The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVEillNer, NCiVEMI3ER, 13, 1863:

-A„,„0,. t.
Irtubt
TOUT

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, Nov. 12.
The Queen, accompanied by her Royal Highness
the Crown Princess of Prussia (Princess Royal)
walked and.drove in the grounds this morning.
Earl Granville arrived at the castle yesterday and
had an audience of her Majesty.
The Queen honoured Mr. Frith with a sitting
yesterday for his picture of the Prince of Wales's
marriage.

actions.

THE TRIPLE MURDER IN A CAE•

CORONERS' INQUEST.—THIS DAY.
This morning, Mr. W. Carter, coroner for East Surrey,
held an inquest at the Rose and Thistle Tavern, Warner-

road, Camberwell, on the body of Samuel William Hunt,
the husband and father of the female and two children who

were found dead in a cab, under the terrible circumstances
already so generally known.

Mr. Hubert Wood, solicitor, attended to watch the pro-
ceedings on the part of the relatons of the deceased, and
Inspector Tanner, of the detective force, was present by
direction of the Commissioners of Police.
The Jury having been sworn,
The Coroner said they assembled that morning to in-
quire into the causes attending the death of William Samuel
Hunt, and the questions they would have to consider was,

first, whether the deceased died from his own hand, the
condition of his mind at the time, and whether he could be

manner.

considered in such a state as to be responsible for his own

The jury having viewed the body, returned to the inquest
room. The following witnesses were called and examined :
Inspector Molloy, of the B division, said—Shortly after
10 o'clock on Monday night, in company with Inspector
Smith, I went to A.un's Cottage, Warner-road, Camber-
well, We saw no light when we arrived, and then Inspec-
tor Smith knocked at the door. Not receiving an answer
he knocked again.

Coroner—Before he knocked the second time was any-
ling heard within the house ?

Witness—No, sir ; but immediately after I beard a noise

in the passage. It was a sort of coughing, and as of a
person moving about in the dark. I called Inspector
Smith's attention to it, and then he gave a loud knock, and
immediately a person insids called out, " Who's there ?" I

said, " Open the door, if you please ; we want to speak to
you." I heard the chain of the door removed, and the door
was opened. There was no light; but I saw a man in his

shirt. He said, "Who are you—the police ; what do you
want ?" and he immediately made towards the stairs. I

said " Stop , where are you going ?" He replied, " For a
light." Inspector Smith said "I've a light," and he turned
on his lamp, saying to the deceased "Where do you want

:o go." To which he replied "Upstairs to my bedroom."
Coroner—ls the person you have seen dead the same

Witness—He is, Inspector Smith then preceded de-

ceased upstairs and I followed. Immediately we entered
the bedroom deceased sat on the laqi and commenced retch-

in very much and was sick. He did the same on going

upstairs. When he recovered he said, " What d,) you want
with me." I said " Have you read the account of the mur-
der on Saturday last?" He replied, Yes, I was reading it
. _ _

;his evening." I said, from information we have had, I

believe your family is not at home. He said, "That's
right; they went to Southampton on Friday." We eau-
_

tinned the deceased when he first entered the bedroom, and
after I said, "You answer the description," and we must
take you into custody on suspicion of being the murderer.

He said, " How were they dressed ?" Smith said they wore

dark clothing. Deceased replied, "It can't be my family,
for they all wore light dresses when they left here." Find-
ing he continued vomiting, inspector Smith asked him what

..., .
he had been taking. He said, "I took a small portion of
gin, before I went to bed, which I found in a bottle." We

then told him he must dress immediately and go with us.
He did so ; and on the way to the station he said he hoped
it was not his family, but he would not, be surprised. His

_ .
wife led him a wretched life; and the children had told him
some time back that one day when they were out fora walk

with their mother they met a gentleman, who took them
for a ride in a cab ; that he was very kind to them, and
much like himself, via., that he wore a moustache. Imme-

diately on arriving at the station Dr. Puckle was sent for,
and immediately attended. Finding the deceased was get-
ting worse, we sent for Dr. Massey. While Dr. Puckle

was attending him he appeared perfectly sensible. The
vomit was of a lightish colour. When Dr. Puckle came
in he asked him what he had been drinking, and deceased
said some gin, upon which the doctor said " Havn' t you
been taking something else," he eaid no. Don't you know
me, you attended my wife some time ago. She was lying on a
mattress, we had been moving and had not got the furniture

into the house. Dr. Puckle said he remembered the cir •
cumstance. Deceased then said, " I shall get round
directly, my heart is affected and the excitement has caused
me to be in this way." At this time he was retching
very much. Dr. Puckle attempted to administer an an-
tidote saying, " take this it will de you good," but ac-
..

cording to my mind there was a disinclination to take
it as it was all spilt. On the second attempt deceased's
head was held back, and the mixture was poured down
his throat. There was a slight force required but not
much. After a short time deceased said, "I'm
dying, let me lie down." He did so, but shortly after
he called out, " I'm better now lift me up, I
lost my eyesight for a short time and could not see, but now
I can see very well." This latter remark was made after
he had been assisted up. He attempted to walk about, but
he staggered very much, and he was placed in a chair,
when be again exclaimed, "I am dying fast." His eyes
closed, his head dropped, and he appeared to be unconscious
for a short time, but all of a sudden he started on his feet
and said, " I want to write something before I die ; give we
pen, ink, and paper. I hope I shall live to finish it." Hu
then wrote the paper I now hand in. It was read as fol-
lows :—" Mr. M'Culloch, pay to my wife £l2O, due 17th
September last, and the remainder due to me." Deceased,
after he had done so, said to me "I wish you would take
charge of it, ae Mr. M'Culloch owes me 18 months' back
wages. I wish that and tee £4O I have in my pocket to be
given to my wife and children, if they are alive." We then
assisted him to a chair, when he requested to be placed on
the ground as he was dying, and titter he had been there
a short time he again seemed to rally, and said,
" I know how she died ; she took prussic acid."
I said, " Your wife Where did she get it ?" He replied
" I had it in the house—she took it." In a short time after
that he expired in an insensible state, I omitted to state
until the present moment that when Dr. l'ackle first saw
deceased he asked what he had been taking, to which he re-
plied, " I think there was something else in the glass. I
believe I have taken aconite." In searching the deceased's
house, there is a cupboard in the bedroom in which I found
12 or 141bs. of soap, cut in pieces, and a small bottle con-
taining a fluid. I handed it to the doctors, who were pre-
sent. The bottle had neither stopper nor cork. I searched
the house carefully to find either, but could not.

Coroner—Have you taken any steps to discover whether
his family went to Southampton ?
Witness—There is no such
.street as that to which he
had said they had gone.
Coroner—After you entered the house had he any oppor-
tunity of taking anything ?
Witness—No ; I am certain he did not. When I entered
:he room I saw some vomit in the utensil. When he sat
down on the bed ho cook it up apparently as if he had been
using it before. The fluid in the bottle looked to me like a
dark kind of oil. I don't know the effluvia of prussic acid,
Coroner—What amount of time was there between the
first and second knock at the door ?
Witness—Just sufficient for a person to come to the door.
I should say about a minute and a half elapsed before he
came down. I don't think he had time to take anything
between the interval that elapsed between the knocking
and opening of the door. It Was impossible for him to have
seen us before the door was opened, because we took care to
place ourselves in such a position to prevent that. The bed
had been used when we saw it.
Dr. Puckle said, I practice as a surgeon, and reside at
Denmark-hill. Last Monday n.ght I was called to the
station-house, at Camberwell-green, a few minutes after
eleven o'clock. I there found deceased sitting in a chair.
I know him to be a person of the name of Hunt, He was
retching violently at the time. His countenance was pallid,
the eyes presenting a remarkable appearance--the pupils
very much dilated. I felt his pulse, which was scarcely
perceptible. The action of the heart was extremely
feeble, but, with the exception of the retching, his
breathing was regular. I asked him what ho had
been taking, and he said only some gin. I said you've
taken more than that—what is it ? He replied, " I
put my nose to his mouth, but could not detect any path.
cular effluvia. The retching was violent and spasmodic,
but he did not complain of any sensation at the chest. I
thought he had taken a narcotic irritant poison. I at-
tempted to administer sulphate of zinc in water. He ob-
jected to take it. I said, "Come, come, Hunt, you know
me, take it." He allowed his mouth to be completely filled,
but, he spat it out again. I had with na, e a second dose of
the emetic, which I took care that he saould swallow. Ho
did not appear to have the power to resist. The mixture
passed easily down his throat. Atter t?le emetic he vomited
immediately, and then exclaimed, Oh
my heart." I
routed him up to ascertain whether he could grind, but he
staggered across the room, almost kno.cking his head
against the wall. He did not seem to have the power to
raise his arms. I asked him again what he had taken, ana
he still said only some gin. I asked him from whence
he had taken it, and ho said from a six ounce
bottle. He appeared to doze for a few minutes,
when he revived, and said he had had such delightful
dreamy. I iISKOi him if he bad any poison in the house, to
which he said, " I procured some prussic acid some time
ago, intending to destroy myself. I walked about for nights,
I felt so miserable. But it is not ire the house now. My
wife must have taken it with her when she went into the
country on Friday." Some ono asked him if he had taken
prussic acid. Ho said, " No, or I should not have been
here now ; showing his knowledge of the drug, I asked
''
uitn if he had any other poison, to which he said he had a
packet of opium. I again asked him what he had taken,
ani he then said, " I may have taken aconite-1 think it
was," He lived about a quarter of an hour after making
that observation.; I have never seen a case of poisoning by
aconite, but, from reading, the effects are consistent with
those produced by aconite on the human frame.
I received from an officer a bottle, which I produce. It was
given to me by Malloy. It contained about two drops of a
liquid the colour of sherry. I have tested it, and have come
to the certain conclusion it was aconite. I tasted it, and it
produced a complete deadening of the tongue. Aconite is
procured from a plant known as monkshood. I have
no
' doubt about the mixture being acronite ; 1.50 of a grain will
destroy life in certain animals, but, a ccurding to the opinion
of Dr. Taylor, ten minims of acronite will produce death in
a human b,:ing. I have made a post-mortc.tu examination of
the body in company with Messra, H. . Massey and Plower,

The examination was made 42 hours after d eat The body was
well formed. There was extreme rigidity of the muscles.
On opening the head I found the brain healthy, the blood
vessels being fuller than usual. The ventricles contained
very little fluid, and there was no effusion at the base of the
brain. The heart presented a healthy appearance, but the
right side was greatly distended, the left side was con.
traoted, and did not contain any blood. Tho struc-
ture of the heart and lungs were quite healthy. I
have analysed the contents of the stomach, and
found it to contain aconite in small quantities.
I have no doubt that death was produced from that poison.
I detected it in large quantities in the vomit. Aconite does
not produce immediate prostration. It has not so immediate
an effect as prussic acid.

By Mr. Herbert Wood—l have known the deceased for
some time, but I never noticed anything peculiar in his

The Coroner said he thought upon the subject of the
poisoning it was quite conclusive, and therefore they might
well pass to another branch of the case—viz., the motive or
state of deceased's mind.
The suggestion being accented to
Adolphus Orlando Ritchie was then examined. He said
—I am in the service of Messrs. Butler and MacCullock
herbalists, druggists, and seedsmeu, of Covent-garden-
market. I know the deceased. He was employed by the
firm as traveller and shop assistant. He used to take
samples out when he went his journeys. Last Monday
afternoon he told me to get some things from the ware-
house for him. He was then in the shop serving customers.
He came about half-past one in the afternoon and remained
till half-past seven in the evening. I saw him the whole
of that time. I did not notice anything unusual in his
appearance or conduct. He told me to get him some oil of
juniper, oil, of ropes, tincture of aconite, and esseetial
oil of almonds. None of the bottles produced are not those
that I gave him. All the bottles were labelled except the
aconite. He did not usually require aconite. Two of the
bottles were to be sent out to the Waterloo-road, and the
:tconite and oil of almonds were to be called for. I told
him the aconite had no label, and he said ho would write
one and place it on the table We do not keep prussic acid
in a pure state. Any article he required would be supplied
without the least hesitation. He usually asked for what
he required if it was not kept in the shop. This was
the case with the aconite. All the goods are kept under
lock, the warehousemen keeping the key. The aconite
could not have been got without going to the warehouse.
We do not sell essential oils re ail. Our business in those
articles is chiefly with chemists. The deceased was not at
the shop on'Saturday.
Mr. Charles M'Culloch said the deceased was in my ser-
vice. His name was Samuel "William Hunt. He had been
in our service about three years as traveller.
We shall continue the report in our next edition.

THE QITE:EINS OP SONG.

By Ellen Creathorne Clayton. Two Vols. Smith
and Elder.
These two really magnificent volumes are the result
of a most happy inspiration. It was a glorious idea
to celebrate at once the art and the artist, to com-
memorate in one charming series of charming
biographies--" a linked sweetness long drawn out"
—those " Queens of Song" who, in the present and
past century, have enraptured and enthralled so
many hearts and ears. As we turn over these pages
what names, fam4liar and famous, greet our eyes
and call up heart-tarilling recollections—Malibran,
and Pasta, and Sontag, and Grisi, and the rest of the
glorious sisterhood, from Katharine Tofts and Mar•
garita de L'Epini, the prime donne of 1700, to Miss
Louisa Pyne and Madlle. 'Miens, the fair favourites
of 1863. Such a record must necessarily be inte-
resting, and, with its stores of anecdotes, must ne-
cessarily also be most amusing. But these bio-
graphies have yet higher claim to our attention.
They are written in a most charming natural style,
and the authoress has displayed a happy power of
seizing upon the most prominent characteristics
which work the peculiar individualities of the
heroines she describes. The hopes and fears, the early
promise,the rising ambition,the disappointments,and
the brilliant triumphs, of these Queens of Song, are
described in vivid colours, and are to the full as
attractive as a romance. As an evidence of how
well the authoress appreciates the task she has
undertaken, let us quote from her preface this truth-
ful enumeration of the dangers and delights of—
TILE PRIMA DONNA.
"Tier story is often of touching and romantic interest,
and her fate points an impressive moral lesson. Gifted with
powers designed to delight the world, and, in most
instances, combined with personal attractions that mate-
rially enhance the charms of vocal and histrionic efforts,
the debutante emerging from the severe labour of
her musical studies, enters at once on the dazzling but dan-
gerous scene of her future triumphs ; endued with sensi-
bility of no ordinary kind, refined by the cultivation of her
voice and ear, and often with the strong and wayward im-
pulses of genius, her first success in a moment transforms
the chry.alis into the butterfly, destined to flutter in the
blaze of theatrical splendours. Fascinating the public, and
gratifying the intellectual lovers of song, while her beauty
and powers remain in their full perfection, the fair and
accomplished y ung vocalist cannot but captivate many
hearts, and thus becomes surfeited by the flatteries of the
spoiled children of fortune, and lured by the wiles of subtle
and interested admirers. The intoxication of success fol-
lowing close upon the absorbing studies, and the doubts
and fears that beset the debutante, must be a severe trial to
the sensitive and ardent young creature, who, when acknow-
ledged as `Prima Donna,' finds the world aLher feet, and
is the cynosure of the great, the gifted, and the wealthy of
society."
Such are the attractive heroines whose fitful for-
tunes are here pourtrayed with so much of apprecia-
tive sympathy. The first of these volumes contains
no less than nineteen, the second as many as twenty
biographies. They are profusely illustrated with
anecdotes and incidents of the times to which they
relate. These anecdotes and incidents are, of course,
not all here related for the first time, but they are
selected with discrimination and given with
piquancy and effect. The second volume opens
with the life of Giuditta Pasta, one of "the sweet
singers of Israel," and the sympathy with which
the narrator follows the fortunes and enters into
the feelings of the subjects of her narrative is here
very remarkably evidenced. Madame Pasta made
her debut when only eighteen; but her first season
was not a success. She returned to Italy, and
studied assiduously for more than a year. "An
English nobleman, who saw her at this time, said
that her exertions were unremitting. Other
singers,' said he, ' find themselves endowed with a
voice, and leave everything else to chance. This
woman leaves nothing to chance, and her success is
certain.'" On her reappearance that success was
assured. Hero is a happy glimpse of her triumphant
portrayal of Desdemona :
"Her great triumph was in • 0 tollo.' In Desdemona
she produced an indescribable affect upon the audience. Of
the impassioned energy, the spirit, the delicacy, and tender-
ness which Madame Pasta infused into the characters, pages
might be written. In the celebrated scene which closes the
second act, commencing thus
So it padre en' abbandoni
Da chi sperar pieta,'
fear, anguish, and despair wore successively expressed. in
her countenance, and the pathetic singing of the lovely
melody, Assisa a pipe d'un solice,' touched every heart.
In this part those melting tones, which are designated the
tears of the voice,' were heard with touching effect. It was
in the last scene, however, when awakened by the raging
Otello,' Desdemona starts up, and the indignation and
horror of conscious innocence are kindled within her, that
the powers of Madame Pasta's performance were concen-
trated. Her transitions from hope to terror, from supplica-
tion to scorn, culminating in her vehement exclamation,
Sono innooente I' electrified the audience; no language
could convey an idea of the beauty, the intensity,
the sublimity of her acting. Indeed, through-
out the final scene, her acting was the perfec-
tion of tragic beauty : her last frenzied looks, when,
blinded by her dishevelled hair, and bewildered with con-
flicting emotions, she seems to seek fruitlessly the means of
flight, were awful. In no other character were the
varied
resources of the art of the great tragedian drawn forth
consummately as in Desdemona, and it displayed the
thatc 0
r
satility of her powers to advantage when succeeherdinhg
altic
of Tancredi. The contrast presented bycatilveness
bearing as the young hero of Syracuse, to the g
eus and graceful simplicity of the artless Venetian lady,hneer was
very striking, and enhanced the appreciation of gni f .
On the lyric stage she thus exercised a
double
swa t y ; or
such was her force of genius that she was ab e o excel in
the new school of Rossini, and in the grand style of the
ancient school. She shone in operas of the Swan of
Pesaro ;' and she could equally give effect to the sublime
airs composed by Zingarelli for Marehesi, Crescentini,
Grassini, and other models of what was then called 'the
fine school of singing.' "
We might quote innumerable passages of equal in-
terest ; but what we have given will be sufficient to
corroborate our testimony as to the very graceful
and charming style in which these volumes are
penned, and as to the singularly attractive and
enthralling character of their theme.