The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-09 00:00:00

FATAL ACCIDENT.

DOVER, OCT. 7.—Last evening an inquest was held at
the Star Inn, before G. T. Thompson, Esq., the Borough
Coroner, on the body of a flyman, named John Denne,
who came by his death under the following circum-
stances :—Thomas Kidner being sworn said—l am a
coachman residing at Deal. On Tuesday afternoon I
drove my coach to Dover, and as it rained very hard I
went into the ostlery belonging to the City of Antwerp
stables. About five o'clock a gentleman, whom I after-
wards ascertained to be Mr. Potter, of Shepherd's-well,
rode up in a gig, and gave George Cook, the under
ostler, a gun, saying he was to keep it till Mr.
Coleman, surgeon, came for it. Mr. Potter did not
say it was loaded, and Cook set it down in a corner
of the room. I remained sitting in the ostlery with
several others till half-past six o'clock, when Mr.
Huntley, the proprietor of the stables, came in and
took the gun up. Samuel Forth, another ostler in the
stables, then stepped up to Mr. Huntley and took the
gun from that gentleman's hands, and began to point it
at different objects; when he said, " look out, old Tom,"
meaning the deceased, " I shall shoot you presently."
Upon this Denne, who was sitting beside me, put his
head behind my shoulder, and said to Forth, " Don't
act the fool, Sam; you know I have a great horror of
fire-arms; you'll shoot some one presently." Forth then
came up, and put the muzzle against my ribs, close to the
head of the decased, and pulled the trigger of the gun
two or three times. He then put the butt end against
me, and afterward presented the muzzle again. Just at
this time a servant of the Rev. Mr. Farbrace, of Ey-
thorne, came in, and warned Forth not to play with the
gun, saying that it might be of bad consequence, even if
it were not loaded. The decaased then got up, and ran
out of the room, when one present said, " Put a percus-
sion cap on, and frighten old Jack." Mr. Huntley im-
mediately went and got a cap, and while he was gone
Forth tried the barrel with the ramrod two separate
times, saying, " I know the gun is not loaded, for I have
tried it before." All present felt perfectly satisfied
the gun was not loaded, from the fact that the ramrod
was even with the muzzle of the gun, and the
ringing noise it made when it, apparently, reached the
bottom of the barrel. We always allow the end of the
ramrod to be about three fingers above the muzzle of
the gun when it is loaded. By this time Mr. Huntley
came back, and gave Forth a cap, and while the latter
was putting it upon the nipple deceased looked in at the
window, which being observed by the company present,
Forth said, "Now, look out, old chap ; I'll frighten you
presently," and immediately went out, while I followed
after. He held the gun close up under his right arm,
with the muzzle pointing a little upwards, till he ar-
rived near where deceased stood, when he pulled the
trigger, and the gun went off Denne immediately fell
to the ground. Forth immediately went to lift him up,
but finding the blood flowing copiously from him he
exclaimed, " Oh God, the gun was loaded, and I hare
indeed killed the man ! What shall Ido ! Do, pray,
kill me ; I'll cut my throat ! " and he was about doing
the fatal deed, when I interfered, and took him away.
The Jury consulted for about half an hour, when they
returned a verdict of Accidental Death, and levying a
deodand of 31. upon the gun. Deceased has left a widow
and three small children to lament their loss.

NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.—The Com-
mittee officially appointed "to take into consideration
ewnti,t,h,
btahvee, raetbulielndgintgh, oeificittheed
suneffiwei
the promotion of the fine. Bali in. this country, in
coofnin,aecrlitiaomn
dence to justify it in adopting and reCernmending that
measures should be taken without delay, to encourage -
the fine arts, by employing them in thede orations
in the new Houses of the Legislature, and which
are now in course of erection. Mr. Barry, the
architect, having been requested to inform the_Conarnittee,
the superficies of the different portions of the buildings
which could be appropriated to painting, and also
the
number of positions or places in which sculpture could
with advantage be placed, has stated those to be as follow
—ln St. Stephen's ball, 3,000 feet; Royal gallery, 2,140;
the Queen's robing-room, 1,168; lower corridors, fronting
the river, 5,072; upper corridors, fronting the river, 5,672;
House of Lords, 1,800; House of Commons,. 1,260 ;
in the corridors from the central 5a100n,1,325; conference
hall, 1,340; in the lobbies of the House of Lords, 1,036;
the lobby of the House of Commons, 1,260; in the Corn_
mittee rooms, 25,350 ; besides numerous other less im-
portant portions of the building.—Total, 49,823 feet. In
Westminster Hall, the superfices capable of being de-
voted to this purpose is 6,160 feet; but Mr. Barry con-
sidered it to be absolutely requisite that the roof of this
buildingshould a
to
admitb ‘o` f
ai ear c
increased
e d "
in t
an t , so
present lantern not being adequate for that purpose. The
paintings to be either in fresco or oil, as in the Houses
of Parliament, and the designs to be taken from the most
prominent features in British history.
BIRMINGHAM AS IT Is.—At a meeting of
the Birmingham Anti-Corn-law Association last week,
Mr. Sansum, house-agent and collector of rents, gave
an appalling picture of the distress in the town. He
said he weekly visited the dwellings of between six and
seven hundred families, and he could declare in the
solemn manner, that anything equal to the
he daily beheld could not be conceived.
'van men applied to him to mark
- "wed, in order t o pre
^f the Court
,

mob.
wretehednesa
During the last week bc •
their furniture for the rent thvy
vent them from being seized by this
of Requests for food. He called at one house for I,—,
And the poor woman said, ‘i Iteo, my dear Sir what
declare I have not had more to buy
can I pay ? Look at these twofooohdildforrent„heill
and
my-
self than 15d. during the last fortnight.'ire (gr.
Sansum) knew not what to do with these poor people.
Within the last six weeks he gate away more motley
than he received.

DEATH OF DR. FRANCIA,
DICTATOR OF PARAGUAY.

Dr. Francia, the author, and up to within the
last few weeks, the inflexible upholder of the non-
intercourse policy of Paraguay, has, by his death,
' removed the only obstacle to free trade upon the river
Parana,and other parts of the rich kingdom of Paraguay.
A Contemporary has already noticed this fact, and laments
that the news of his death had not arrived in England
before Lord Palmerston had lost the power, through the
change of Ministry, to have promoted by comprehensive
schemes, the trade and commerce of thesa now emanci-
pated parts.
This singular man now rests in the quiet and stillness
of the grave, having been tottering on its verge for the
last three years, • Before his time the chief of the South
American republics, who, under the name of Presi-
dents, had more than the power of kings, succeeded
each other with less than the brief sovereignty of
Lord Mayors of London. Francia was the first
who had the skill to fix himself steadfastly in power,
and to retain it against all other men in the State.
Death, however, with a stronger arm, has at last dis-
possessed even him.
Francia's early history is that of a scholar and a gentle-
man. His father, as alleged by himself, was a French-
man, but generally believed to be a Portuguese, who
emigrated first to Brazil, and ultimately settled in
Paraguay. Here he married a Creole, by whom he had
a pretty large family. Jose Gaspar was his heir, and
was born in 1758.
He was originally intended for the church, and
he received the rudiments of his education at one of
the conventual schools of Assumption. Thence lie was
removed to the University of Cordova de Tucuman.
Having no taste, however, for theology, he turned at
college to jurisprudence, and took his degree of Doctor
in the Faculty of Law with great eclat.
Returning to Assumption, which he afterwards left,
he entered his profession, and, as an acute and eloquent
iawyer, he soon stood alone. His fearless integrity
gained him the respect of all parties. He never would
defend an unjust cause, and ever took the part of the
poor and the weak against the rich and the strong.
But his manners were generally, and especially to his
countrymen, distant and haughty ; his studies were in-
cessant, and general society he shunned. He never mar-
ried ; his illicit intrigues were low ; he had no friends ;
he looked with cold contempt on every one around him,
and thus gradually grew into that austerity of habit and
inflexibility of character which so strongly marked his
career in after life.
Francia was cruel, heartlessly cruel. Many years be-
fore he became a public man he quarrelled with his father,
though it is believed-the latter was in the wrong. They
spoke not for years : at length the father was laid on his
death-bed, and desired to be at peace with his son. He
conceived his soul to be endangered by remaining at en-
mity with his first-born. Francia stubbornly refused, and
the old man died raving.
From the Paraguayan bar, Francia, by voice of the
Congress, was raised to the Consulship jointly with
Yegros, a mere legislative simpleton. During this time
he paid particular attention to the military troops of the
city. He then rode about in gloomy silence, attended
by a few of his Quarteleros, and seldom returned the
salutation of those he met. At sunset he came back in

the same taciturn way.
His progress to final supremacy furnishes an amusing,
picture of South American simplicity, managed by a dex-
terous use of means, which is the exact counterpart of
Napoleon's memorable scene in the Chamber of " the
Five Hundred." Francia's joint Consulship with Yegros
had fulfilled its legal time, Anew Congress was now to be

called, and Francia summoned not leis than a thousand
representatives. Not one-half of these legislators could
read or write, but they could make a Dictator, and he
wanted no more. At nine of the morning, on the 3d
October, 1814, the Congress met. The proposal was
made to appoint him to the Dictatorship. This was met
by a counter-proposal to re-appoint him to office, but
with the aid of a Congress to help him under the weight
of power. Francia by no means relished the amendment ;
he was fully prepared to undertake all—for the good of
his country. He sent a strong body of troops
to surround the church as "a guard of honour for
Congress." The Doctor's hint was somewhat plain ;
besides, it now was five hours since they had
tasted a morsel, and dinner waited—patriotism was
severely tried. The glitter of the bayonet and the pangs
of hunger were too strong for the republican stoics of
Paraguay. At this moment a partizan of the Doctor
stood up : " Gentlemen," he exclaimed, " why should we
waste our time here ? The Carai (Lord) Francia wishes
to be absolute ; he ought to be absolute ; and I say,"
striking the tabe with his whole force, "he shall be abso-

lute." Every man arose and saddled his beast, and took
his way to his own home.
Thus become Dictator, Francia grew austere, and ve-
hemently proud. The message beforetime had been, as
delivered to any one by his body-guard, " Suplica el
Senor Consul que se vaya V. a casa del Gobierno."—"The
Consul begs that you will go to the Government House."
Now that he had become Dictator it was "Maeda el
Supremo que pase V. a verlo."—" The Supreme orders
that you go and see him."

Instances of Francia's despotism soon followed. On
occasion of the installation of the Junta in Paraguay,
which superseded the authority of Spain, the question
was agitated by the first citizens whether the Govern-

lent of the country should be carried on in the name of
'erdinand VII. Francia, whose mind was made up that

it should not, entered the hall of deliberation a.t the
warmest period of debate. Walking up to the table, and
taking his place beside several Government functionaries,
he calmly laid a pair of loaded pistols before him, and
said, " These are the arguments which I bring against
the supremacy of Fernando Septimo."
Francia's word was now irrevocable as the laws of
Mede or Persian. Soloaga, a large shipmaster, was or-
dered overnight to select some planks for a Government
job. Soloaga delayed it till the morning. The Dictator
came early, and found the wood not picked out. " Senor
Excellentissimo," began the man in excuse—but Francia

stamped his foot and sternly added—" Leave the Re-
public within four-and-twenty hours"—and in twenty-
four hours Soloaga left wife, children, work, and pro-
perty, and was on his way to Corrientes, never to return.
Another instance :—Carisimo was thrown into prison
and irons, because the gutter in front of his house was a
little out of repair, as the Dictator passed. Old Cari-
simo was corpulent, and the irons he wore pressed into
his flesh. Iris wife besought Francia with tears, as she

reported the fact. " Then, said he, "let him purchase
larger ones for himself "—and his wretched wife had to
order new fetters for her husband, by paying two thou-
sand dollars into Francia's treasury.
Dr. Francia's usual appearance, by one who personally
saw him, was generally in a suit of black, with a large
scarlet capote, or cloak, thrown over his shoulders. He
customarily wore on his shoes large golden buckles, and
at the knees of his breeches the same. His countenance
was dark, and his black eyes very penetrating; while his
jet hair, combed back from a bold forehead, and hanging
in natural ringlets over his shoulders, gave him a digni-

lied and striking air.
In October, 1817, the Dictatorship to which he had
been elected for three years, expired, and he was by the
same means of Congress, though with much less difficulty
than on the former occasion, elected Dictator for life, or

" Dictador Perpetuo."
Francia's learning in later years, was chiefly confined
to the French language—a rare acquisition in Paraguay
—Euclid's Elements, equation, and the mode of handling
a theodolite. But he was most proud to be known as an
algebraist and astronomer. He was, it is true, but a
short way inducted into these sciences, but it was suffi-
cient in Paraguay to verify the Spanish proverb, that
" En-tierra de los ciegos, el tuerto es rey."—" In the land
of the blind, the one-eyed man is King."
An attempt was made on the day of Good Friday,
1820, to assassinate Francia, by some Paraguayan citi-
zens, obnoxious to his Government, but one of the con-

chained
revealed the plot, and his colleagues were
chained and imprisoned.
_ _

The town of Assumption, which was irregular and
very ill-built, was greatly improved by the Doctor in his
later years. He laid it out in spacious squares; the nar-
row streets were made wide, lanes abolished, and the

whole to be so formed as to allow of free ventilation, and
healthy cleanliness :—this work he himself superintended.
The Dictator's cottage was situated in a peaceful val-
ley in Ytapua, built in a most neat and unpretending
style, and surrounded by a beautiful country. Here he
lived in the closest seclusion. His library was a confined
room, with a very small window, and so shaded by the
roof of the corridor, as to make the light as sombre as
it could be rendered. His library itself consisted of
about 300 volumes, the more ponderous of which were
on law. There was neither carpet nor mat on the brick
floor; an earthern jar for water stood in one corner on a
tripod, and his horse-furniture in another.

This man, appointed Dictator, has held it till released
from the pains of supremacy by the great release which
settles all questions of human power. He was it daring,
stern, vigorous being. For nearly thirty years neither
war nor massacre has disturbed the provinces under his
rule, while Buenos Ayres, within its sight, has been the
seat of perpetual revolution, and the vast and noble pro-
vinces of the north depopulated by massacre and faction.
The destruction of M. Bonpland's colony at Cande-
laria., and his imperative and absolute treatment of all
such as came politically in his way are the chief stains
upon his character. Beyond this he was a high and
talented man, and thus it was that Paraguay was ruled.
One strong mind—one bold-headed individual, by an in-
tense application of his powers, changed, radically
changed, the character of the whole community within
a few years. Like the potter he pressed them one and
all to his own shape, and cast them into whatever mould
he chose to take them up.

CANINE FEROCITY.—Mr. G. Eaton, farmer,
of Castle Donington, having had considerable damage
done to some sheep skins, which were left out to dry in
the night, let loose a greyhound for their protection.
The following night, when the offender (a large half-
famished cart dog) made his appearance, the greyhound
pounced upon him, and worried him dead in an instant,
and would have pulled him limb from limb in a few
seconds, had not he been dragged away.—Doncaster
Gazette.

FLOOD IN THE DON.—The rain which fell
during the night of Monday last was extremely heavy,
The river began to rise on the following afternoon with
great rapidity until Wednesday morning; and it was at
one time feared that all the ground skirting each bank of
the stream would be overflown to a considerable extent.
This, however, was not the case, although in some loca-
lities the water covered a large breadth of ground. Since
the time just mentioned the water has gradually subsided.
—Doncaster Gazette.
LONDON AND BRIGHTON RAILWAY.—In
—,eunence of the late accident, the Brighton Railway
determined to discontinue the use of four
• nlace a luggage box immediateb

T7ntil these luggagei)72,3
)3aardhavo .
--vs to, place a se-
wheel eogines, ana ix, .
-,,.11 no one
se-
after the engine and tender, -
are ready orders have been lolled tuv,,,
could class carriage next tfa the flkrille,lll w 0....
oto be allowed W *let „ _
•