The Sun.
London, England, 1836-10-22 00:00:00

SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON.

(From the Medical Gazette.)
The newspapers have already made known th© decease
of the late Sir William Knighton ; and although he had
long abandoned medical practice, we think it incumbent
upon us to'place in our pages some record of one who once be-
longed to our profession, and whose career has been, in
several respects, so remarkable.
Sir William Knighton originally entered the medical
profession as an apprentice to an apothecary at Tavistock ;
and after a residence of a few months in London, returned to

that town to settle a general practitioner. This, however, not
proving agreeable to his taste, or satisfactory to his ambi-
tion, he soon returned to London, and settled as an ac-
coucheur. The College of Physicians having admonished
him for practising as a physician without a degree, he went
to Edinburgh, where he remained two seasons ; and, having
obtained a degree from the Archbishop of Canterbury, was
admitted a licentiate.
From this time he remained in London till 1810, when
he accompanied the Marquis Wellesley to Spain, and re-

turned with him when the mission was at an end. On this
nobleman retiring from office, he asked his late Majesty to
appoint Knighton one of his physicians. Soon after this
he became acquainted with Sir John M'Mahon, by whom
lie was speedily admitted to terms of intimacy, and they
continued on the most confidential footing until the death
of the latter, who made Sir William his executor. Among
the papers which thus came into his possession, were some
relating to certain private affairs of the late King. Instead
of endeavouring to turn this circumstance to any profitable
account, Knighton instantly carried the documents to Carl-
ton-house, and placed them at once, without comment or
condition, in the hands of the rightful owner. From that
hour may be dated his admission to Royal favour. The
Prince Regent, struck at once with the importance of the
benefit, and with ale delicate manner in which it had been
conferred, appointed Knighton to an important office in the
Duchy of Cornwall ; in 1813 raised him to the baronetage ;
and, at a later period, presented him with the grand cross
of the Guelphic Order.
His reputation was now at its zenith, and his business
continued very extensive till the removal of Sir Benjamin
Bloomfield, who had succeeded Sir John M' Mahon in the
office of Private Secretary. On the elevation of this gen-
tleman to the peerage, and his mission to Sweden, Sir
William Knighton, who had previously been a frequent
visitor, now became an inmate at Carlton Palace, was in-
vested with the offices of Private Secretary and Privy
Purse—appointments which he retained till the death of
George IV.
_ _ _

Before his connection with the Court, Sir William
Knighton practised chiefly, though not exclusively, as an
accoucheur. Ha is said to have been extremely cautious of
his reputation—always calling in additional advice whenever
there was any manifest danger ; and succeeded in amassing
a very large fortune, by his original profession. From the
time of his accepting the appointments above mentioned,
he, of course, wholly abandoned practice ; but he still re-
tained an intimacy with several members of the medical
profession, some 'of whom were indebted to him for many
acts of kindness and consideration.
• He had latterly suffered from embarrassment of breath-
'
ng and oppression about the chest, which proved to be
dependent upon enlargement cf the heart, and ended in
dropsical effusion into the right pleura and pericardium,
which proved fatal on Tuesday, the 11th inst., in the 60th
year of his age.
Sir William Knighton was unquestionably a man of ex-
cellent talents ; but he was still more conspicuous for his
fine sagacity and knowledge of the world. His success in
life was remarkable ; but such was at one time his interest
at Court, that it is quite certain he might have commanded
almost anything which the highest influence in the empire
could bestow ; yet he never showed himself either avari-
cious or greedy of honours. lie was scrupulously punc-
tilious in all the observances and etiqucttes of society ;
but, amid the polish which his manners and character re-
ceived from the circumstances into which he was thrown,
he still retained unimpaired the impress of his early
friendships.

The Charge d'Affaires from Spain transacted busi-
ness yesterday at the Admiralty Department.
. . . .

TIIE MOTHER OF NAPOLEON.—In the highly-
interesting " Memoirs of Lucien Buonaparte," the first
part of which is just out, he relates a beautiful trait of his
patriotic mother. On Corsica withdrawing her allegiance
from France, the Buonaparte family, remaining faithful to
the parent country, were compelled to make a hasty retreat
from their enemies to a secret encampment in the forest of
Bastelica. The Prince thus proceeds :—" On the same
day the flames arising in thick columns from the middle of
the town attracted the eyes of our friends. It is your
house that is burning,' said one of them to my mother.
Ah ! never mind,' she replied, we will build it up again
much better. Vive la France!' "
SINGULARLY ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.—The fol-
lowing case of attempted self-destruction has caused con-
siderable excitement in the neighbourhood of IpsWich. Mr.
William Wilson retired early on Monday morning to his
back premises, and discharged the contents of a single-
barrelled gun, loaded with swan-shot, at his own head. It
appears that the muzzle was placed under his chin, but
either from the stock slipping, or that at the moment he
touched the trigger, be jerked his head backwards, the
charge took an oblique direction, and instead of penetrating
the brain, the jaw-bones, the mouth, the tongue, and part
of the nose were frightfully shattered. Having committed
the dreadful act, he quietly walked into his house, and com-
posedly seated himself until the arrival of two surgeons,
who found his pulse perfectly regular. So dreadfully shat-
tered was the lower jaw, that it was deemed necessary to
remove a part of it by a surgical operation. There are no
apprehensions at present entertained of a fatal result ; but
without a lower jaw, a tongue, and a nose, he must remain
a speechless and horrible spectacle to the end of his days.
Nourishment is administered to him by means of a flexible
tube, and he communicates his wishes by writing. A pistol
loaded with slugs was found on his person, which seems as
if he had intended to complete his purpose effectually had
the gun missed fire ; but the failure of his first attempt,
though it had no effect upon his nervous system, evidentli
awakened within him a desire to live. Mr. Wilson was
about to quit his occupation ; and the sale of his farming
stock and furniture, by auction, took place on the same day.
He is a married man, and, we regret to say, has a family of
eight children.—Suffolk Herald.
A duel was fought on Wednesday morning early, in
a field near the eighth-mile stone on the Uxbridge road, be
tween two gentlemen unknown, one of whom was dressed
in a naval uniform, and the other in a loose drab coat. The
parties had travelled to the place of action in London
chaises, one of which took up in Gloucester-place, and the
other in the City. The combatants exchanged their shots,
when the person dressed in the loose coat appeared to have
been wounded, and he was lead to the chaise by two of his
companions, when the postboy drove off the contrary way
for town. The parties first alighted at Wormwood Scrcbs'
to settle their disputes, but they were, it SCOW, apprehen-
, sive of being molested, and travelled on.