The Sun.
London, England, 1823-01-01 00:00:00

WIFE SELLING EXTRAORDINARY.

About half-past 12, on Thursday se'nnight, the public were
attracted to Plymouth cattle market, in consequence of notice
which had been previously given, that a man at that time and
place, was to dispose of his Toilit by public sale ! The re-
port which accompanied the notice stated that the lady was
not' only young and handsome, but that she had rode to
town in the morning on hrr own horse, of her own free will
and accord, anti with consent of her husband, who. was to
act the part of auctioneer on the occasion, and that she would,
moreover, in the course of a few days, succeed to 6001.
which her then (and as it still happens, her present) husband
could not touch. The concourse of spectators was immense,
and they were not kept waiting long, the husband and the wife
having appeared in the market-place exactly tat the appointed
time—the latter accompanied by the hostler of the Lord Ex-
mouth Inn, Old Town.

The husband put the article up at once, and asked for bid-
ders—" five shillings" was the first offer, " ten" the next,
" fifteen" the third—and so on, until the hostler aforesaid bade
" three pounds ;" when to the evident disappointment of the
auctioneer, as well as of the Lady, two constables took pos-
session of thegoods, and with them the auctioneer, and carried
them both directly to the Guildhall, where the Chief Magistrate
was then sitting. The parties were placed before the Mayor.
The husband, named Brooks, and who resides at or in the
neighbourhood of Ivy Bridge, on being asked why he bad com-
mitted so illegal an act, as to attempt the sale of his wife in the
way he had been doing ? be very innocently said " they were
both willing, and he did not think there was any harm in doing
it—they had not lived together for a considerable time—they had
been married about two years and a half, and she brought him
s child three weeks after marrian !' which, until after it was
born, he never knew any- thing about ; that the child soon after
died ; that he got a coffin for it, paid the expenses of the fune-
ral, and. put it co/ear-tab/if out of the way, without ever re-
proaching his wife with her conduct ; but all would not do.
She soon deserted him, notwithstanding his kindness, anti went
to live with another man, by whom she had one child since,
and, he was informed, she was again pregnant with another.—
On being asked who had advised or told hint that he could sell
his wife ? he said, many people in the country told him he
could do it ; and that in consequence of her coming to him,
and saying that a person would give him 201., and take her
altbgether off his hands (Jl. in hand and 17/. more. at Christ-
mas), he had had her advertised for sale in Modbury, on three
separate market days, and had come to Plymouth that morn-
ing by her appointment to get the business finished.
The lady, a good looking young woman, stated, that she
and her husband could not agree; and that in consequence, as
,Ite knew of a person who would take hen, and give 201. for the
bargain, she wished to get separated front him, and she had
been told by different persons that the thing could be done; by
public sale in the market-place on a market day.
On being asked the name of the persOn who was to buy her?
she said it was Kane, and that he lived near Plymstock ; she
further said,. he had lisappointed her in not coming forward so
hid as he promised, and that in consequence she had employed
the hostler of the inn where she put up her horse, to r her
if the price did not exceed 201. She said she had left her own
horse by the way on account of its having sore • back, and
burrowed one in lieu of it of a person near Ivy Bridge, with
whom she stated herself to be in habits of intimacy.
After a good deal of consultation, it was determined upon
that the parties should be bound over to answer the charge at
the ensuing Sessions ; but their own mognizances were taken,
neither of them being able to find sureties.

Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH is expected in Edin-
burgh, where he will be present at a public
dinner : it is said he will proceed from thence to
Glasgow, to be installed in his office' of Lord
Rector.
BRIGHTON, DECEMRER 30.—This has been the
coldest day of the present season, as a keen
north-east wind has prevailed—like a two edged
sword, its cut has been resistless, and whether it
reached you from one sharp part of the blade or
the other, the wound and pain were equal. Under
such discouraging circumstances, therefore, it can
in no wise excite surprize, that bright as the
atmosphere has been notwithstanding, that the
comforts of the " home department" should have
been preferred, to the hazardous, though social
intercourse, proffered by the rides and walks.
NORWICH, DEC. 2.s.—The practice of rating
the Clergy to the poor rates, of the parishes from
which their tithes are arising, and growing due,
has since the last Quarter Sessions, become
pretty general. Although there appears no cer-
tain 'aud fixed rule whereby the rate is to be
assessed on the tithes, it seems generally under-
stood, that one-fifth part is acknowledged to be
the portion of the rector, or impropriator. In a
parish in the Deanery of Redenhall, in this Dio-
cese, the Rector, a very judicious and liberal-
Minded man, undertook to new model the rate,
and fixed his own assessment at one-sixth part of
the whole ; when this was presented to the Magis-
trates for allowance, they refused their signatures,
on the gronnd, that the rate had not been signed
by the Churchwardens and Overseer, as the law
in that case required : it now stands over till the
next sitting of the Magistrates, in order to be
signed or rejected by the parishioners, as they
shall judge most proper.

. .
COLONEL FORTUNE.---A Gentleman, so calling
himself, was a sojourner at the Gloucester Arms Hotel for bet..
ter than a twelvemonth :—.he obtained his rank and distinction„'
it is said, by what is called a Colonel of Guides in the American
war, inA memo, under the command oflierd Cornwallis. Ile was'
pensioned by his Lordship ' • his income was rather under 100/.1
per annum. lie lett the Gloucester Hotel for Hurst? a country
village 10 or hi miles hens.', nearly six months ago, in the hope
of improving his health. Ile was naturally of a cheerful dispo.,
sition, and which did not desert hitn in illness, though attended
with a gradual but general decay of the whole system. Finding
his end inevitably approaching, he ordered a coffin, for which he
was measured, and had itfashioned according to his own fancy ; it
consisted of polished planks of elm, without the ornamental
nails, but with the initial letters of his christian and surname
on the lid. The inscription followed—no term of his age was
specified, which was about 75 er 70. This depository for his
remains completed, he carefullLaired a pair of white silk hose,
white overalls or trowsers, a morning gown, and a white
cotton night cap. Those he continued to pay attention to,
that they might be fit for use, he said, when needed. His par-
ticular request was, that when consigned to his "doom's-day
habitation," his arms in his coffin should not have been extend-
ed on each side of him, but placed across the breast. His dis-
solution occurred at Hurst,,about three weeks since. Ile died
without a struggle or apparent pain. i His wishes, as above ex-
pressed, were scrupulously observed.—(Noraing Paper.)
itEMARKAULE teIRCVMSTANCE.—It Will proba-
bly be in the recollection of some of our readers,
that after the great storm which took place on the
morning of the Ist of December last year, it was
stated in one of the Manchester papers, that
crystals orsalt had been found in the windows
of a Gentleman's house in Salford, indicating
that the spray from the sea must have been
driven to that distance inland by the . violence of
the wind. Many persons regarded this state-
ment with incredulity, but the fact has received
complete confirmation from various sources during
the last few days. Amongst others, Mr. Thomas
Blackwell, of Crumpsall, observing the appear-
ance, and, we believe, the taste of the incresia-
tions on his windows, rubbed a sponge over the
glass, and took it to Mr. John Dalton, a very,
eminent chemist in this town (Manchester),, for
the purpose of requesting him to analyze its con-
tents. The presence of salt was immediately
ascertained ; and the same experiment made by
Mr. Dalton, on his own windows in Manchester,
produced the same result.—(Manchester Gym..
dian.)