The Sun.
London, England, 1840-02-24 00:00:00

DEPOSITION OF MR. MARK MOSS.

ThuN saith iMark Moss, a British subject, born in Lor.
don, before

Van Bszel, Dutch Consul ;
Paiva, late Procurador at Macao ;
Kerr and Leslie, British merchants;
at Macao, this 25th day of August, 1839:
I left Macao, on board the Black Joke, on Friday night
last, the 23d instant, to proceed to Hong Kong; having
got as far as the point of Lantas, anchored there yesterday
evening at five, supped, and went to lie down. About
nine o'clock I heard the crew, which consisted of Lascars,
eight in number, crying out " Wylo 1 Wylo 1" ran to the
skylight and saw three guns fired at us wadded with char-
coal. When I reached the deck I saw three Lascars cut
down, and got a cut on the left aide of the face, on which I
went below, when I heard the Chinese crying out " Ta,
ta," and, on putting my head out of the stern companion,
got a most severe wound on the top of my head. The
Chinese then laid hold of me, and stripped me of my clothes.
and cut my arm in three places as I put it up to save my
head. They then proceeded to plunder and break up the
boat, and, coming down with lights into the cabin, one of
them, seeing I had a ring on my finger, attempted to cut
the finger off, bat I took the ring off and gave it to him;
and another, seeing my watch, took it out of my pocket,
and laying bold of my ear called to a man who came with a
shlrp instrument and cut it off .i-cmg with a Jerre portion o"
the skin on the left side of my head, as you now see, and put
it in my mouth, attempting to push it down my throat. I
was then knocked about on all sides by the Chinamen, and
saw them bring a barrel of gunpowder, with which
they attempted to blow up the boat, but did not succeed.
was rendered senseless from the smoke caused by the ex.
plosion, and was nearly suffocated, when, making a last
effort, I reached the deck and found no one there. I called
out the names of some of the Lascars, and seeing a rope
moving astern, found that the Tindal alone, of the whole
native crew had saved himself by hanging on the rudder
under water. He came up, and gave me somo water, of
which I drank five basins full, and felt refreshed. A short
time after this the Harriet, Capt. Hall, came up, and I
suppose the Chinese, from their leaving the boat so sud-
denly, had seen the vessel.

From Capt. Hall I mat with the kindest treatment ; he
took me on board, dressed my wounds, and, taking charge
of my boat, brought me to Macao this morning, about five
o'clock.

PAIVA.
W. L.

C. K.
S. v. B.

A PEEP BEHIND THE CURTAIN.—From
Oxford, I proceeeed to London, where I became " Secre-
tary of Presentations " to my uncle, the late Earl of
Eldon, and hail an opportunity of cultivating a more
intimate acquaintance with the clergy than [ had even
at Oxford, and of ascertaining snore precisely the grounds
on which the mere secular clergy (for I knew such
before) expect preferment from the State. One had
raised, or assisted in raising, a troop of yeomanry, in the iron
age of William Pitt. Another had voted for Lord Eldon at
Oxford. A third had the audacity to offer Lord Eldon ten per
cent, en the produce of any living to which he might be
pleased to prefer him. I well rerr ember the indignant scorn
with which that high-minded nobleman, and my much-
respected relative, showed me this letter. I respected him—
yea, I loved him—in spite of his bigotry ; and when I left him,
which I did solely for conscience' sake, and because I could not
continue a party any longer to such infamous traffic in souls,
it was to me like cutting off a right hand ; and, if I am rightly
informed, it was not much otherwise to him.—Autobiography
of an Obsolete Churchman, by R. B. Saunderson. Esq.
There seems to be a move in the " State of the
Country" Journals again, judging from the renewed industry
which they are evincing in the fabrication of outrages. Thi
Dublin Evening Packet lately gave an account of " Murders
at Brag" which never took place, and a contradiction of which
was givrn even in the Evening llf 2il immediately after. That
never-endiag slanderer of the country, and of private charac-
ter, too, the Limerick Chronicle, announced, in its number of
the sth inst., amongst other outrages, equally atrocious, that
Mr. Scully, of Kilfeacle, county Tipperary, had been deprived
of his gun a few days before, while out shooting. The Tippe-
rary Free Press of Wednesday has a letter contradicting the
lie in the Chronicle.

Loss OF LIFE BY CARELESSNESS IN THE
Use OF DRUGS AND MEDICINES.—A return has recently
been printed, by order of the House of Commons, of all in-
quests held by the Coroners of England and Wales, during the
years 1837 and 1838, in cases where death was found by ver-
dict of the Jury to be caused by poison. The return is not
so complete
of d
aesatehosulbdypoison
bewished;inlB3
but 7 and
it showslB3B w
that
the
number 543,
namely, 261 females and 282 males. The number poisoned
by opium, or its preparations, was 186. We are anxious, how-
ever, to direct attention to the lamentable fact, that nearly
one-seventh (721 of the cases of death by poison resulted from
the carelessness of mothers and nurses, ignorant of the powerful
effects of substances which are only used by medical men in
slight doses, and with the utmost caution. The return shows,
that the deaths of very young children (most of them at the
breast) from opium or its preparations, were 52; and
from opium or laudanum administered in mistake for
other medicine, 20. Narcotic and anodyne drugs are
scarcely ever administered to infants by experienced
surgeons, without accurately calculating the power of
the patient, and mothers and nurses ought never to administer
medicine of this description, excepting under their direction.
Mr. Browne, the Coroner for Nottingham, states that " a cordial
is given to children to a great extent, and that he has no doubt
whatever that .nany infants are yearly destroyed in that bo-
rough but who. dying eff gradually, never come under his noti,!e
officially." In recording one of the cases on which lie held an
inquest, in which death had been caused by an over-dose of lau-
danum, Mr. Browne says, "There appeared very greatnegligence
on the part of the person who sold the laudanum. He had
not been brought up as a druggist, but had lately taken to the
business, and employ d two young girls to attend his shop, and
sell drugs in his absence. I ascertained personally at the shop,
that ene of them sold twice as much for a penny as the other.
Mr. Frampton, the Coroner for Dorsetshire, suggests that
those who sell poisons should be compelled to register the day
and hour of sale, and the name of the purchaser. The total
deaths by arsenic were 184 ; opium, 42 ; laudanum, 133 ; prus-
sic acid, 27 ; vitriol, 32 ; corrosive sublimate, 12 ; oxalic acid,
19 ; poisons not specified, 14. Working Man's Almanac and
Companion, 1840.

LA
W versus LIBERTY.—At the Sessions a
wretched looking man named Eldridge was summoned to show
eaufm why he should not be committed to gaol as a rogue and
a vagabond. It appeared that Eldridge had for months past
been living with his family—a wife and five children, who
were in a state of starvation—under the hedges on Hampvrorth
Common, without any visible means of subsistence. The
Bench asked Eldridge why he did not go into the Union-hou:e?
He said he did not liko to do so. Ihe relieving ottieer of the
Downlon Union said he had been in the house, but had.left it.
preferring his present mode of living. The Bench told him he
must either go into the poor-house or to gaol. The poor fellow
reluctantly chose the former,— Wiltshire Independent.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF Q UEEN'S BENCH, FEB. 22.
(Sittings at Sisi Prins at Guildhall, before Lord DENMAN

and a Common Jury.)
WEEKS V. SMITH AND OTHERS

Mr. JAMES stated that this was an action brought by the
nlaintiff to recover compensation at the hands of a jury for
an injury which he alleged] he had sustained by reason of
he conduct and negligence of the set vent of the defend-
ants. The plaintiff was a person who sold colours, and fur
that purpose travelled throughout the kingdom with a
horse and cart. On the evening of the 26th October,
about ten o'clock, he was going from London to Chelms-
ford ; his cart was driven by his nephew, a boy of 15 years
of age ; on the road he passed two stage-waggons belonging
to the defendants, one of which was drawn by six horses.
When the cart arrived near the sth mile-stone on the Rom .
ford-road, some part of the harness broke, and the nephew
got out to repair it, and while doing this, and while the
cart was stauding within five feet of the foot-path on the
near side of the road, the waggon drawn by six horses came
up. and the horses went between the cart and the path, and
the fore-wheel of the waggon took the wheel of the cart,
tore it off, and turned the cart into the middle of the road,
in consequence of which the plaintiff, who was riding on
the goods in the cart, was thrown off and his leg fractured
in a very severe manner; he was taken to a beer-house
near at hand, where he had remained until the present time,
and it would be some weeks before he would be enabled to
resume his business. After evidence to this effect had
been called,

Mr. TIIRSIGER addressed the Jury for the defendants,
and urged that the boy Weekes must be under some mig_
take, because he had several witnesses who would prove
that so far from the cart having beer, standing still, the boy
was attempting to pass the waggon, when he ran the cart
against the trace of the first horse in the waggon, and that
the noise occasioned by that circumstance so frightened
the horses that they immediately started off, and ran the
shaft of the 'waggon against the cart; and, therefore, he
contended that the accident was occasioned by the
gence of the nephew of the pla'ntitr, who could not make
the defendants answerable for the injury he had sustained.
The Learned Counsel then called witnesses, who differed
materially from the witnesses called by the plaintiff's
Counsel.

Lord DENMAN briefly summed up, and stated that the
difference in the statements of the witnesses could not
arise from mistake; but he feared they must impute per-
jury to one side or the other.

The Jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages
1201.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, FEB. 22.

MR. PICKWICK-IN RE JAMES WOULDS.

Mr. CooKE said he had to apply in this case for the
appointment of an assignee before the hearing. The
insolvent was the proprietor of some theatres in the
country, and the creditor who made the application W 33
a Mr. William Eleazer Pickwick.
CHIEF COMMIGSIONER—Who

Mr. CooKE (smiling)---Mr. Pickwick, Sir.—(A
laugh ) Mr. Pickwick is a well-known gentleman ; he
is a deputy lieutenant of a county.
The Learned Counsel read an affidavit., in which it
was stated that Mr. Pickwick, with others, was a cre-
ditor for 4821. on a judgment. The insolvent had
theatres at Swansea and Cardiff, and the object of the
application cis to save the property for the creditors,
:nstead of having a farted sale. The insolvent was 'n
Bristol Gaol, and would be heard on the 23d of
March. Mr. Pickwick was the deputy lieutenant of
the county of Somerset, and was, in the opinion of the
party who made the affidavit, a proper person, from his
respectability, to be named assignee.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER said the schedule did not
appear to have bren filed.

Mr. Cooke remarked that Mr. Pickwick's object was
to sell the property to the best advantage. He had an
execution on the property; hut it had been withdrawn
o hen it was found that Woulds had become an insolvent.
The CHIEF CemmisstoNEn. suggested that an under-
taking should be given, that Mr. Pickwick would not
avail himself of his execution, and then he could be ap-
pointed assignee.
Mr. COOKE assented to the suggestion, and Mr. Pick-
wick was appointed assignee.

Some time ago Mr. Samuel Weller appeared in the
Court as a witness

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MARLBORO UGH-STREET.

SINGULAR AFFAIR.--Mr. Brown, a very respectable
gold-lace merchant, in Regent-st:cet, came to this Court
and requested to have advice in the following matter :
A person with whom he had some acquaintance had that
morning come into his shop and insisted upon having "sa•.
tisf.ction" from him. Applicant made every effort short
of force to induce the intruder to leave his shop, but with-
out success. As the individual persist:A in remaining in
the shop, he wished to know what steps he was to take to
get rid of him. Mr. Fitzpatrick, the chief-clerk, said the
applicant might have the assistance of a policeman, who,
if the intruder would not leave when requested, and re-
sisted proper force, might then take him into custody.
Policeman Smith, C 60, accompanied Mr. Brown to
the shall, and found the same individual there, who, on
being asked to quit the place, again said that he would
not, and that any one who attempted to remove him
would be made to repent the action. The policeman
finding remonstrance was in vain closed upon him, and,
after a severe struggle, succeeded in overpowering him
and bringing him to the Court. When placed at the bar
he said his name was Henry Verlander. He was of gentle.
manly appearance, wearing moustachios.
Mr. Brown repeated to Mr. DYER the demand of satis-
faction made upon him by the defendant, and his refusal
to leave the house.

The defendant denied that he had wished Mr. Brown
to give him satisfaction. He had asked Mr. Brown to do
what was right. As for fighting, he was satisfied that Mr.
Brown would not go out with him. as he made his religious
feelings a cloak for his determination not to accept the
challenge.
Mr. Brown hinted to the Magistrate that the defendant's
visit related principally to a young lady, a ward under his
guardianship.
The defendant caught the import of the words, and got
very warm upon the subject. He said the young lady,
Mr. Brown's ward, had been introduced to him as a mar-
ried lady. when he had pod that she was not married.
Mr. DYER asked Mr. Brown if he really believed the
defendant intended him any personal harm ?
Mr. Brown said he sincerely believed the defendant
meant to use personal annoyance towards him.
_ _

The defendant denied ;tny such intention, and depre.
cated the use of the young lady's name, or further allusion
to the matter in the court.

Mr. DYER said he did not wish to hear private affairs;
and called on the defendant to put in bail.

.HATTON-GARDEN.

Frances Binkercomb was charged by Mary Chesterton
with the murder of her own child The witness statr d that
the prisoner, who was kept by a Mr. Lovett, at 31, Graf..
ton-street East, had lately given birth to a child by a
farmer named Robert Gill, and that she k witness), having
missed the child when about six weeks old, charged the
prisoner with its death. when she acknowledged that she
had poisoned it, and had then thrown the body down a
cesspol in Monmouth-street, Seven-dials. On the prisoner
being called on to make any statement she thought fit, she
accused the witness of giving the laudanum to the infant,
and afterwards making away with the body. Here a scene
of the most revolting recrimination took place between the
two women, leaving no doubt of both being concerned in
the murder, and the Magistrate remanded them for a further
examination, ordering that the cesspool should be starched
for the body.