The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-20 00:00:00

Extraordinary Suicide.

Yesterday an investigation was held by Dr Lankester,
the coroner for Central Middlesex, touching the death of
Mr Robert Henry Williams, aged 27, who was the London
manager of the Mercantile and Exchange Bank, at the pri-
vate residence of that gentleman, 9, New Caveadish•street,
Cavendish-square.
Mr Wm. Smith:Williams, 13, Ampthill-square, identified

the body as that of his son, who was a bank manager. He
saw him last alive on Sunday last, and he was then in his
usual health, but much depressed in spirits.
Mr G. Harley, M.D., analytical chemist, and Professor
of Medical Jurisprudence at University College Hospital,
said he had made a post-mortem examination of the body
36 hours after death. After describing the results of the
various tests employed, he said he could distinctly say that
the cause of death was poisoning by cyanide of potassium
Mr George Napoleon Epps. M.R.C.S,, said he was re-
lated to deceased, and frequently saw him, sometimes two
or three times a week. He saw him on Sunday last, but he
was not as usual he seemed depressed, which witness attri-
buted to his overwork at the bank. lie believed that de-
ceased had overworked his brain, and his mind had given
way under the pressure of anxiety. He was present with
Dr. Harley at the post-mortem examination. He received
a message from Drake, the serving man to deceased, about
eleven o'c'ock on Monday night, asking him to come and
see deceased. He went, and was shown into the parlour,
when Drake said, in answer to inquiry, "Ho is not here,
he is in his bedroom." Witness then went upstairs and
spoke to deceased. He did not answer, upon which witness
put his hand on deceased's forehead in a friendly way and
found he was dead. This was at five minutes past eleven.
He then called assistance.
After some other evidence,

The Coroner inquired if any papor had been found which
had contained cyanide of potassiuw, or whether deceased
practised photography ?
A negative reply was returned.

A brother of deceased said that he was in the habit of
taking photographs, but he could not say whether deceased
had possessed himself of any of the cyanide of potassium.
The Coroner addressed the jury, and referred to the me-
lancholy circumstances of the o eceased depriving himself of
life at so youthful an ago. There was no doubt he had
taken poison, which was fully borne out by the examina-
tion and analysis which had been made, and he believed
that the great business which restod upon him might have
had the effect of overturning his mind. If the jury had no.
sufficient evidence before them, they could re-examine any
of the witnesses; but he thought there was sufficient for
them to return a verdict.

The joy returned a verdict that deceased was found deid
in his bed from the mortal effccts of cyanide of potassium,
which he had taken by his own hand while in an unsound
state of mind.
The proceedings then terminatel.

EXTRAORDINARY CLAIM OF LARGE AND VALU-
ABLE PROP ERTIES.—That part of Wigan which is
known as the Scholes is at present in a state of no little
excitement, in consequence of the conduct of a couple of
men who, from what can be learned of them, appeared to
be acting as agents fur a person who claims property in the
Scholes and its vicinity to the value of many thousand
pounds. A tumble-down place situated at the top of the
street, and known as the Manor House, and one of the
oldest buildings in Wigan became, through the death of
the tenant, unoccupied, and the furniture having recently
been cleared away by public auction, an opportunity was
afforded to the claimants, for which it was evident they
had for some time been waiting. Last Wednesday the
two men, whose names are Rowe and Horrocks, entered
the deserted house and fortified themselves therein
stating that they were the relatives, and were acting as
the authorised representatives of one James Horrocks, a
grocer, of ,Spinning Moor, Durham, to whom that house,
the adjacent prop,.'rty, and land around to the extend of 50
statute acres, all belonb':xl. The Manor House, for the last
40 years, has been held by Irsons of the names of Heaton,
~."
and the trustees under the will of late head of the family,
naturally feeling indignant at the asst.:tnption, determined
to attempt an ejectment. This was success::illy done in the
course of Wednesday, but in their exultation a: the result
0

,heir enterprise the party left the back door op,Ztl, the
ejected ones again entered and could not be removed. Ti..e
cla:mants were left in peace till midnight on Saturday,
when a grand siege was atranged to take place. An attack-
ing party of about a score went to the spot in cabs, and com-
menced an assault upon the house, in which they might per-
haps have been successful, had not the police interfered and
taken their leader into custody. For some minutes the scene
was a most exciting one, the besieged hurling bricks and fire
upon their opponents, who wore armed with picks, blud-
geons, and axes, Between the two great damage was done
to the property.—On the man taken into custody—one
Thomas Hall—being brought before the magistrates, blr
Taylor, one of Heaton's executors, attended in court with
his title deeds, and it was contended that Hall, acting under
his orders, was jastifi.,d in attempting to take turc.ble pos-
session. The Bench, however, held that they could not
allow any breach of the peace ; and ultimately the case was
remanded for a week, on the understanding that the solici
tors for the ejected party would decide on what legal means
were to be taken to rc-obtain possession.

THE SHOOTING OF Ma. WILSON.—MILFORD,
Saturday Night.—l have seen Mr. Wilson today.
He was again visited by Dr. Thorpe, of Lettetkenny,
last night, who concurs with Dr. Murray in thinking
that he is going on tolerably well, but that his life still
hangs in a balance. Every day since the outrage was
committed the magistrates have been sitting at Tam-
ney. Many persons have been examined, but to no pur-
pose ; nobody knows anything of the transaction ; no
one heard the shots or saw the assassins, although many
persons were within sight and hearing of the scene. Their
worships, in truth, are engaged in a not very solemn farce,
and, as they must well know, might just as wall be investi-
gating the case at Hong Kong as at Tamney. A very
stattliug fact has, however, been elicited. It appears that
the men who shut Mr Wilson wore constabulary great-coats,
with the capes turned up rnd drawn round their heads so as
to conceal their faces, in the manner often adopted by police.
men in severe weather. They stopped with perfect cool-
ness, and deliberately looked at Mr Wilson alter they fired,
—Dtt iii .Evening

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOITHNLLS.

TIMES. --Mr. Gladstone seems destined, if not to found
a new school, at any rate to introduce new practices into
English statesmanship. Our public men have hitherto
been, like the nation of which they are the leaders, some-
what undemonstrative; the exercise of their abilities has
generally been most conspicuous in Parliamentary debate,
where they seldom fail, if the subject in hand be only worth
the trouble to exhaust in all its bearings. They aro also
called upon, as a part of their profession as leaders and in-
structors of the people, to make statements of their views
on particular public questions at public meetings held
during the recess of Parliament, and before their own con-
stituents to give an account of their political opinions and
conduct, These are the duties in discharging which a
member of Parliament does not appear to go at all out
of his way. Bat there has been.. a sort of tradion
among men holding cr arpiriug to hold a first rate
position in public life that it aas becoming in states •
men to confine themselves pretty rigorously within the
I limits we have mentioned, ani that they were more likely
to lose than to gain in influence if they suffered themselves
to be tempted beyond them. Lard Palmerston is a striking
ex maple that a Prime Minister, full of years and honours,
can do many things in the shape of what may be called
promiscuous public speaking, which his predecessors would
have considered altogether impossible ; but Mr Gladstone
disdains the narrow limits within which the Prime Minis-
ter has confined his activity, and undertakes, for the benefit
of an audieece to which he is bound by no other tie than
that of receiving a complimentary address, to publish a
sort cf "Murray's Handbook" of the politics of the time,
and of his own share in them. He has been eo long a con-
spicuous figure in public life, he Lae been so prominent an
actor in the scenes of which he treats, that it is no reproach
to him to say that even his powers of reproduction
cannot give them the interest which they had at first hand,
and that the history of the last eleven years will live more
vividly in his speeches in Parliament than in any narrative,
however brilliant and elaborate. Having in a great num-
ber of previous speeches given his opinion on almost every
subject connected with the social and material progress of
society, Mr Gladstone proceeded to give the Chamber of
Commerce at Manchester Lis views on politics in all their
branches. 'With regard to foreign politics, he considers tho
position of England to be dignified, influential, and impar-
tial. We are placed on a sort of judicial elevation, being
freed from any selfish interest, with no enmities to
gratify, and no other mission than to promote harmony
and good-will among our neighbours. There is solid
truth at the bottom of this very flattering sketch,
though we scarcely expect that it will be admitted
as a true portrait of perfi lions Albion by those neigh-
bouring and rival Powers who ought to be the best judges
on such a subject. On this question we must admit that
Mr Gladstone occupies the very foremost place among Eng-
lish politicians, that he has broken entirely with the old
school which seemed to have been educated in the doctriae
of Hobbes—that war is the natural state of man, and that
the business of England was not to raise herself above, but
to mix herself up with those unceasing Continental quarrels
in whichshe has so slight and so shadowy an interest. With
regard to America Mr Gladstone's statement is equally
satisfactory, 'We have suffered grievously by the war, but
we recegniso the right of America to settle her own quarrels
her own way. We doubt the power of the North to reduce
the South, but the responsibility is theirs. We have no
jealousy, and we wait the result in patience and forbear-
ance. This language is worthy of England, and will, we
hope, produce its just effect upon America, from which we
have not always been in the habit of hearing words equally
temperate and equally conciliatory.
HERALD.—Another collapse I We have an Admiralty
Board, and are supposed to have a navy, but apparently we
shall soon be without any sailors. Big ships, little guns,
and no men, and the best ship of all laid en the shelf among
the steam reserve. Heaven help old England in the day of
need i Our Crimean campaign was bad enough when we
threw an army ashore and left it to perish, and packed the
pill-boxes under the bomb-shells, the former to be unshipped
at Scutari and the latter to go on to Balaclava. The cruise
in the Baltic was bootless enough, in which we burned down
timber stacks where there were no batteries, and fired at
Cronstadt from the respectful distance of three miles, flat-
tering ourselves that by tilting our gun at angle of 45
degrees we had just managed to reach the foe. All this
was sufficiently odd ; but who shall say what strange
results would become apparent were we now to find our-
selves suddenly brought into conflict with a first-class naval
power ? Chatham and Woolwich are crying out for sailors,
and are likely to cry, according to all appearance, for some
time to come. 'We cannot revive the old press gang, yet
we cannot get volunteers, and between the two what is to
become of us? We are told this is an old difficulty; but
after all the new devices which have been set on foot in
recent years we had thought that the old story would come
to an end. At least we had a right to expect that matters
would not get worse. But what do we find at the present
time ? The Admiralty arc actually at their wits' end to find
sailors for the purpose of manning the only two ships which
are now fitting out—namely, the Achilles and the Victoria,
It would seem odd if the Admiralty were to be told that
they should build no more ships until they could find men to
work them; but it is obvious that all the naval architecture
in the kingdom will be useless without the real via viva.
Sir Charles Napier was worried in his day, and growled
at the notion of seeking sailors on the cab-stand and in the
tailor's shop; but we seem now to be sinking to a lower
depth. We are told that upwards of a thousand continuous
service men who, at the commencement of the Russsan war,
entered the Royal navy from the merchant service, have re-
fused to renew their engagements, and that many whose
term of ten years has nearly expired have requested their
discharge on being paid off. The prospect is, therefore,
darker the further we look ahead, and we can give
full credence to the cautious admission that the so-
called " old-difficulty", of manning the vessels fitting
and to be fitted for sea "is just now causing consi-
derable anxiety at the Admiralty." The Achilles
is said to leave Chatham considerably under-manned; but
it is thought "probable" that she will " pick up" the re-
mainder of her crew at Devonport. The grounds of this
faint probability are not clear, Woolwich has been cater-
ing for some weeks past to get men for the Victoria,
three-decker; but it is said that the effort has met with
"small success." Referring to the flag ship Fisgard, we
are told that, despite the " cid difficulty," she was " for-
merly crowded to inconvenience," but it is sorrowfully con-
fessed that only a few men are now to be found in her
berths. We arc, therefore, at a loss to know where the
Achilles is to find men, unless by some °M .:jai Incas pocus
they are to bo turned out of one ship in to another, some-,
what on the thimble-rig principle. Even this latter pro-
cess has its dangers, as we see in the case of the Royal
Sovereign. By putting this ship out cf commission 330
men were set at liberty. These—and many more— were
wanted for the Achilles and the Victoria; but out of all the
lot only 20 or less remained in the service,

STATE OF TRADE.

MANCHESTER, Oct. 19.—Business in Manchester is of
the same character as that described in yesterday's report.
Prices are drooping and almost nominal, buyers holding
aloof, and operating only where goods are offered at excep-
tionally low prices. Every day's experience seems to give
a new lesson of caution. To use a buyer's expression, "if
we buy goods in Tuesday's market because they appear to
be cheap, we find when Friday's market comes they were
dear." Sellers say that virtually prices have come down to
about 18d, per lb. tor cloths, and it is difficult to get orders
even for small quantities at that. The failures named yes-
terday of manufacturers appear to have reached nearly a
dezat, and to day the suspension is mentioned of a firm of
manufacturers at Ashton having four or five mills in ope-
ration.

MINDEn, 18th.—Rather mare disposition was evinced
for business to-day than for the last few weeks. Were the
money market in England once more in a satisfactory state
trade here would resume its wonted acqvity, as it is not so
much in want of orders for goods, as fears for the future
which doter buyers from operating. There is little change
in the raw material, flax, tow, and jute all continuing dull,
and difficult to sell oven at a moderate reduction in price ;
few transactions in either are reported to-day, and any sales
are made at lower prices than before. There was more in.
quiry for yarns to-day, and where spinners were inclined
to Meet buyers to a small extent,a fair business was done in
the vajous descriptions made bore. Linens are also more
asked fort and at a small concession in price there aro
buyers. Manufacturers continue well ioresold, previous
and current orders keeping them busy, and there are as yet
almost no stocks of goods on hand, either here or through-
out the district.

LEICESTER, 19th.—There has been a satisfactory amount
of business transacted during the past few days in hosiery
goods, particularly in the fancy departments. Manufac-
turers continue well employed to order. At Hinckley and
Loughborough business is rather quiet. Yarns are selling
at recent quotations, and spinners are fairly engaged,
making only to order. In wools there is no important
change ; the market generally is quiet.
NOTTINGHAM, 19th.—The lace trade continues very flit.
There have been a fow home buyers in the market, but
they have only bought sparingly, particularly of staple
goods. Continental buyers abstain from purchasing, iu
consequence of the tit:settled state of the yarn market, and
yac laces are in tolerable request. There is a little doing ju
Mecklin quiltings, but no improvement whatever has taken
place in the demand for black laces or silk Meeklir s and
quillings. The hosiery trade remains very depressed
't hero is no revival in either tho home or foreign markets,.
Yarns are a trifle firmer.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—ONE SIIILLING DAY, Wed-
nesiay.—Atkaission on payment, 2,377 ; ditto, by season
tickets, 1,199; tot,l visitors, 3,576.

InE 601.1'211ERN BAZL'al.i. AT LIVERPOOL.—The
splendid bazaar now bL.kg
ld is S:. (}gorge's nail,
Livetpuol, in aid of the Soul h,:u pi isouers' relief thud, is a
great suce,.ss, upwardi of £3 Odd being taheu the first day.
Yesterday the hall was again very crowded, so that it war
positively difficult to move, sod the sales were very profit-
able. Fans, riuge, studs, &u., made by Confederate pri-
soners, were sold at several stalls, and excited much ints-
rest by the ingenuity and skill used in their manufacture. ,