The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-10 00:00:00

THE MURDER BY DROWNING IN THE

REGENTS CANAL.

CORONER'S INQUEST ON ELIZA LEA.
Yesterday forenoon Mr. Wakley, coroner for the
Western Division of Middlesex, held an inquest at the
Elephant and Castle Tavern, King's-road, Camdentown,
to investigate the death of Eliza Lea, aged 26, believed
to have been murdered by drowning in the Regent's
Canal, on the night of Monday, the 31st ult.
A jury was summoned to investigate the case on Thurs-
day last, but in consequence of the absence of Thomas
Mackett, the accused party, the coroner refused to proceed
with the inquest until he had had an opportunity of
bringing the subject before Viscount Palmerston, the new
Secretary of State for the Home Department. On Mon-
day last an interview took place between the coroner and
the Home Secretary, and although the noble lord was
disposed to defer to the precedent set by his antecessors,
he ultithately consented to give an order that the prisoner
should attend before the jury, providing the coroner
pledged himself to send the accused before Mr. Brough-
ton, the magistrate at Marylebone Police-court, by whom
he had been remanded, at twelve o'clock on the same day.
The jury, having been empannelled, proceeded to the
dead-house of St. Pancras workhouse to view the body,
and Mackett was brought up in custody of two warders
of Clerkenwell prison, and placed in a private room. Mr.
Wilding, from the office of Mr. W. F. Cooper, solicitor,
of New Church7street, Edgeware-road, appeared for the
accused ; and Mr. Seaton, of the Vestry-Clerk's office,
on behalf of the authorities of St. Pancras, as they will
be-called upon to prosecute.
The Coroner made a few observations to the jury as to
the nature of the case. He would not anticipate in any
Manner the circumstances; but it was satisfactory to
know that the party who stood accused was in attend-
ance ; and at the proper time, should anything arise in
the evidence affecting him, he would then be produced
before the jury.
William Lea, residing at 681, Augustus-street, Re-
gent's-park, identified the body of deceased as that of his
daughter. He last saw her alive at half-past seven
o'clock on the morning of Monday week at home. For
the last five months she bad been allowed to come home
each week on a Sunday, and remain till Tuesday. She
was in good health when he saw her in the morning, and
he did not see her again until between 11 and 12 the
same night, when he saw her a corpse at the Regalia
public-house, Augustus-street.
Henry Swindon Williams said he resided at No 2,
Henry-street, Cumberland-market, and was a pianoforte
maker. On the night of Monday week was sitting in the
club-room of the Regalia, and had occasion to go out into
the back garden of the tavern, which runs down to the
banks of the Regent's-canal, from Augustus-street, Re-
gent's-park. While in the back garden he heard the cries of
a woman as if in the water, and immediately after hurried
footsteps as of a man running towards him up the passage
which leads down to the towing path of the canal basin by
the side of the Regalia. He hurried back through the
house and called to Mr. 'Wolfe, the landlord, that some-
thing was the matter. He next ran out into Augustus-
street, followed by the landlord, and at the top of the
passage in Augustus-street met a man, and said to him,
" What's the matter ?" to which the man very coolly re-
plied, "I think a woman has thrown herself into the
water." Mr. Wolfe said to the man, "then come and
assist us to get her out." He then ran down the passage
towards the canal, followed by the man, and witness fol-
lowed him. When they got to the bank of the canal at
the end of the passage he still heard a cry from the water
and a gurgling and splashing sound as of a person sink-
ing, but the fog was so thick that at the time they could
not distinguish even the surface of the water. Mr.
Wolfe called out, " Can you float, or can you speak ; "
but received no answer. He then ran back to get a
light, followed by the man, who as witness thought had
gone to assist him. After they had gone, there were
three more splashes in the water. On Mr. Wolfe's re-
turn with a light and a rope, he exclaimed, " Where has
that man gone to ?" Witness answered, "He followed
you up the passage." He replied, "I believe that vaga-
bond has thrown her in." Witness ran up the passage
and down Augustus-street, and met police-constable
114 S, and asked him if he had seen a man dressed like
a bricklayer's labourer pass down the street, and he said
he had not. He then informed him there was a woman
-d-rows edraind lie went to the place and assisted-another
constable, 166 S, in getting her out of the water.
A plan of the locality was produced by one of the de-
tectives of the S division, showing the passage from
Augustus-street down to the canal, which is 119 feet in
length, and the witness said, when he heard the first cry
and the footsteps, he was about 60 feet from the water's
edge, and when he heard the footsteps coming towards
him, he ran in the same direction, and met the man at
the moment he arrived at the top of the passage.
Mr. Joseph White Johnson, surgeon, of 16, Park-
village East, said—Soon after 11 o'clock, on the night of
Monday week, he was called to see the body of a young
female at the Regalia Tavern. He found her wrapped
up in blankets, lying on a table, apparently dead. The
appearances were those of asphixia, occasioned by immer-
sion in the water. Had since made a post-mortem ex-
amination of the body. There were no external marks
of violence. There was no doubt whatever but that the
cause of death was suffocation by drowning.
The witness Wilson was here recalled, and, in answer
to the coroner, said he believed he could identify the
man whom he met in the passage, but, owing to the
darkness of the night, he could not swear to him.

BRITISH COLLEGE OF HEALTH,
New-road, London.
z-ir,—As a low medical journal is endeavouring to mislead the
public as to the birth and parentage of JAMES MORISON, the
Hygeist, we beg to send the followi, g for publicity.
• We are, sir, your obedient servants,
Montsorf and Co.

February, 1853.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH of JAMES MORISON, the HY-
GEIST, WI i h the reasons that led him to the discovery of the lly geian
System of Medicine, and the" Vegetable Universal Medicines," after
35 years of inexpressible suffering under the Medical Faculty :
Irt ES MORISON, the youngest son of Alexander Mothon, Esq.,
was born at Bognie, in the county of Aberdeen, in the year 1770.
The family has been long known as one of great affluence and re-
spectability, and the subject of this brief sketch was_ the second

brother of .lohn Morison, late member for Banffshire. In early life
he studied at the University of Aberdeen, and afterwards at Hanau,
in Germany, :being intended for the mercantile profession. Alter
finishing his studies he resided at Riga, as a merchant, an •I subse-
quently in the West Indies, where he acquired considerable West
India p►operty. Having suffered much from ill health, he was ob-
liged to leave that country and proceed to Europe, seeking from
change ef clime a restoration to health, It is nuw 25 years ago,
that, by his discovery and perseverance, he accomplished his own
extraor(rnary cure.

We cannot do better than describe the following interesting par-
iculars, given by himself in the " Morison taint :"

"A 35 years' inexpressible suffering, both of body and mind, is an
event, too, which falls but to the lot of lew, if of any at a'l. Had it
pleas:id God to. have called me out o: this world eight years ago, I
another, maw and-been- forgutton,. and 44e-world
&turd 111%1'6 ..reaPWriti benefit from my case ant misft_ ;;UffitB, nor
from the favourable effects rroduced by the same means on my
cis Lire, This Is a guarantee to the world not often to be met 'nail,
and a. convincing proof of the motto prefixed to this advice, that
' health and old age are. within the reach of us all.'"

For the remainder of the Biography, see the abridged "Mori-

ForMly motto —lino Ictu—At one blow.
_.`

Family estate—Strawberry-vale, Finchley, Middlesex.

ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARRIAGE AND THE SECRET

INFIRMITIE% OF 'YOUTH AND MATURITY

PR. SAMUEL LA'MERT, 37, BEDFORD-SQUARE, LONDON.
Doctor of Medicine, and 3latric Anted Memher of the University of

Edinburgh, Honorary Member of the Londo i llespital Medical
Society, Licentiate of Apothecaries' Hall, London, &c., &c.
AY be consulted, personally, or by letter, on
the various disorders of the nervous and generative system,
resulting from juvenile irreguiarities and excesses, which have pro-
duced more misery in youth, degradation in manhood, and prema-
tu: e decay at all stales of life, than perhaps any other class of dis-
eases known to modern pathologists. Long and practical experience
in the treatment of these diseases has proved that there are in exist-
ence secret causes of self-acquired miseries and disappointed hopes in
existence, traceable to certain pernicious habits, to which Nervous
Debility, various forms of Insanity, Unhappy altd Unfruitful Marri-
ages, Impotency, Local and Constitutiota► Weakness, and their
endless modifications owe their almost entire origin.
It is absolutely necessary that all men should know that there are
principles of personal management which cannot he violated without
incur ring grievous penalties, and when wisdom and regret succeed
the heyday of inconsiderate self-indulgence, how these penalties
may be mitigated, how the sting of their bitterness may be remove t,
and how the evil and its consequences may be avoided, and above all,
that there is scarcely any degree of physical infirmity or functional
derangement to which the timely aid of science cannot apply a cure.
DOCTOR LAWERT has for a long series of years been engaged
in an extensive practice in the treatment of these delicate com-
plaint+, and is the only legally qualified Physician who, regardless
of the taunts and envy of the hypocritical and mock-modest, has had
the confidence, through the medium of the public press, to direct
attention to these enormous evils, from which no grade of society is
free. Ill.seleting thi • department of practice, he has been amply
ra=• arded by the art at success that has attended his efforts in the
treatment of these cases, which are too generally confided to the
care of unqualified and ignorant empirics, who, with their pirated
publications, assumed foreign names and titles, and pretended virines
of their patent nostrums, have inflicted serious injury on those who
have been induced to place faith in their pretensions.
At home for consultation daily from Eleven till Two, and from
Six till Eight. All letters must contain the fee of 11., and advice and
medicines can he forwarded to any initials or address.
It is desira^le that patients wishing to consult Dr. L'AMERT
should first obtain a copy of his work on
S L F-PRESKUVATION.
A Medical Treatise on the Pi ilosophy of Marriage, and Nervous and
Generative De ility, illustrative by fifty coloured engravings, and des-
cribing in detail the various disorders resulting iron secret habits and
excesses. The perusal of this treatise will assist them in the correct
description of their cases, and it may be had, price 2s 6d, in English,
French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, or German, of Messrs. Piper
Brothers and Co., 23, Paternoster-row; Hannay, 63, Oxford-street;
Xll ann, 39, Cornhill ; Storie, Titchborne-street, Haymarket ; or free
by pus for forty-two stamps, to any address from the Author's resi-
dence, 37, Bedford-square, London.

The coroner directed the witness to. retire, and then
ordered Davis, the summoning officer, to bring up the
accused, and a number of men, similarly attired, with
him, to ascertain if he could be identified. A group of
14 labouring men, nearly all attired in flannel or corduroy
jackets and fustain trousers, like those worn by Mackett,
were here introduced, and the accused was brought up
and placed in the midst of them. The witness Wilson
was then recalled, and asked by the coroner if he could see
any person in the room he believed to be the man he met
at the top of the passage on the night in question. He
looked round the room for a moment, and then went up
to Mackett, and, placing his• hand on the accused's
shoulder, said, "This is the man." The directness with
which the prisoner was thus singled out caused great
sensation, and the accused turned pale and held down
his head.
The Coroner—Why do you believe that is the man ?
Witness—Because I saw him last Tuesday week at the
police court, and he was dressed like the man I saw on the
night the body was found. The accused was not, when
before the magistrate, placed amongst other men. He
had, when I met him, either a basket or bundle in his
The report published by M. Bineau, the French Mi- hand. The man I have pointed out is that man, to the
nister of Finance, on the present condition of the Trea- best of my belief.
sury and the prospects of the revenue for 1853 admits of
The accused, in answer to the coroner, having stated
being condensed into a very few statements. It appears
that prior to 1852 the accumulated deficits represented that his name was Thomas Mackett, Mr. Wakley read
by the floating debt amounted to 26,070,0001. For over the evidence to him, and remarked that it having
1852 the estimates at first showed a further deficiciency been proved that deceased had been drowned, it now be-
of 4,120,0001., but of this sum credits to the amount of
1,480,000/, will be annulled, while the increase in the came the duty of the jury to ascertain if possible how she
came into the water. Did the accused or his professional
receipts over the figures originally assumed is found to
din
have been 1,520,0001. These amounts together make adviser wish. to ask any question ?
3,000,000/., and hence the actual deficit for that year IVIr.Wil g and Mackett replied in the negative.
will be reduced to 1,120,0001. The improvement The Coroner. said he had promised Lord Palmerston
which has thus occurred in the revenue has arisen
that the accused should be at the police-court by twelve
both from the indirect and direct taxes. The
'clock, so that the proceedings before the coroner
former, it is pointed out, have recovered to o
32,400,0001., and are
magis-
mount in the most prosperous year of the reign of trate. He thought it desirable, therefore, that any evi-
now within 680,0001. of their should not interfere with the duties of the
Louis Philippe (1846), while if,
allowance is made for dente which appeared to affect the accused should be at
80,0001. Adding the deficit of 1852 to thatNvhich hady
the balance of taxes since taken off they exceed it b
previously Henry Timpson said he resided at the Victoria
accumulated, together with 3,120,000/ f • Mr' reimbursements to dissentient holders during the recent.l3l Tavern, IVlornington-road. He knew deceased by seeing
M. Bineau then proceeds to State that, owing to the
conversion of the Five per Cents. the the total is 30.300 0001. her about the neighbourhood. He last saw her alive on
once taken.
large amounts constantly receivable by ie Tr
which the Government allow interest, this Ositio in front of the bar. The barwoman
Man was with her
the savings banks and public establishments, and
for the night of Monday week, about half-past ten, and a
the floating debt is not too heavy. It is copmpos dn at about ton minutes, and they both appeared sober.
present of about 7,600,0001. due to savings bank eb
oonf served them with a quariern of gin. They remained
6,280,000/. due to the various comwines ands' a
advances
s
establishments, about 4,800,000/. of Treasury b • e
circulation, and of other items such as thee
its a 'Witness—Yes,
public
The. Coroner—Should
thati youhim know
(pointingthe Intoatnheagaaicncu?sed.)
(Great sensation.) Ido .not recollect seeing him before
from the Receivers - General, stc., re that night. The time it would occupy to walk from the
being 27,600,000/. As a set-off the Treasury Victoria to the Regalia would take about three minutes.
possesses about 3,640,0001. in the obligations of railway Had no doubt he had pointed out
whatever the person
companies, which will mature at various periods in fu-
was the man with deceased on the night in question.
ture years. With regard to 1853, and the possibility of was the man with deceased on the night in question.
establishing an equilibrium, the Minister observes that Mackett declined to put any question to the witness,
its expenditure, as fixed in July last, showed an esti- and was here removed.
mated excess over revenue of 1,360,0001., which has since Charles Perceval, police-constable S 166, having been
been increased by supplementary credits to 2,100,000/. sworn, to having deposed taken the body of a woman out
He contends, however, that the probable receipts were the of
placed too low, since the proceeds of the indirect taxes canal, near the Regalia public-house, shortly after
were calculated at 260,0001. less than in 1852, whereas 11 o'clock on the evening of Monday week. The body
he hopes they will show a progressive and considerable I was got out by means of a rope. He was called to the
increase. At present the receipts only for the month of spot by a man named Adams, who said he was going to
January are know ; but these have exceeded the corres- the .York and Albany for the drags.
ponding month of last year by 340,000!. At the same! the spot Upon arriving on
witness found the witness Wilson, Wolfe the
time he admits that a similar increase in the remainirg landlord, and
months is not to be expected, since Jannuary, 1852, was several other persons. Previous to Adams
a peculiarly unfavourabie period, the re-establishment calling o his attention to what had occurred, he perceived
of confidence not having taken place till February.— , a man pass him hurriedly. Witness was at the time
Times. standing on the footpath, near Park-village East,

FINAACIAL AFFAIRS OF FRANCE.