The Sun.
London, England, 1823-12-05 00:00:00

FOR THE SUN

PLTWORTR MARBLE.

Ma. Erwroa—lnanswer to the Questions which
appeared in your Paper, respecting the Petworth
Marble, signed AN ANTIQUARY, I beg leave to
send you the following Geological account of a
natural production of this County, which, I have
no doubt, would he more frequently employed,
either for chimney pieces, or table slabs, &c.
were its beauty and durability more generally
known.
The Sussex, or Petworth marble, employed,
as may be seen in many churches, so early as the
Norman ages of architecture, is a hard compact
limestone cement, in which is thickly imbedded
a vast number of the fresh water thelices, bearing
a strong resemblance to the existing species found
in streams. The colour of the marble varies
somewhat in different blocks, but it is generally,
of a bluish grey, mottled with green and yellow,
the latter of a pale or dirty hue. The shells,
either as black spiral lines, forming various inde-
terminate figures ; or perfect in their form, with
the spirals marked by black lines, and the inte-
rior filled with white cryztallized carbonate of
lime ; sometimes the whole cavity, once occupied
by the shell, is filled by a mass of calcareous
spar ; in either case Otis white sparry substance
forms a contrast not less striking than pleasing,
with the dark ground of the marble itself, which
moreover is susceptible of a high polish.
This substance is found in great abundance,
traversing the county in a N. N. IV. direction,
nearly from one extremity of the county to the
other. I urn acquainted only with that which is
found in the vicinity of Petworth, and principally
at Kridford, about three miles N. E. of this
town, in quarries belonging to the Earl of Egre.
mont. Of this I have seen many very beautiful
slabs, which may be had of almost any dimen-
sions, fit either for chimney pieces, tables, columns,
&c., under the latter form it may be seen in Chi.
chaster Cathedral, wherever its beauty has not
been tastefully effaced by a coat of white or
yellow wash. It has been employed for archi-
tectural purposes in several other Cathedrals, and
in many other churches ; its beauty having been
more duly appreciated by the early architects,
than by those of more modern times.

In the vicinity of Petworth, this marble rests
upon the blue clay, which abounds in Sussex, at
a depth of from 20 to 25 feet, in horizontal
layers, which vary in thickness, and grow more
compact in proportion as their depth encreases.
The slabs are generally from 12 to 22 inches in
thickness. The upper strata, which are of a
coarse texture, and much inferior in point of
hardness, are employed either for the mending
of roads, making of pathways, steps, &c. and
afford a valuable manure, according to Mr.
Young, not inferior to chalk.
The above, Mr. Editor, is all the information
which I have it in my power to communicate,
through the medium of your Paper to your
Correspondent. Of the probable expellee at.'
tending its carriage to London I stn wholly ig-
norant, but by means of the Arun Canal, it would,
no doubt, he sent at a moderate rate. For
particulars upon this head I beg, however, to
refer your Correspondent to Mr. Burgess, mason,
at , Petworth, who has furnished some of the
finest specimen of the marble I have yet seen,
and who would, I have no doubt, readily give
him every possible information upon this subject.
Midhurrt. A. P.

ANormEn-PAn—ii'6iii,.---Tlie—Assize Court
is about to try a, very .singular and atrocious-case.
On Tuesday, the .20th of May, a woman of 80,
usually called Mother Jerome, living, in the Rue
du Faubourg du Route, was assassinated, and
her apartments robbed, of plate and ether, valu-
able articles ; but a sum of 1,200 francs, which
was in a drawer, was missed by the thieves.—
Louis Marie Lecouire, aged 24, a tailor, and his
-mother, the widow Ltecouffe, who lived in the
same house with Mother Jerome, are accused ;
the former of having committed the crime, and
the latter of having excited her son by me-
naces, and abuse of authority, in withholding,
until he agreed to rob Mother Jerome, her consent
to,this marriage, which was at last celebrated,
three days after the perpetration of the above
dreadful offence.—Lecouffe will be. defended by
M. Gechter. Since -he has been detained, he list
constantly exhibited marks of insanity real or si-
mulated. He pretends that all he has confessed
was stated in consequence of the express orders
of his father's ghost which appeared to him in
prison, accompanied by the angel Gabriel. His
answer to the interrogatories are said to be ex-
tremely curious. They contain details of the
conversations he says he has had with the ghost,
who, it seems, like another Hamlet, commanded
him to disclose and punish the crime of his mother.
LecoutTe lately begged the gaoler to stop up the
hole through which the, troublesome apparitioni
enter his room. The affair of the robbers of the
Diligences is to be tried in January.

The Constitutionnel of the 2,5 th ult. 5ay5,.,...
We understand that a. very large flock (magni_
Pique troupeau) of sheep which we have long
wished to have in France, without knowing ex_
actly where to get them, is on the point of being
purchased by Government with a view to improve
the indigenous race. The fleece of the animal is
reported to average about 8 lb, of fine Jong wool.
An expence of this sort is unquestionably a little
more serviceable to a country than: certain other
expellees which hove been, deemed indispensable
to the existence of the present Administration.,
though it would be difficult to she•w that the peo.
Ale's real interests have been :at all consulted by
the measures alluded to.