The Sun.
London, England, 1822-08-09 00:00:00

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1822.

LAMENTABLE DEATH of J. INGLIS, Eq.

EAST INDIA DIRECTOR.

A Coroner's Inqiiest was held yesterday on the
body of the late joux INGLrs, Esq. one of the Directors of
the East India Company; at his own house, No. 27, in Mark-
lane. A Jury of the most respectable merchants in the vicini-
ty was empannelled upon the occasion, and the evidence offer-
ed to them, after\they had viewed the' body of the deceased, was
as follows :

Edward Kendall, who was the first witness examined, said—
"l am servant to the deceased. I saw Miss Inglis, My late
master's sister, come down to breakfast yesterday morning)
about 9 o'clock; she asked me if my master had come down •
I said that he had not, and that I bad not seen his shutters open-
ed as usual. She then told me to wait ten minutes Wore I
brought in the urn ; if he did not.corne in that time, she would
go up to his roam and wake him. In five minutes after this,
in consequencenf what Miss Inglis told me, I went up to my
master's room-4 looked at the bed, but Ldidnot find him
there.. 1 then went to the water-closet, *Melt is on the seine
story, and near the bedroom. I opened the door of the water-
Closet, and found my Master there, leaning back, with his head
rather forward. I then observed from his appearance that lie
was dead. could see nothing particular nettle door. I then
went down stairs with Miss Inglis, when I was questioned as I
am now. A surgeon was sent for, after, what I had seen, and
had come before_l returned up stairs again. The neat time I
saw my master was in his bedroom, and in the presence of the
surgeon. By desire of the surgeon, I went to the water-closet
,to see what could find. I picked up a pistol ; it appeared to
have been recently discharged,- for the coca- was down. I felt
my master's hands, in assisting him some time afterwards, when
he was on the'bed; they were warm ; I did not hear the report
of the pistol ; the other servants did.
Cross-examined by the jury.—The water-closet was shut,
and also three other doors.. I can't say they were bolted ; my
master was not dressed, he had his drawers and morning cap on.
William Draper was the next witness; he deposed as fol-
lows:-1 live in St. Mary Axe, and am a surgeon. I was
Called in yesterday morning about nine o'clock, and found Mr.
Inglis laid on his bed quite dead from-the wound of a pistol
ball. I examined his body, and found the perforation of the
ball in the pit of the stomach, in the ,ventriculis cordis. The
ball had apparently taken a slanting direction upwards towards
!the left side; it penetrated through the body,- and came out be-
tween the 7th and Bth ribs -on the left side of the back. The
parts injured by the direction of the ball would be either the
liver, the stomach, or the left lung. Two out of these three
parts in all probability would be injured by it. The wound of
the stomach would be more dangerous than that of the liver. I
afterwards found the ball myself in the lid of the water-closet.
I did not find the pistol, there. The occasion of Mr. Inglis's
death was, in my opinion, the wound received by the pistol-
shot. I have attended Mr. Inglis for the last three years : he
had received a contusion on.the back and knees within the last
ten days, from which, however, he had completely recovered.
He never complained to me of any head-ache in 'consequence.
His head was not injhred by the fall. The violence and man-
ner with which . Mr. Inglis fell was not likely to cause a con-
cussion in the braia. Mr. Inglis's constitution was in a very •
weak, nervous, and debilitated state at the time of this fall.
Such a weak state of the nervous system almost invariably
leads to a depreasidn of spirits. I had, to a certain degree, ob-
served that depression in Mr. Inglis.
.Mr.,lnglis, a surgeon, corroborated the testimony of the two
former witnesses. He was the first person called in after the
unfortunate event in question. When- the watereloset was
opened, .he found it to be full of snioke and- to sinell very
strongly of gunpowder. He described the nature and effect of
the wound is the same terms as the preceding witness, and said
that the chest of the deceased was scorched, and his shirt much
burnt by thelire'of the pistol.'
Miss Mary Inglis was then sworn, and deposed as follows
I have no hesitation in saying `that Mr. Inglis laboured under
great depression of spirits, particularly for the last seven months.
On Tuesday I went down to Westminster, to see the King go
to Parliament, and I returned about four o'clock in the afters
noon. Mr. Inglis was then walking about the parlour ; he
looked very wildly at me, and appeared to be quite'delirious.
He kept walking up and down the room. I tried to attract his
attention, but I could not. lie took up'a book when I spoke
to him, looked at it, read it for a minute, threw it away, and.
then left the room without speaking. He afterwards came into
dinner, dined with me, and left tne room without addressing
me. I recollect' also that the ringing of the great bell and the
shutting of the door agitated' him violently. When he heard
theme he started from the sofa, and said, he could not stand
it -any longer; people had no compasSion for his feelings :
he must have the gates nailed: up." He was also fretted with
trifling circumstances, Which would ndt have at all . affected
him when his mind was inure vigorous. He shrank away from
any body who came into the .parlour when he was having his
soup, and seemed to be particularly averse to the . presence of
any ladies who came to see me. About three weeks ago he
came into the parlour, and after looking wildly at us all, asked
us if we were well, saying that he himself. had certainly been
poisoned. He Said that he did not know whether it was his
soup or his gruel that-had poisoned him ; but one of them had.
He could have had no sound reason for entertaining any such
idea. Seeing these, circtinistancess, which were very different
from any thing I had ever previously observed in my brother, I
asked him if any thing distiessed him Ile replied that there
was nothing that he was aware of. My brother had a fall about a
fortnight 'ago—l think he has never been wal since.. My
brother has had a bowel' complaint during the greater .part of
his life. It had latterly ceased.; his head was in consequence
affected, and he became more and more nervous. Miss Inglis
then withdrew. • •

The CORONER, in observing upon the evidence, said that
the mere fact of the deceased having been labouring under a
depression of spirits was not of itself sufficient to prove that the
commission of the act was the erect of insanity ; but when it
was coupled with other unusual circumstances, such as irra-
tional suspicions; and so forth, then it became strong proof that
the mind was in a diseased state. in the present case there was
one very peculiar circumstance of that nature—namely, the
suspicion of the deceased that somebody intended to poison
him, for which he had no rational cause, and which could,
therefore, only proceed from the diseased state of his mind.
Frorn'this and the other circuiristan.:es which have been stated
by the witnesses, there could be little doubt as to what state of
mind the deceased was in when he committed the act of self-
destruction. •

Here. one of the jurors stated, that it was the wish of some of
the gentlemen of the jury to have M.r. James fngha examined.
Another juror said, that Mr. Janie& Inglis. Was ready to at-
tend the Jury if they required it, althbugh, if there were no
necessity for it, he would rather iat his feelings were _spared.
One of the Gentlemen alluded to by the former , juror ob-
served that, for himself, his mind was perfectly satisfied; but he
wished Mr. James Inglis to be examined, for the purpose of
shorWing the pliblie that the fullest investigation was had which
the case would admit of. •

Another Gentleman said, that the opinion of the Jury ought
to satisfy the public, on whose behalf they attended there.
After a short discussion on this subject, the Coroner saggested
that as a wish had been intimated by one of the Gentlemen of
the Jury to have Mr. James'lnglis examined, it was as well to
have that Gentleman called in: '
Mr. James Inglis, son'of the deceased, was then introduced
and sworn. I 'have cbme to the same opinion, he said, with the
last witnes`g, from observations which I have made upon the
conduct of my father for some time past, coupled witirhis last
act. On last Monday, in particular, I was sitting with him in
the afternoon, talking about his • business in our usual way,
When, happening in the course of conversation to touch tipon-
particular thing, he suddenly started up, in a way in which I
had never seen hint before, and looked• at me quite wildly. I
have been since convinced, from what afterwards occurred, that
this was a paroxysm. lie had been for a considerable time back'
in a state of great mental depression, particularly since the death
of his last wife ; that event, together with my brother Robert's
going to India, 'preyed very
.much upon
_his spirits, which re-'
mained in a state of great dejection ever
The Jury now expressed their perfect satisfaction, and the
witness withdrew. Having expressed a wish to he alone for
a few moments, the Jury were, left to thenselves, and, upon
our return into the room, they were signing their names to a
verdict of Insanity. The Coroner then told'thern that they
found " that the deceased had come by his death in consequence
of having shot himself with a pistol bullet, while acting under,
the influence of Mental insanity ;" to 'which they assented, and
were discharged. •