The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-09-24 00:00:00

DISCOVERY OF A HUMAN SKELETON.

!From the Derby Merrstry.,
On the 16th instant, whilst the work-people of Mr. Har-
rison. engineer, of this town, were digging kw a foundation
of a wail upon the Green adjoining Little Chester, near
this town, the gretl4 pert of the bones of a male skeleton
were discovered lying in a straight horizontal position, 13
inches below the Hull/tee, with the head towards the north.
The workmen destroyed the skull before they were aware
of the existence of the 4eleton, and the softer bones of the
hands and let t had nearly mouldered away. Prom ad-
measurement of the bones .Irielt remained, the man must
have stood upwards of .5 feet TO inches.
Iron rivets, much corroded, were found nee- various
parts of the body and limbs, knd thin strata of an ochre
yellow surrounding the trunk and extremities. situates! an
inch and a half from the bones; the colour of these strata
was similar to that of the rivets, which, together with their
situation, can leave but little doubt that the remains are
those of a warrior, buried in armour.,
Al'hat is now called Little Chester, r:se formerly a Roman
station, bearing the ancient appellation of Dervm.tio, and
was stated by the celebrated 1)r. Stukely, about a century
ago, to hare had the track of a wall all mind, and in some
places he saw, under-ground, the foundations of it in the
pastures; sonic parts of the station, Which were then
visible, are now perfectly obliterated.
In Pilkington's History of Derbyshire is recorded the fre-
quent discovery of human bones in what was formerly the
Roman station, and instances of this kind have occurred
since Pil k ing ton published his work. The discovery of human
bones, with coins of the *reigns of Tiberius, Vespesianns,
Antoninus l'ius, Trajanus, and .othtirs of the later Roman
Emperors, which have been there collected, lead to the
probable conclesion that most relics found in this situa-
tion are specimens of Roman antiquity, and furnish
strong evidence of the skeleton in question being of that
nature.

It has been thought by some not conversant with the
subject, that the state of prcserratiiia of the bones prove
them net to be of great intleniity. Thtse ideas are de:-
cif:24llT incorrect. It may be well to give the opinions of
the best antiquarians on this point, which are, that there
are many instances on record where the skeleton of the
ancients has been found preserving its primitive form,
although not protected by any envelope. We may also
allude to the antediluvian organic remains, a beautiful and
well-known insteuiCe of which lately appeared at Moon,
in this county, 'where the bones of the rhinoceros and
other animals were found imbedded it a considerable depth
in a moist earth.

Whether this was a warrior buried hastily, or interred
with funeral rites,: is a point difficult to decide ; but there
is a very interesting remark in Mr. Douglas's work, stating
that the burial places of the Romans in this Ilngdoin are
very rarely discovered, owing to their custom of interring
the dead at no great distance from their stations, by the
side of The public road. This 'ohm rvilion is giVen to 'hew
that the congregated inhumation of bodies was not by any
means universal amongst the Romans, and it is no proof
to the contrary even where a number of bodies have been
found together under a harrow, as various works en the
funeral tumuli of the Romans shoe, where Roman in-
signia have been found. The cairn or barrow was the
sepulture of British warriors in the roman service, as the
barrow was not of Roman usage ; but it must be recollected,
that when the Romans buried their dead with funeral
obsequies, it was usually their custom to place sculptured
devices or sepulchral inscriptions over the remains. As
nothing of this sort was found, it favours the opinion of a
man having been hastily interred in military accoutre-
ments. With regard to the position, Sir R. Colt Iloare
states, that the most ancient form of burial was with the
head towards the north, which would probably be adhered
to in ecclesiastical as well as military rites. Although this
skeleton was surrounded by a clay very impervious to wet,
' which tended greatly to its preservation, still, on exposure
to the atmosphere, it was evident that the bones, which were
fractured in many parts, would soon crumble away.

SURREY THEATRE.

" And real heroes crowd the scene."

Thule of our readers who take an interest in the rise and fall of
theatres and Their managers, and their heroes, probably know that
11r. Williams, the enterprising Manager of the Surrey Theatres
has for some time past, in consequence of his extensive expenditure
for the public gratification, been a resident within the Rules of the
Ring's trench. As Mr. Williams, while in This situation, was un.
able to superintend the performarDes, being prohibited front enter.
ing the theatre by the Act which excludes all places of public
amusement from the Rules, he let the theatre for nine weeks to one
of the performers and a friend who was owe of his sureties to the
Marshal of the King's Bench, in the expectation that, at the
expiation of that time, he might be in a situation that would en.
able him to resume the management.
On the expiration of the nine weeks for which the Theatre was
let, Mr. Williams, though not yet redtoved from the Rules of the
King's Bench, was desirous of reei-umlng the possession ; but
the new occopants positively refused to surrender the possession. '
Mr. Williams, not perhaps unreasonably, expressed considerable
dissatisfaction at this determination ; and the occupants being ap.
prehensive of an attempt at a forcible ejectment, Mr.
friend, who was his surety to the Marshal, rendered him in dis.
charge of his liability, and he was, in cansequence, brought within
the walls. This was on Friday last. Mr. Williams lost no time
in obtaining another surety, and on Saturday he, accompanied by
his friends, who mustered in great force on the Occasios, proceeded
to the Theatre, which was at that time but weakly garrisoned, and,
on the appearance of the enemy, surrendered at discretion. The
triumph, however. was of short duration. As soon as the tidings
reached the chiefs of the opposite party, they used every exertion to
collect their partisans, and soon assembled a force, with which It
was determined to try the fortune of war.
A council was held to decide on the best mode of attack ; and as
Mr. Williams, with a chosen band, protected the different entrances
to the Theatre, it was deemed expedient,rathet- than risk an attack on
the Manager, to have recourse to stratagem. The party in con.
sequence availed themselves of the friendship of the occupant of an
adjoining house, who allowed them to ascend his roof, from which
they easily reached the roof of the Theatre, where they soon sue.
veiled in making a practicable breach, throngh which a consider-
able force entered, before they were perceived by the garrison. A
sharp conflict immediately took plate; victory for sonic time remained
doubtful ; and were it not for the excluding law, which prevented
die Manager appearing amongst his troops, and encouraging them
by his presence, it is thought the assailants would have been repulsed
with loss. At length, however, they succeeded in establishing them-
selves in possession, and the Manager's friends were expelled,
having lost all but their honour. The Manager, however, still
hovered round the scene of his hopes and tears, and endea.
soured, by an impassioned statement of his rights and his Min-
vies, to interest the company coming to the Theatre in his cause,
and to obstruct the ingress of the partisans of the successful bd.
ligerent. For this purpose he placed himself a; the stage-door,
and opposed the entrance of Daniel hlucklethwait, an active
partisan of the enemy. A peak ensued, in which both went
down. In the judgment of a Boy-street Officer, who was present.
Daniel was the assaulier, and he was in consequence transferred
to the watch-house. A faithful ally of the Manager's, named I
Flower, was engaged in the defence of another entrance, when lie
was assailed and dislodged by another opponent, named Ben
Johnson. The party in possession, however, succeeded in resisting
every attempt to defeat their enterprise.
On Monday an investigation of the affair took place before the is
Magistrates of Union Hall, at the King's Bench prison.
The Magistrates refused to interfere in the question of right
but held Mucklethwait and Johnseta to bail, to answer the assault.

We understand (sap, the (Augur Herald, of Monday),
that the master and journeymen wtton-spinners have not
vet settled their differences, and the men are still going
about idle.—The journeymen calendermen in this city last
week struck work, to have their hours of labour reduced,
and their employers and they not having yet come to an
understanding, most of the ealenders in town are at a
stand.

MELANCHOLY CATASTROPIIE:-MisS AITICER Hender-
son, of Melton Range, near Colnbrook, was burnt to death
at the house of Mrs. Forlxs, her aunt, on Wednesday
night. She had spent the evening with a juvenile party
in the neighbourhood, and on her return home her cluthes
caught fire when alone in :11.• parlour. Her shrieks alarmed
the maid-servant, and on entering the room the unfortu-
nate female was in a blaze of tire. She lingered two bows
in the most excruciating torment, when death put an end to
her sufferings. The deceased was eighteen years of age.
Mi:LANEHOLY Acting xr.—On Tu2stLy morning a man
of the name of George Conder, formerly keeper of a sedan
chair at Beverley, was empleyed in the brew-house be-
longing to the Beverley Alms Inn, when he unfortunately
Ml into the under-beck, and was so dreadfully scalded
that he expired the same evening about nine o'clock, in
excruciating agonies. Nu:withstanding, his perilous situa-
tion, the poor man actually cx:ricatell himself without
help from the under-beck, and was Mund only a few mi-
nutes after. He has left a large family, solely dependent
on him fur support.