The Sun.
London, England, 1851-06-04 00:00:00

s qw,

EXTRAORDINARY SUICIDE.
04 Monday evening an inquest-, was held at the
Anglers, Town's-end, Kingston-upon-Thames, before
Mr. W. Carter and a very respectable jury, upon the
body of Mrs. Mary Rebecca Pratt, aged 22, the wife of
Mr. James Pratt, a cheesemonger and butterman, carry-
.
mg on business at No. 2, Angel-terrace, Hammersmith,
who committed suicide on Friday last by throwing her-
self from off a camp-stool into the river Thames, at or
was described as a remarkably hand.
oplpohseitedKecienagsesdton .
been
some marred
ten w e woman,
ekshighly accomplished,
and had only
Mr. W. F. Cooper, solicitor, attended
towatehthe
case on the part of the deceased's husband; and Mr
Nicholson, of the firm of Nicholson and Parker, ap-
peared on behalf of Mr. James Nutt, licensed victualler,
15, Gracechurch-street.
Thomas Jeffries, potman at the Anglers, deposed that
about thirty minutes after one o'clock on Friday -he
heard some boys on the opposite shore cry " over,":
meaning that a- person was in the river, and upon look-
ing he saw the deceased in mid-channel. Ho unmoored
the boat, put off, secured the body, and with assistance
got deceased ashore. She was taken into the Anglers,
where the body was placed in bed. Hot water and fric-
tion were applied—Mr. Mitchell, the surgeon, being in
attendance—but after three-quarters of an hour's exer-
tion all proved useless.
Police-constable Murphy, 176 V, deposed to having
searched the deceased's clothes. He found a German
purse; containing a half-crown piece, and loose in her
pocket a florin, 12s. 4d. in silver, 3fd. in coppers, and
a bunch of keys, also a letter, which was addressed
" Mr. Pratt, 2, Angel-terrace, Hammersmith."
The Coroner, at the suggestion of the jury, read the
letter as follows:
"Kingston, Friday.
" James,—For the last time I address you. May God
forgive you as I do for the wicked accusations you have
brought against me. When I took an oath to you last
night it was quite true, and all I said afterwards a lie,
prompted by the fear of being murdered. May every
wife do her duty as well as I have done, even though she
has a drunken husband. Good bye! I never expect to
meet you again. Your broken-hearted wife,
" MART R. Prtaagr."
Jane Jeans, housemaid in the service of Mr. J. Pratt,
was next called. She deposed that she had been in Mr.
Pratt's service about three weeks before his marriage. She
first heard of deceased's death on Friday afternoon, and
the last time she saw her alive was on Friday morning.
About half-past six o'clock she rang her bell, and witness
found her in her bed-room dressed all but her gown. De-
ceased put on a red silk dress instead of a morning one,
and witness fastened it. Deceased did not say why she did
se. She was not with her more than five minutes, when
she went down stairs, and soon afterwards she heard
her mistress leave the house by the private door. Mr.
Pratt bad gene early to market, and he did not return
till ten o'clock, U hen ho inquired for his wife, and wit-
ness said she had gone oat. He seat after her to the
City and also to Bayswater, but the deceased had been
to neither place. Was not aware of any dispute between
the deceased and her husband 04 the previous night.
They were on good terme, except whe.n,.be had toe much
to drink. ])t ceased appeared in a sound state of mind,
and witness never apprehended she would commit sui-
cide. Deceased went to bed first on Thursday night.
Mr. Pratt was the worse fvr liquor, but deceased made
no complaint. Witness did not know what the words
" wicked accusations" meant. Had not heard Mr. Pratt
accuse his wife of anything wrong. Thought the words
referred to a Mr. Nutt. She believed her master was
jealous of him. Mr. Pratt married his wife from Mr.
Nutt'e. She understood he was her guardian and exe-
cutor.

The solicitor attending for Mr. Nutt here observed it
was highly important that a letter which had been written
by the thceased, and bore the Kingston post-mark of
Friday, and had been received by Mr. Nutt the same
evening, should be publicly read, as it would explain alp
deceased's state of mind.

The letter, of which the following is a copy, was then
read:—

I N e
e have
t te hlne:lht
ew
sameE nhasyahsh im-
proper tat
onlyos.
. 4 m y dear
being
the Ma n
mrd.
oseasenit(
siduod
seduced
allowingeeda Mrs.
dbi Circumstances;yulilmuyti
ut,f—ar. t
h.
elbu:niide
intercourse.amurnsedooelrfd
drew my head back, and held his razor meto by the
eh
at
He then jumped on me, and tried to strangleut et with
his hands. I still persisted in my innocenceald
snob
dreadful crimes; but feeling certain he would murder
me, I owned, although every word I spoke was a lie, that
all was quite true. I hope God will forgive me for
being so wicked, and saying what I knew was not right
of my dear father and Mr. Nutt. I felt so helpless I did
not know what to do; indeed, I am almost out of my
mind, and what I shall do with myself I do not know.
Accept my love, and thanks for the very great kindness
I received from you. I got away from home whilst he
was at market. He left me in bed, and 1 promised I
would remain there, but I could not.. lam at Kingston.
How long I shall stay here I do not know. I write in
such distress of mind I hope you will excuse all errors.
neverlitHtle
With kindest love to yeu both and the dear children, be-
lieve me to remain yours most affectionately,
(Signed) "MARY R. PRATT."
Mr. N
thuattt
heexphradesskendowan wtihseh
(tlosebeeaseedxafroimned;
girl.staed Ile had known her father, who was 6toumthairtrenlyd
idieveceda;sehda,
wasan iancampoarbelewoopthhye
act
td i
m p uprightuted
with respect to himself, he had never acted otherwise
than as a father to the deceased, which his wife, who "„
present, could prove, if required. Deceased was Sigsii
months at his house before she married; he gave her
away. Had seen both her and her husband several
times since, and bad no reason to doubt they were
noturpCcObllseecrtvot
happy.
painful The
he
in summingcou
could
was clear that the husband was •
instru-
ment of his wife's death; she hadin
ndeitmwOre all 0. most.
I t
no way the
window to escape being murdered, neither had she any,
marks of violence on her e
voluntarily, and it
state of mind she was -She had left the hotme
fur the jury to say in what
when she.destroyed herself.
The room was
s cleared, and in a short time the jury
returned a verdict of " -
.1,
A emporary derangement."

VAL -
lIATION OF IRELAND.—A statement,
made in the
nous° of COmMocs, of the progress cal led for
by the
valuation of the counties, towng, &c., or Ireland, informs
us
that 3,295,232 acres of land have been valued at a cost vary-
lug, according to circumstances, from id. to laid. per acre
for country lands, and from Is. 2d. to
Cities. ls. 34d. per acre far

S V N
HERR ERNST'S CO2'CER2. 2443,
The concert of this great violinist on Monday night,
in the Hanover-sqnare Rooms, was crowded almost to t; '-
suffocation. The programme comprised two overtures—
the " Freischatz,' and a MS. composition by Lavenu,
entitled "Anne of Giersteie," which, as well as Men-
delssohn's " Wedding March," were excellently played
by an efficient and numerous orchestra, conducted by
Messrs. Lavenu and Eckert, and led by Mr. Willy.
Ernst himself played Beethoven's grand concerto, with
two new cadences by himself, with masterly splendour
of execution and consummate expression, and gave two
other solos—the rondo " Papageno" and a caprice,
founded on AI Pirata, in which his exquisite skill and
purity of feeling were advantageously developed. The
other instrumental portions of the concert consisted of a
duet by Signors Pistil and the wonderful Bottesini on
the violoncello and contra-basso, which excited the
audience to perfect enthusiasm; and the andante and
finale from hit Own concerto in C minor on the piano-
forte by 3f. Silas, Who is a g-eat and deserved favourite.
The chief vocalist was the Tri,h nightingale, Miss Ca-
the flares, who was in spiondid voice. She sacs the air from the Prop4i'le.
ad-
mirable levling, and the rondo ['mole, from Lit &unapt-
`• Ahl mon tits." with
/of/a with a facile and tast‘ful anoy Oita elicited
rapturous plaudit,. There is a preuliar purity of ex-
ression in the singing of this fazcinating prima dmina,
more worthy ot. admiration than even her astonishing
accuracy and range of execution. Laden with the
laurels of triumph by Italian, French, and English
audiences, we prognosticate that her career in America
will be one of extraordinary success. In taste Ind
c„impa,, yielding to no YuCalist, s!it, is superior
in melodiousness and pathos. 21,1,fiae. Ana z,,,to.mostrr
enem«l in a grand aria f: am the Zaebeviete, her eze-
cutlet, of whi::ti was more astonishing Ulan pleasing; she
eln certainly j rodiute marvellous effects. We were
Marra in
greatly pleased with the fine soprano voice of Madame
two very pretty lialer—"Straussli" and " Die
Nachtigall," by Haas and Alieneff. Mr. Augustus Bra-
ham, in. flandel's " Deeper and deeper still," confirmed
cur favourable impression of his powers, end in several
of his notes recalled his glorious father to our recollec-
tion. Herr Reichert, Miss Browne, and Madlle. Gra-
Mann, also contributed to the evening's treat, which was
one of a rare excellence, albeit the programme contained
a superfluity of pieces, which rendered the concert too
long, the second part not commencing
untiljust 11 o'clock,

<TV,T S. M. g):