The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-30 00:00:00

THE MURDER at CHESTERFIELD.

CONFESSION OF PLATTS.
This criminal, since his conviction, has been placed in
the condemned cell of the county gaol, under the ens-
! tody of Mr. Sims, the governor. He was visited by
the Rev. George Pickering, the cgs
_,of the
prison, who urged on the convict the
iety of
1 making a confession of his guilt. On uncle), he
I attended Divine service, and in the after part of the day
1 he wrote to his mother, sister, and brother, previous
1 to which he made an unreserved and full confession
of the murder. lie stated that he was present when it
j was committed, and that he was the principal party
I concerned, altht ugh he did not strike the blow by which
I the unfortunate man, George Collis, was stunned and
rendered insensible. He next proceeded to implicate
Morley as taking an active part, and divulged the name
of a third person, which, as a matter of course, has not
been suffi!red to transpire.
The circumstances he narrated were as follows :
Platts and Collis, the deceased, spent the Sunday after-
noon vridi Morley, Collis was plied with drink and in-
veigled into Platt's shop in the shambles under pretence
or settling the account, and be was then murdered. The
object of Platts and Motley was plunekr, for it was
conjeetins d that as Collis was about to marry Ellen
Bereaford in the West Bars, he had saved a sum of
money fur this purpose, which he carried about
with hire. This young woman gave testimony on
the trial. After the Perpetration of the murder the
body was inutilatr d, and on Mender 'night was de-
posited in a sack by Miley and the convict, and
carried across the market-place to the cesspool, where
it was accidentally discover, a. During the eis3 Platts
had proceeded to the house of Mr. Franks, the land-
lord of the Old Angel, and not many yards distant
from the shambles, and told Mrs. Frank, at the
time the corpse was lying in the shop, that he fully
expected to meet Collis at the Angel, in order to settle
their partnership aceeunts. This statement, made
by Punts on Sunday, would make it appear that after
the blow inflicted on the victim, he was strangled
to prevent the moaning noise, and which noise, it
may be remembered, was sworn to as having been
heard by scrotal persons on passing through the
shambles on the Sunday evening of the murder, and
which attracted the attention of the passers-by. The
convict admitted that he then proceeded to rifle the dead
body of his victim, and divested it of his shoes and part
of the dress. Platts then went into lengthened details
of the part he had sustained in the murder and the cir-
cumstances. After this confession the prisoner appeared
more sociable in his manner, and conversed with the
attendants. He was then, at his request, furnished with
writing materials, and wrote the following letter to his
mother:—

" Derby County Gaol, March 21, 1847.
" My dear Mother, Sister, and Brothers,—With a
trembling, i rite these few lines to you—i hope you will
not fret about your unfortunate son, for i hope we
shall all meet in a better world than this ; i hope
the Lord will forgive us all our sins ; i am shure he
will if we due ask the Lord (jeus) jeues Criced our
Savor dear mother ; i hope you will pray to the
Lord to pardon your sins i am sure he will if you
pray to heaven for pardon my dear sister remember
what i say to you pray to heaven to pardon all your
sins dont delay my dear Brother remember what
say dont delay pray to hevon to pardon all your
sins; bles the Lord fo: it and i hope he will forgive
me for i know we hav all to die therefore i will not
lose no time i have praid nite and day to the Lord
Jeseus our Savor to forgive me all my sins and to blot
out all my old offences my dear mother pleas send word
if you are coming to sec me for I should like to see you
all lam going to rite to my dear friend Mr. llotham
rite to me with speed pleas to show this letter to Mr.
R Hotham and you will oblige your unfortunate son,

JOHN PLATTS."
The above letter was forwarded, at the convict's re-
quest, to Plan's mother, at Chesterfield. At an early
hour on Monday, upon being visited by the chaplain and
governor, his conduct was very indecorous. Shortly
before noon Platts had an interview with several of the
visiting justices, and was then interrogated relative to
the confession which he had made on the preceding day,
and was asked, if the confession was reduced to writing,
he would sign the document ; to the great surprise of
all present the convict contradicted the statement made
on the preceding d iy, and denied that he had any part
in the murder, but implicated other individuals, lie
made another statement to the justices, which was full
of inconsistencies. On Tuesday it was communi-
cated to the convict that the High Sheriff had fixed
Thursday, at neon, April the Ist, for the sentence to ba
carried into effect. On the announcement by Mr. Sims,
the convict turned deadly pale, but evinced no emotion.
During the week the relatives of the convict had an in.
terview, and his mother and sister will take their find
leave on the Tuesday preceding the day of execution.

Rtfeirm.- -Thirty years past, at Bergamo, by ia
singular contrast, the Opera company was very mediocre
and the chorus excellent. Amongst the chorus-singers at this
period there was a young man, very poor, very modest, and
much beloved by his companions. This young man (to aid
his aged mother), added to the functions of a chorus.
singer the more lucrative one of a tailor. One day, having
taken a pair of pantaloons to Nozari, this celebrated singer
looked at him earnestly, and said to him, with kindness,
"It seems to me, my boy, that I have seen you some-
where ?" " That is very rrebable, Sir; you might have
seen me at the theatre, where I sing in the cholusses."
" Have you a good voice ?" "Not particularly, Sir; I
ascend with difficulty to G." "Let us see," said Nozari, at
the same time approaching the piano; "slug the scale."
The chorus-singer obeyed, but, having sung G, he
stopped, quite out of breath. " Sing A—courage ; go on."
" Indeed, Sir, I cannot." " Sing A immediately, I say, un-
fortunate." The A was sung. " Now sing B." " keally,
Sir—" " Sing B, I say, at once, or by my—" " Oh, do
not be angry, Sir, and I will try." GAII C was sung.
"You perceive," said Nozari, with a triumphant voice, "and
now, my boy, I shall only say to you, if you will work, you
will become the first tenor of Italy." Nozari was not de-
ceived. The poor chorus-singer was the renowned tenor
Rebini, who now possesses a calossal fortune.
A few days ago the following massacre was com-
mitted at Nedonchel (Pas de Calais). A father strangled
his two children, one six and the other only four Yeats old,
in order that he might become the uncontrolled possessor of
some little property which they inherited.
OBJECTION TO THE TAKING OF AN OATII.---A tall,
stout man, rather respectably dressed, appeared before Sir
Joshua Wahnsley, on Saturday, to make a charge against
James Welsh, of having stolen a pair of picks, being
utensils used in making roads and excavations. The
prosecutor, on being handed the book, preparatory to
being sworn, s tid,-1 refuse to be sworn ; I cannot con-
scientiously take an oath. Sir Joshua Walmsley—What
are you? Are you a Quaker? Prosecutor—l sometimes
go to the Quakers' meetings. Sir Joshua—What religious
denomination do you belong to? Prosecutor—l believe
in Christ, and nave been told not to take an oath. Sir
Joshua—Who told you ? Prosecutor—The Word of
God. Sir Joshua—Are you a member of the Society
of Friends? Prosecutor—No. Sir Joshua—Are you a
Moravian I' Prosecutor No. Sir Joshua Are you
a— What arc you? Prosecutor declined to answer.
A Voice—He doesn't know what he is. Sir Joshua—ls it
on religious grounds that von object to be sworn? Prose-
cutor—lt is. Sir Joshus—Well, it is very wrong that the
ends of justice should be defeated in this way. I feel that I
have a power to send you to gaol, but I hesitate to act upon
that power. It may be that your repugnance to take an
oath is based upon conscientious scruples, but I certainly
daubt it. lam obliged to discharge a man who, in the face
of the public, is all but proved to have been guilty of
stealing your property, and he must now be let loose upon
society to practise the same deeds with impunity. You see
the result of your refusal. Prosecutor—l do, but I cannot
help it. Sir Joshua—Let the prisoner be discharged.—
Liverpool Mercury.
LIVERPOOL.—DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT OF A CAP-
TAIN.—On Tuesday, Captain F. Brown, of the ship Benares,
appeared in answer to a summons chargiug him with ill-
treating and placing John Duff, a seaman, in irons. From the
complainant's statement it appeared that during the voyage
from Calcutta, fur sonic alleged misconduct, he had been put
in irons and placed in the water closet for ten days, where
there was neither room to lie down, nor, when the door was
closed, scarcely sufficient air to sustain life. During this time
he was fed on bread and water only. From this he was
removed, and fastened down under one of the hatches,
where again he had great difficulty in breathing from-
the insufficiency of air. The defence was, that he had
neglected the captain's orders, was careless and in-'
delent, although at the end of the voyage he had
exerted himself to the utmost. Mr. Rushton said he never
heard a case of greater hardship. For a slight offence the
man was placed in irons, and kept in solitary confinement
for ten days : this in a tropical climate, and in a place where
he could scarcely breathe, and sufficiently close to put an
end to life in twenty-four hours, or to produce a fever. Cap-
tain—We bad no other place to put him. Mr. Rushton—l
do not think I should be doing my duty if I did not make an
example of you, and send you for trial. Had such a thing
occurred in. the army or navy, we should never have heard
the last of it. Let the evidence be taken. The case was ad-
journed, and the captain held to bad. The defendant, who
was held to bail, appeared yesterday, when Mr. Rushton said
that the magistrates had given the matter their serious con-
sideration ; and, while they thought that the punishment
intended to be inflicted was not so great, still they could not
but consider that that kind of punishment in the tropics was
calculated to do serious mischief—it was highly reprehensible
—and there was great doubt whether they should not send
him to trial. They would, however, only inflict a penalty
of 51.—Liverpool Mercury.
On the l 7th the Rhamses, a steamer belonging to
the French Government, entered the port of Leghorn, having
in tow the Tiger, one of the vessels of the Oriental Steam
Navigation Company, of London. The two steamers had
run against each other during the previous night, owing, it
is said, to the neglect in watching of the crew of the Tiger,
and one of the Tiger's wheels was so much broken that she
was obliged to be towed to Leghorn for repairs. Her pas.
sengers took their departure for Naples the 53=0 day, by th,
Ville do Marseilles.
'geMe.t.lePm.an,
FUNERAL or CoLoxkL GORE LANGTON'
(Abridged from the Bath Herald.)—Thursday being the day
Newton Park was the resort of many thousends of persons
appointed for the lying in stattohete
'alt. d
Thdeeeecahsaedmblaevr
in anxiouswhich toh
e eobtainarth
lay Nr-ieenwlaionfs
was hung with black cloth, in the form ;Ile a canopy, from
the centre of which depended a chancier
ground-
glass shades, which, together with six _ chandelier with
flambeaux on either
side of the entrance to the room, cast a sombre gloom over
the whole, presenting a scene at once solemn and imposing. Friday was the day fixed upon for the ig.
interment of thebody,
and long before the hour
start from appointed for the procession to
the house, a vast concourse of persons, the ma-
jority of whore were habited in complimentary ,mourning, assembled to pay their last tribute of respect to the memory
oteflei ertihrea°mdneeice"ed
of the departed estimable gentleman. At about half-past
one o'clock, everything having been arranged 'with the ut-
most regularity, the procession moved from the house. Oa
arriving at the church, which was hung with black cloth,
the comae was met by the Rev. C. Holland, the curate, who
read the appropriate service in a very impressive manner,
during which the body was lowered to its last earthly tene-
ment
in the presence of the deceased Cc,:cnelfe, relatives,
friends, and tenantry only. At the conclusion of the service
the mournful cortege returned.
JAMES SHBEIDAN KNOWLES.—DuIi- the `t few
days a memorial to Lord Sohn ell bag 1.„„, in coarse. a
signature in Leeds, in favouref e pension being aTan"sed to •
Mr. James Sheridan Knowles, es a rewerd for '4l, stmilla
and talent as an author. Ti'.3 memorial 1a..".: fs-..esiset-1 tho
signatures of many of the moat reMictal4 .i)-14,4(tt0 of
the lsorouglt. -.Leeds Mer mortis