The Sun.
London, England, 1831-09-19 00:00:00

.MURDER OF A BOY BY HIS FATHER

Tuesday afternoon the inhabitant of Stockbridge and
Comely Bank were thrown into a state of intense alarm
by the tidings of a cruel and savage murder of a boy hay.
ing been discovered. Abont.ttvo o'clock a man dressed
in a fustian jacket, having the appearance of a tradesman '
or labourer, was observed to pass along,the bridge, 'radios
fine boy about nine years of age in his hand. They
proceeded together along the mad which passes to a field
to the westward of Mr. Lawrie's farm-house on the
grounds of Inverleigh, where they were last seen by a girl
ler ling some cows in an adjoining field. In a very short
while thereafter the man was noticed looking steadfastly
into a deep ditch, or farm drain, where he remained for
some minutes ; and he was afterwards observed to wade
through the Water of Leith at the whiny' behind Saxe
Coburg Place, where all further tidings of him were lost.
Within a quarter of an hour after his departure some per-
sons passing along the footpath, which is an ordinary tho-
ronrhfare through the fielda,• discovered the body of the
brad, iyiner at the bottom of the ditch, which at the piece_
creia-ia'..nert abont two feet depth of water, with the face lip-
wards. The body was still warm, but life was extinct.
On being examined, a large wound, about the size of a
shilling, was observed in the centre of the forehead, which
had evidently been made by a blow from a blunt instru •
anent, which separated the integuments, and laid the skull
bare, but without fracturing the bone. In the centre of
the chest, immediately below the sternum,.were about
twenty punctures or wounds ; but although the most of
them were superficial, one penetrated the thoracic cavity
to a considerable depth, and proved fatal.
About half-past eleven o'clock en Tuesday night, the
body was claimed by the mother of the poor child, whose
feelings on the, occasion it is beyond our power to describe.
She having only a fortnight ago lost a daughter by natural
death, in an agony of despair she stated that she bad not
mourned over her, lest the Almighty should think that she
repined at his decrees.
On viewing the body of her hapless son, she burst into
a paroxysm of gi ief, stating she had, seen him leave home
in the forenoon in the company of her wretched husband,
who, horrible to relate, turns out to be the murderer.
The first tidings she learned was from common report
when hurried to the Police-office, where in an agony of
grief she broke forth into the, most bitter lamentations for
her poor and favourite son David, and that she was con-
vinced he must have been killed, but it could not have been
the father who corn alitted the foul deed. She said, however,
that he hail been anything but a good husband, often leaving
her and her infants in a state of destitution for weeks. But
she said he was fond of his " bairns," and seemed horror-
struck at the idea of the father having injured the boy.
"Na, na," said she, "Le liked David o'wer wed to 1140 him."
The miserable father, who is a ship-carpenter,- of the
name of GeergeWaters, was apprehended yesterday morn-
ing about two'-o'clock, in a stair at Stockbridge, where he
had taken a refuge; but the hand of Gud was upon him ;
for owing to an ejaculation made by the poor wretch while
in ,an agony- of horror, it was overheard by Mr. D.
SPEwen, shoemaker, .residing in the stair, who was led
to conclude from it that it must have been uttered by some
one concerned in the transaction. He instantly opened
his door, and called for the assistance of some person in
the street, when two individuals came, whom he requested
to lay hold of the man on the stair. He said, " Hold
him fast, for that is the murderer;" but appalled at this
announcement, they shrunk from the touch and let him
go. At this moment a party of police made their appear-
ance, and instantly secured the unhappy man, anti con-
veyed him to the Head-office, where, upon examination,
be admitted having been the perpetrator of the horrid deed.
He hail not been at home from the Saturday preceding.
but went home on Tuesday forenoon ; his wife was out
when he arrived at his dwelling in Cable Wynd, Leith ;
,lse.J4t it, and met his hapless son at play with some boys.'
Vatiee street, who were amusing themselves-with sand.
They hail a table-fork with them, which the luckless child
took along with him when the father called to him to
follow. They proceeded to town by the Bennington-road,
intending to visit an aunt of the child (the sister of the
murderer), who resided 'in Northumberland-street. They
passed Canonmills, and wandered about till they arrived
in the fatal field. The father had previously asked the
boy to give him the fork to carry, when, on arriving near
the ditch, the hapless and miserable father, without cause
or irritation, hut, as he says, impelled by the devil, struck
the child a heavy hlaw t n the forehead with the butt end
of the folk, and afterwards stabbed him repeatedly in the
breast. The unfortunate victim fell without a groan, and,
in the words of the father, " died like a lamb." His
recollection float that instant forsook him, and, like the
first murderer, he wandered forth in misery and despair,
not knowing where to lay his head. He went into a public
house at Crainond, and pretended to ngage two men to take
a raft to Leith ; but his conversation was so incoherent as
to attract the attention of other persons in the room. He
first asked if they hail seen any remarkable light in Leith,
and on their answering in the negative, he said they soon
would. He was then asked if his raft was aground ? he
answered, No; buiit would soon be, as the tide was going
hack. They then inquired if he had a boat, he said No.
When they asked how he had got ashore, lie answered,
" The best way he could." One of the party then ex-
' atnineit his shoes lay the light of a candle, and found that
they were not wet. This *cretin), roused his indignation ;
and he went to the doer, and was observed to take some-
thing from under a seat outside, which was roiled in a piece
of paper. He then returned to the house, and having en-
rolled the package, said, showing a teree-pronged fork,
with a green handle. " Have you ever seen anything like
that ?" and, at the same moment, made a thrust at the
Person who had examined his shoes. Believing lain to be
insane, the instrument was taken from him.
It would appear, that immediately after perpetrating
this horrid deed, Waters had run off to the weetward,
He art
m a
iies
ecndi, c.,i,at, inti a s
broken
identical
to wtiwt.l,l, spy gentleman at Cratooed,
to drawingslah'aen Idi o a
killed
in this
state it is
his son. The gentleman wrested the fork from him, in
doing i,
possession of the Sheriff.
The conduct of Waters after being committed to his
cell was extravagant. At one time he would be singing
incoherently, at another, praying God to bless some
1)e
but wastin a high state of excitement;
I,i, person
pure Waters was perfectly quiet and cOlezied yesterday, at
dying within
boetihn leg iTit
1,
upwardsn of 100.
He complained that the whisky was
;
three o'clock; and the ste-gaiina having declared his fit-
netts for jedivial esatnination, he was fir ti at purpose taken
to the Sheriff's office.— Caledonian Illereury.

• THE OTAIIEITE PIiPNOMENO.N.—.7.—_I(QTZE-
Buy. who visited the island of Oraheite only A few yeuti
ago, waft the Brat to communicate to the world the sin-
gplar law by
.which the tic e,t this island are regulated,
namely, that the time of high water is precisely at noon
and midnight all the year round. The island of Otaheite
was first discovered by Captain WALLts, in 176'. An
1769 it was visited by the celebrated Coot., accompanied
by Dr. SOLANDE R. and. Jo.lEwz BAN*B. An accurate
survey of the whole island was made by them. It has
filF,,ice been visited by hundreds of navigators from all
quarters Of tire, old and new world, yet none of them
(qeePt 40TZElAti have condescended to notice this won-
dU
phenomenon, .though it is of a nature to attract the
attentionerfl of the most careless observer.

PRIVILEGES OF PEERS,--wLest the dignity
of a Peer should be violated, his person is privileged from
arrest for debt. If a Peer jobs in the Funds (as many of
them .10), or if he get's up bubble companies (as some of
them have done) to dupe crednlons people, and if he in-
volves himself in debt by 'these fraudulent practices, you
cannot imprison him to enforce payment ; neither can yon
make him a bankrupt, and sequestrate his estates. The
property of a Peer, like his person, has a dignify about it,
and must not be violated, A *cotch Peer, though not
one of those vvbn sal in Parliament, being arrested, moved
the Court of Common Pleas to be discharged, as being on-
titled by the Act of Union to all the privileges of a Peer of
Great Britain, and prayed an attaolonent against the bailiff,
when a rule was chanted to show cause. Upon this the
bailiff made an affidavit that when be arrested the said
Lord he was so mean in his apparel, as having a worn-out
suit of clothes, and a dirty shirt on, and only sicteen-
pence in his pocket he could not suppose him to be a Peer
of Great Britain,_ and therefore, through inadvertency, ar-
rested him. The Court discharged the Lord, and made
the bailiff ask pardon.