The Sun.
London, England, 1847-11-16 00:00:00

TUESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 16, 1847.

EXTRAORDINARY INQUIRY.
Yesterday afternoon, at three o'clock, Mr. T.
Higgs, the coroner for the Duchy of Lancaster, held
an inquiry for the third time, at the Bull Inn, Clap-
ham, into the circumstances attendant upon the death
of Mr. Jonathan Orme, aged 76, a retired draper,
lately residing in Albion-place, Wandsworth-road.
Mr. Joseph Payne, the barrister and deputy City
coroner, appeared for the youngest daughter of the
deceased ; and Mr. Clarkson, with Mr. Vann, solicitor,
represented the widow of the deceased.
In the year 1840 the deceased, who is alleged to
have been possessed of considerable property, lived in
Albion-place, Wandsworth-road ; about this time his
first wife died. A young woman, named Rachel
Rasebrook, was then servant in the family, and con-
tinued in that position until nearly a twelvemonth
elapsed, when the deceased married her, she being
then only 23 years of age. The ceremony took place
at Clapham Church, and the bride was given away by
the sexton. The deceased had several grown up sons
and daughters, who were displeased at such an un-
equal match, and an estrangement arose between the
deceased and his children. He did not remain long
in the Wandsworth-road, but moved from place to
place, and it was but seldom the family heard or saw
anything of him. They were first made acquainted
with deceased's death on the 4th inst., the deceased
having died on the 3.lst ult. Oae of the sons, Aaron
Orme, went on the same evening to 6, St. George's-
place, Brixton-road, and applied to Mrs. Orme to
see the body of his father, but he was informed he
could not do so, except in the presence of the under-
taker, and the result was that he did not see it, until
about an hour before the intended interment, and
then not without considerable obstruction on the part
of the undertaker. When the son did see the body
he was astounded at the appearance it presented, a
mere form of skin and bone, and for some time could
not believe it to be the body of his father. It having
been ascertained that, instead of the body being at
St. George's-place, it was brought, on the morning
of burial, from a village called Stock, near Ingate-
stone, in Essex, viii the Eastern Counties Railway,
coupled with the fact of his wasted appearance, in-
duced Aaron Orme, the eldest son, to communicate
with Mr. M`Gill, the Curate of St. Paul's, who
refused to bury the body, and ordered it to be locked
up in the vault, until information had been given to
the coroner for the district. On Monday, the Bth,
Mr. M‘Donough, the parish surgeon, made an ex-
ternal examination of the body, and found it much
attenuated, with evident signs of neglect. He found
a sloughing wound on the lower part of the spine,
and ulcers on the wrests, apparently caused by cords
or other ligatures. In the afternoon cf the same day
Mr. Higgs opened an inquiry, and after the above
facts hail been elicited, adjourned it, desiring that
Mr. M'Donough should make a post modem exami-
nation of the body.
The inquiry was resumed on Thursday last, and
the proceedings were commenced by Mr. M`Donough
stating the result of the post mortem examination,
which was to the effect, that the general appearances
were healthy. The liver was, however, of greenish
hue, and there was inflammation of the omentum and
peritoneum. There was no perceptible food in the
body. The wounds on the wrists would not have
been produced by scratching ; and no disease existed
that required him to be kept on his hack. There was
nothing upon which he could form a decided opinion
as to the cause of death.

This evidence was followed by that of Mr. J. M.
E.lwards, a surgeon, at Ingatestone, who attended the
deceased on the 17th ult. He was then living with a
poor woman named Rasebrook, at a cottage in Stock,
and appeared to be a pauper. His principal ailment
appeared to be debility, arising from old age. He
did not feel his pulse, or consider it necessary. His
hands were tied in an old stocking, as he under-
stood, to prevent his scratching himself. He ordered
him a composing pill, and nourishing food. On his
third visit he saw a lady, whom he learnt was his
wife. She kissed him, and asked him if he knew her,
and he muttered a name, when the lady said "No ;
Rachel." His wife wished attention to be paid to
him; nature was, however, exhausted, and so much
so, that he could not hare been capable of taking
food for the last twenty-four hours. He died on
the 31st ult., and his death was caused by serum on
the brain.

Two persons lodging in the deceased's house were
examined at great length. The first witness, a Mr.
Bowditch, said he had only been a fortnight in the
house before the deceased was sent into the country.
He was well in health, and believed he went only for
fresh air. He was quite certain that the deceased
was treated with kindness, though he slept in the
back kitchen, and Mrs. Orme slept up. stairs. The
evidence given by the second witness, a tailor, named
Harris, was that be had become acquainted with the
deceased's wife at a dancing academy in York-street,
Lambeth, about eighteen months since, and having
been introduced to deceased, he went to lodge at the
deceased's, and spoke to uniform kindness on the
widow's part. He admitted that he had been out
with Mrs. Orme on many occasions ; sometimes to
balls, and other times to masquerades. Deceased had
told him that he had left all his property to his wife,
and he knew that such was the case, as he had him-
self taken a deed to Mr. Cutler, the solicitor, to raise
money on. He believed the deceased was sent into
the country about the lst of October. Dr. Mempriss
had formerly attended deceased ; he was not consulted
on this occasion.

After some further evidence, and considerable
desultory conversation, the room was cleared, and a
consultation of some duration having taken place,
the public were re-admitted, and it was stated that
the jury had returned the following verdict :—" That
the immediate cause of the death of Jonathan Orme
was an effusion of serum on the brain, and the proxi-
mate cause a continued series of unkind treat-
ment and neglect."

THE LATE ATTEMPT AT MURDER
AT READING.
A jury was empanelled yesterday before Mr.
Mandy, coroner for the borough, on the body of
James Hearsey, who committed suicide on Friday
afternoon, after having attempted . the murder of his
wife. The general circumstances connected with
this melancholy affair appeared in our paper of yes-
terday. In addition, it was stated in evidence by
Mr. Robert Rymell, veterinary surgeon, in whose
employ the deceased had been for upwards of four
years, said that Hearsey for the last two years com-
plained of being giddy in the head, and a few weeks
ago was unable to continue at work in consequence.
He never heard anything about his wife and he not
being able to agree, until about two months since,
Hearsey told him his wife had secreted some money,
and was too fond of a man lodging in the house.
Hearsey was jealous of his wife, and, from inquiries
he had made, thought no such connexion could have
existed between her and the old man as he had !re-
presented. He had spoken to the wife about the
suspicions her husband had, and she assured him that
nothing of the kind had ever occurred. Friday week
Hearsey came to work in the morning, but was
obliged to return home from being giddy, and almost
unable to stand.
Henry Houlton, superintendent of police, stated
that on Saturday morning he went and searched the
deceased's pockets, and found a memorandum-book,
two letters, a small slip of paper with writing upon
it, two sovereigns, and 1/. 13s. 6d. in silver. In the
mememorandum-book the following was written :
"I have lived with my wife fourteen years, and
always thought her to be a virtuous woman, but I
have proved the contrary. I saw her in the fact with
a poor old cripple who is living with us."
One of the letters, which was addressed to Mr.
Cottrell, grocer, London-street, was as follows :
" Reading, Nov. 8.
"Farewell all. My dear friends, remember the
poor boys, look upon them with pitty. Do not frown
on them on my account, for I am drove to an act that
makes me shudder, but I cannot help it. I have
seen sutch things that the world would believe. My
wife deceived me once, and I forgave her. She then
did it again with a poor cripple, whitch I am
ashamed to say must be her own fault. If the world
does not believe it, God knows all things. Remember
me to all my sisters and my brothers. Remember
me to all my old shopmates—but, above all, to my
poor dear mother. Tell her to weep not for me.
Farewell, my dear boys—be good—serve God—and
love one another; and may God bless you all. Good
by—good by.

"Pity this poor miserable wretch,
" JAMES HEARSE
"Mr. Cottrell, London-street, Reading." Y.
The second letter was addressed to his mother,
Mrs. Neale, St. Mary's, Botts :

" Reading, Nov. 8.
"My dear Mother—Sorry am I to inform you that
I cannot abide the life I am now living. My wife
have deceived me again. I shall now have no more to
doo with her. Sorry am Ito leave my famrnily, but
I had better do that than worse. I will rite to you
as soon as I get in work. Give my love to my sis-
ters. I don't know which way I shall go, but I shall
leave England. Remember my dear boys. Give
' them good advice, and make them go to church, as
they have always done. My dear mother, grieve not
for me. I will endeavour to do as well as I can.
Don't let any one see this on any account. I cannot
tell you more now, but will when I rite again. It
gives me the horrors to think of it. So no more at
present from your ever loving son,
"JAS. HEARSEY."
On the strip of paper was the following
"My dear James—Keep this money in your
pocket; say nothing to any one. Good by, good by."
Thomas Hodgkin, a fellow-workman was called,
and he deposed to the deceased having complained to
him of the infidelity of his wife, and from the state of
mind in which he then appeared, he believed it true
what he said.

The wife of s witness, who d part
of deceased's house,thi stated that she had frequent op-

portunities of watching Mrs. Hearsey's conduct, and
she never discovered anything that would justify the
supposition of deceased as to an unlawful connexion
having taken place between her and Burgess, the
lodger, who was about seventy years of age. She
believed all that Hearsey said respecting his wife to
be nothing more than the imagination of a diseased
brain.

The CORONER. summed up, observing that there
were two points to consider, first, did the deceased
destroy himself; and if so, did he do it whilst in a
sane state of mind ? The whole of the evidence, in
his opinion, seemed to negative the latter supposition.
After a long consultation, the jury returned the
following verdict :—" That the deceased destroyed
himself whilst in a state of temporary insanity."
The deceased was thirty-seven years of age, and
has left four sons, the eldest of whom is fourteen
years old. The poor woman is still lying in a dan-
gerous state in the hospital, and is unconscious of the
death of her husband.

MONEY-MARKET and CITY NEWS.
CITY, MONDAY EVENING.
TIMES.—The English Funds have to-day under-
gone a decline of more than one per cent. The
first quotation for Consols, both for money and ac-
count, was 84/ to 85, but a false rumour of a large
failure at Leeds (with regard to which we may
mention that the house named is believed to be one
of the soundest in that: part of the country),
coupled with the positive announcement of a like
disaster in London, caused a rapid fall to 84. In-
telligence alleged to have been received of a decline
of 11 per cent. in the French funds, owing to the
discovery of a political conspiracy in Paris, and the
consequent arrest of several individuals, then pro-
duced further heaviness, and at length Consols
touched 83k, the closing price being 831 to Pi. For
the opening, on the 18th of January, the range was
from 851 to 841, at which price they closed buyers.
There was a little more demand for money in the
Stock Exchange, and the rate was 4 per cent. Out
of doors the discount of first class paper can now
readily be effected at '7 peetcent.
The foreign funds, considering the sudden fall in
Consols, were steady to-day, especially Mexican,
which, if anything, showed a slight tendency towards
improvement.
The suspension of Messrs. Trueman and Cook, the
leading brokers in the colonial market, was announced
this morning. The liabilities of the firm are stated
at 350,0001., consisting of their:acceptances, of which,
it is said, 70,0001. may he expected to be provided for
by other parties. Advances upon produce to the
large East India and Mauritius houses which have
lately failed in the metropolis have caused the event,
but, although its probability was much talked of
three or four weeks back, when it would have been
far more serious as regards amount, it was hoped that
by the late reaction the danger of it had been averted.
The non-payment of their liability on a draught of
Gower and Co., for 10,0001., held by the Bank of
England, gave the first intimation of their stoppage,
and in the course of the day the subjoined circular
was issued :
" The long-continued pressure of the times, and
the sacrifice of property at the present depressed
prices which would become necessary for the due ful-
filment of the heavy engagements which have en-
tirely devolved upon us from the failure of so many
of our connexions and friends, have determined us,
for the present, not to make any further payments.
" We regret the temporary inconvenience which
this course will occasion, but we shall lose no time
in laying a statement of our affairs before the parties
interested, and we have no doubt that such statement
will give satisfaction and confidence as to the result.
" We are your obedient servants,
" TR UEMAN AND COOK."
The above reads as if the stoppage had been re-
sorted to, not as an inevitable step, but in order to
avoid " sacrifices" which would otherwisel have been
necessary, and it may therefore be expected to lead
to much remark. It is possible, however, that
Messrs. Trueman and Cook may have seen that the
sacrifices in question would have been such as to
render doubtful the ultimate payment of 20s. in the
pound to all their creditors, in which case there can
obviously be no question as to the propriety of the
course they have adopted. The circular was accom-
panied by the following letter, stating the intention
of the firm to continue their brokerage business,
under an arrangement which will keep it distinct
from the accounts of the suspended estate :
" With reference to the annexed circular, we beg
to inform you that we have been advised not to sus-
pend our brokerage business, being assured that we
may rely on the continued support of our friends, and
that the business itself can be carried on without
altering or being affected by our existing liabilities.
" With this object in view a banking account has
been opened in the names of Mr. Joseph Trueman,
jun., Mr. 11. T. Windsor, and Mr. I. P. Mason (not
a partner in the firm), and every new transaction,
will be kept entirely distinct, while the other
partners will give their undivided exertions towards
the prompt realisation of our estate."
The Caledonia steamer, arrived to-day from Ham.
burgh, has brought nearly 100,0001. in gold ; and the
Ocean steamer, from Rotterdam, about 10,0001.
A meeting of the creditors of Messrs. J. Cohen and
Sons, engaged in the West India trade, whose failure
took place on the sth inst., was held this afternoon.
The statement of accounts showed the debts and lia-
bilities of the firm to be about 42,0001., and the
assets, a considerable item of which consisted of
debts in Jamaica, about 37,0001. The creditors
assembled seemed to be divided into two parties—.
one advocating the liquidation of the estate under
inspection, the other suggesting the desirableness of
allowing Messrs. Cohen to effect a compromise, so
that they might be enabled to proceed eventually
with their business, and endeavour to re-establish
themselves. The majority of persons present bore
testimony to the character of the partners, and ex-
pressed their belief that, whatever was the result of
the arrangement, Messrs. Cohen would, if it ever
lay in their power, pay every one twenty shillings in
the pound. It should be stated that Messrs. Cohen
were in no manner concerned in making the offer of
a compromise, since, on the contrary, they placed
themselves entirely in the hands of their creditors,
to follow the course which might be considered most
advisable for the realisation and distribution of their
remaining property. At last it was agreed that an
adjournment should take place, a committee having
been appointed to investigate the subject in the
meantime, and to report thereon at the next meeting.
Letters from St. Petersburgh, of the sth instant,
quote no alteration in exchange, the price being still
37/d. to 38 1-16 d. Anticipations were entertained
of the speedy approach of winter, but the markets
were without animation. Freights, however, were
firmer, and it was believed that but for this cause
consignments of tallow would have been made to an
increased extent.
The latest report from the Amsterdam Bourse
speaks of a favourable change in the appearance of
Dutch Stock, caused by the better prices received
frone London. Russian and Austrian were also ad-
vancing, and even Portuguese and Spanish had expe-
rienced benefit from the more cheering advices trans-
mitted hence.

It is mentioned in the continental papers, that the
Bank of Prussia, notwititstanding the disastrous re-
sults of the present crisis, continue to discount and
afford accommodation to its customers with a great
display of liberality. It is also asserted that money,
despite the large exportation of treasure from other
. .

cities, appeared' to be abundant at Berlin.
The mercantile accounts from Rio de Janeiro by
the last arrival state, that at that period the demand
for coffee was well maintained, notwithstanding re-
inforcements brought upon the market, and prices
ruled from 265. id. to 30s. 2d., according to the va-
rious descriptions. The stock on hand of the article
was about 30,000 bags, and the exports of the month
of September down to the 20th had already amounted
to 102,000 bags. A few parcels of the new crop of
sugar had been exhibited, and had been taken for
local consumption. Rates, free on board, varied be.,
tween 265. 7d. for white, and 19s. 43. for brown.

Scarcely anything had been done in hides, but still
the dealers held out for their prices. The stock ap-
proached 100,000. During the month freights had
shown a disposition to decline, but, as there were at
the date of these accounts few vessels remaining dis-
engaged, a rise was shortly anticipated. Indeed,
some of the last contracts were at rather higher terms.

REVISION OF TRH METROPOLITAN BUILDINGS ACT.
—A committee, privately nominated by Lord Morpeth,
to consider the more glaring evils of the Buildings Act,
has had several meetings. It consists of Mr. Hosking,
Mr. Poynter, and Mr. Shaw, the official referees ; Mr.
Pownall and Mr. Aitchison, on the part of the district
surveyors; and Mr. Biers and Mr. Piper, on the part of
the builders. It is to be regretted that the public are
not represented,—owners of property, aad the profession
generally, should have had a voice in the recommrnda•
Lions w:Ach will go to his Lordship and he made the
basis, probably, of a legislative measure. We have all
confidence in the gentlemen composing the committee,
but each of them, it must be apparent, has an interest to
servo apart from that of the public. Those who have
suggestions to offer may, with propriety, address the
committee through any member of it.—Builder.
TIIF. Sciroor. OF DESIGN.—The School of Design
at Somerset House has been completely remcdelled. The
general direction, hitherto vested in the Board of Trade,
has been confined to three persons in that office—Mr.
Lefevre, Mr. Porter, and Mr. Nortlicote. The un-
wieldy council of all classes of persons has been sup-
planted by a council of three, consisting of Mr. Rich-
mond, the painter; Sir R. Westmacott, the sculptor ;
and Mr. Ambrose Poynter, the architect. Mr. N 4 ilson,
the late director, has had assigned to him the superin-
tendence of the provincial schools; and two of the late
masters, Masers. Townshend and Horsley, have been ap-
pointed professors in tf:e school. There is to be a thin
professor, but the appointment has not yet been filled tic.
We may add, what we are sorry to hearn,tehrus,t
Stevens and Le Jenne, two of the uncleanst have re-
signed,— Observer.