The Sun.
London, England, 1806-09-02 00:00:00

iiFFECTING

At 3 bout six. miles distance: friftfi:tioVdr:l-Tartitint-,
the land; receding frOM the encroachmehtTof
watet-s, 'forms -St. :,11,1argarer§ Bay., On tfie-mth
side of this indented coast, a ;man had beentdis-
coVered by the peasantry, and endeavourin2-:to Con-.
ceal himself among the fissures of the adjacent pro=
-roootory : it was; however, long before their sUspi,-
c,,ins were awakened ; and some, from Motives of
capassion, others oleuriosity, at last determined
to go in pursuit of the unknoWn wanderer, whose
existence now began to be doubtful. From the 12th
of August to the 28th, although he had -been. seepwalkino- in various direaions, he had applied for no
food ort'beverage a t any of the contiguous hamleis : in-
deed he had entered none of them ; fbr the sight of
the human form, Whenever in his ramblings he en:-
Countered it, seemed to excite aversion and alarm,
and he fled as from a teriific Polyphemus. Before
the Country•people began the search, they judged
it prudent to;communicate the particulars Of the of
' fair to some CoStom-house and. Police Of tiers,
on the_ firSt whisper, concluding the iLcognito to be
and urged by the reward for his- apprehen
sion, hastened to the spot ;- they were joined by
~spme of the inhabitants in the vicinity of Langdon,
Martin's, and Ringwold, who occupy" the distriLas
'surmounting the broad shoulders of South Fore-
land., After a vigilant search in several dire lions,
at the. base of the rack a -heap of weeds was no-
ticed, with something ,reclined upon it, resembling
'the human form ; but whether it ,was alive; or whe-
ther it Was some unhappy delim who had taken
'the Leucadian leap, 'gas yet uneertain. The fears
of the pursuers were increased as they approached
the obje&, which remained motionless; it was at
last distinctly ascertained to. be a man, while the
avarice of some, and the cbmmisseration of others,
accelerated their progress down the precipice. They,
then slowly approached ; and, observing him tr:
move feebly on his vegetable couch, they accosted
him. Whether he were the City fugitive,_or other-
wise, was yet undetermined ; for the appearance
of our common nature was so changed, that to,
trace any resemblance to a particular individual of
. the species was impossible. He replied to their in-
quiries indistinctly ; extreme weakness had almost
deprived him of the power of utterance : they could
collect, however, that existence had become a but-
then to him, and he had resolvedLi resign it. Thus,
"" bare and full of wretchedlyess,"—‘ famine in his
• cheeks,-need and oppression staring in his eyes," he
was gently conveyed Wore the Mayor of Dover:
The Magistrate having learnt that the man was a
soldier, in the \Vest Surrey Militia, gave informa-
tion to Capt. WIL,LIAM' THOMPSON, to Whose- coin-
pany he belonged, and under
.the direalion of that
Officer he was conveyed from the jail to the Military
Hospital, where every proper attention was paid to
him in his. condition of 'extreme debility. •In the
mead_ time a regimental Court Martial was held,
at which Captain W. T. presided, to enquire into
-the condtia of this person, who was a private in
the Regiment, of the name of Charles Butcher.
Blay, a Serjeant in the Corps, depoSed that die
Prisoner was reported -absent at the tattoo-roll, oh
the f2th of August, and that he had not since ap-
peared. Sambroke, another Serjeant; give evi-
dence on behalf of the accused: When the pin-
happy man was called upon for his defence,
(" meagre were his looks ; sharp 'Misery had worn
• him to the bone,") his story was simple and con-
cise. He said, on the evening of the 12th of Ati7
gust he had become 'intoxicated, and was in that
state in the town when he. ought to have been in
garrison ; that he had served in Ireland; where he
had received a wound' on the head, in consequence.
of which any excess frequently occasioned insanity.
He supposed that under a temporary deliriu •,
augmented by the fear of punishment, ha had con-
cealed himself among the rocks, where he was
discovered. Soon afterwards, he was perfeffly
aware of his situation,' but had not sufficient reso-
lution to 'return. For sixteen dys and nights he
remained nearly on the same spot, and had par-
taken of no food whatever but wild cabbage, and
other vegetable - roots and simples Produced do the
contiguous. soil: He concluded with declaring,
that, when hz. was discovered by those who appre-
hended him, he. had determined to use no other
effort to support life; and to make the weeds on
which he had thrown himself his dying bed. • The
impreSsion,upon his Military Judges of such a plain
". unvarnished tale," delivered- by due whose worn
and emaciated form was the best confirmation of
its troth, can be but faintly described : the power-
ful emotions of manly and generous minds in such.
situations transcend the Poet's talent : the public,
however; will learn with satisfaction, that- Charles,
Butcher has been condemned to no corporal 'suf-
fering ; that hip absence was attributed to a
roxystn of phrenzy ; that his strength is hourly in-
creasing; that he will be soon restored
,to his Offi-
cer and his Comrades; that he remains thankfirt
'.for the humanity which has been' shewn to him,
and anxious to display his gratitude in the service
of his country.

On Thursday a'Coroner's inquest was held at the
Red Lion Inn, Maidenhead, on the body of fohn
Alsop, found dead in his bed the-preceding morn-
ing. It appeared that the deceased, whO was butler
to a Gentleman at Maidenhead, 'after a courtship, of
nineteen years to a female, named Cook, went Up
to London to be married on Monday sennight. On
Tuesday they returned to Maidenhead,. where his,
wife has a house : during their journey the deceased
was frequently heard to express a wish that he
might die suddenly ; and, en their arrival at hotne,,,
the deceased had a dispute with a lodger of his Wife
respeaing the room he should ddcupy after'whichr
he tan out in a passion, swearing he would never
enter the house again he then Went to the Red
Lion Inn, and, atter taking some spirits, retired to
bed. The next morning his wife Went to call him
to breakfast, and he was found dead, with his hand'
under his head. He had shewn no syinptorts of
illness previously, and did not appear intoxicated.
Died by Me Pisitation of God.
We hear, that on the 3d instant, the stone Chi roll
at Port Tobacco was blown d-own, by the most
violent wind ever experienced at that place. Hun-,
dreds of large trees were also levelled to the ground,
and several houses totally destroyed. A canoe,- with
a man fishing, was taken up out of the water, and
Carried upwards •Of 100 yards, without hurting the
man, to the plantation of a Gvaleman,—(lP6ol4,-ng-
ton Rd. July 14)