The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-16 00:00:00

" Graham Biuny, Esq., Trustee, 9, Hart-.street."

The bankrupt, it appears, is not unknown in Edin-
burgh, having received his medical education at the
University there. .He is a good-looting man of proba-
bly4o, and when he first appeared at his examination he
wax cool,
collected, distinct, having all the bearing and
manner of an intelligent man of business. He gradually,
however, lost his easy self-possession, and by the
fourth day the mental rack had evidently begun to
tell severely upon him, he having by this time quite
renounced his previous self-satisfied and complacent
air. IThe subjects of examination on Thursday appeared
very much to take A;;;;;;:" which
gave, ;Le.
,!nniaeCtira'ziii repeated. He frequently exhibited, perhaps
assumed, the appearance of confusion ; sometimes did
not understand, oftener did not remember. His hesita-
tion and ambiguity of answer were particularly seen in
reference to his father's trust account, the loans from
Lord Gough, and the alleged transfers to his private
account, which he admitted, though he denies it in his
lett, r. Twice during Thursday he held private consulta-
tions with his agent and counsel, under whose advice
evidently he withdrew answers that were rather danger-
ous admissions, and also changed his vague "I do not
remember," to the more frank, but equally evasive, " I
decline to answer." The bankrupt has certainly en-
c3untered both an inquisition and a publicity which he
did not expect, and, no doubt, hoped to elude by coming
to Scotland ; and if he has fled it is nothing to be sur-
prised at. The only wonder is that he should have
been so long in making up his mind, if this was his ob-
ject. The examination was adjourned from Thursday
last to Monday, and the bankrupt was certainly in
Edinburgh up to Sunday erening. whether he has
since fled to London, or further, whether he means to
return or has fairly gone off, a day or two will perhaps
clear, up ; but certain it is that he is not to be found at
Edinburgh, and the universal
belief Northumberland-street,
stha t
unless
the
messenger-at-armsbe diligent
and successful he is not likely to be heard of again here.

MURDER AND SUICIDE AT CROYDON.

The case of murder and suicide at Croydon came un•
der the investigation of Mr. Carter, the Surrey coroner,
yesterday afternoon, at Croydon. It appeared from the
evidence that Mr. Wm. Smithers, a clerk in the Bank of
England, resided with his mother and a younger brother
at Thornton-heath, near Croydon. The younger brother,
Mr. Chas. Smithers, was a clerk in the factory of Mr.
Bennett, an engineer, at Deptford,—an appointment
he was about leaving for the purpose, of entering upon a
situation he had been promised in the Bank of England.
On the morning of Thursday last Mrs. Smithers knocked
at the door of Elizabeth Morgan, a servant residing in
the house, and desired her to get up, as she heard Mr.
William moving, and supposed he might be wanting to
go out. It was then a little after 5 o'clock. At that time
he was in Charles's bedroom, which was adjacent to that
of Mrs. Smithers. As soon as she had dressed herself
William calle I on her, and requested her to bring him a
wineglass, as he had got souse medicine for his brother.
On receiving the glass he went back again into Charles's
room. When she prepared breakiastshe went upstairs
to see whether the gentlemen Isere coming down. She
knocked at the door, and receiving no answer, listened,
when she heard one of theta snoring. She west down-
stairs again, thinking she would let them sleep on.
About 9 o'clock a lad brought a letter, which he said was
to be given to Mr. Wm. Smithers at Once, and Elizabeth
Morgan took it up. Not being able to obtain any reply
to repeated knocks, she opened the door, when both the.
young men appeared as though they were lying dead in
bed. Charles was foaming at the mouth. She asked a
young woman residing in the next house to accompany
her upstairs, and upon entering the room they found
that both the young men were dead. Morgan then cx
claimed, " Good God, Anne ! here is a poison bottle and
the wineglass I gave Mr. William this morning." They
were lying on the bed between the two brothers. Morgan
then went into her mistress's bedroom, and found her in a
half
post.
called in, at once decided that the two brothers had died
sitting
s he
was posture,
quite
Mr. Bottonaley, who was
from the effects of prussic acid, and there could be no
doubt that William administered a dose to his brother,
probably in his sleep, and that he then took the poison
himself. It appears that he administered P
Morgan
mother between the hour when she called ler7an to his
and
the time Morgan found her dead in bed. Some explana-
tions were given as to the probable cause for the coni•
mission of this dreadful series of crimes. William Smithets
had been speculating in the city, and had been unsuc-
cessful. to had borrowed 70/, of a friend, which he was
unable to pay ; he had appropriated to his own u,e 201.
which his mother had entrusted to him to pay some
accounts, and from letters which have been found it
seems that he was about assigning some life policies as
security nr his engagements. The mental depression
produced by his unsuccessful speculations drove him to
the use of brandy, of which within the last few weeks be
commonly drank a pint a-day.
The jury deliberated for an hour, when the following
verdict was returned :—That Mary Smithers and Charles

Smithers were wilfully murdered by the administration
of poison by William Holton Smithers, and that William
Holton Smithers afterwards committed self•destruction
while suffering under temporary mental derangement.

SUPPOSED MURDER AT MIDDLETON,
NORFOLK.

Information was received yesterday from the Home-
office to the effect that a stt ict investigation should take
place into the circumstances attending the finding of a
human skeleton, supposed to be the remains of a gentle.
man named Bell, who was missed at Middleton eight
years ago, and has never since been heard of, and who
was supposed to have been foully murdered at that place.
It appears that this Mr. John Bell, at the time of his
disappearance, was living upon his private means, an i
had reached nearly 80 years. He had several relatives
who exerted themselves to the utmost to discover when
and under what circumstances his disappearance took
place. All, however, that could be elicited was that, on
the 13th Nov., 1849, the old gentleman was seen walk
ing near a bridge in the vicinity of a field called, in the
ne:glibourhood, the Four-mile-fitll, on the London-road.
An inquiry was set on foot, and rewards were offered
from time to time till they increased to the sum of 1201.
Even that inducement failed to lead to any satisfactory
result. In addition every river in the neighbourhood for
some miles round was dragged, and every expedient that
the circumstances of the case suggested was adopted.
During these inveztigations a hat was found that was
supposed to belong to, the missing gentleman; and a
canvas purse and a large knife were also found in a drain
mar Middleton. The purse, which was quite empty, was
identified by his niece as the property. of the missing
man. The search continued for some months, but no
further clue of any kind being obtained it gradually
cooled, and eventually ceased altogether. A. few days
ago a human skeleton was accidentally dug up. The
site of the discovery is a small triangular shaped piece of
land adjoining Town-lane, leading from the Norwich
turnpike road. The ground was formerly part of the
property of a Mr. Wythes, who some years ago sold it
to Mr. Richard Chilvers. It remained in his possession
some time, and about 18 months ago he sold it to a
Mr. John Wicks, in whose possession it was at the time
of the discovery. In the course of last week Mr.
Wicks ordered some of his labourers to plough this
field ; and while one of the men (Burton) was digging
down about 15 inches below the surface hie spade came
in contact with some bones. He proceeded to clear the
earth away, and more became visible, until what ap-
peared to be a whale skeleton was exposed to view. The
position in which the skeleton was found was peculiar.
It was lying on the hack, but the head and legs were
raised rather above the trunk, and one leg was ertaised
over the other near the node. It appeared that the body
had been thrust into a hole not sufficiently long to allow
of its lying at full length. Upon or near the chest was
found a piece of corroded steel, incrusted with dirt, and
bearing an exact resemblance to an ordinary razor blade.
In fact, from subsequent investigation there is no doubt
that such is the case. The labourers, being ignorant or
careless, did not attach much importance to the disco-
very, and began to re-cover the bones with soil. The
rumour, however, soon spread, and their master, accom-
panied by the Rev. Canon Kersley, the rector of the
parish, went to the spot and stopped their further pro-
ceedings. The bones were exhumed in the most careful
manner, and decently conveyed to the parish church.
Two medical men, Messrs. Kendall and Coulcher, were
then called in, and made a minute examination of them,
and they gave it as their opinion that it was the skeleton
of a man who bad been buried for some years. The skull
was broken in several pieces, the jaw was fractured ; but
a good set of teeth remained. Supposition immediately
became rife in the neighbourhood that the remains were
those of old Mr. John Bell. or those of,some other man
who had been murdered in a mysterious manner, and
whose body had been hastily interred. Information was
conveyed to Mr. Wilkin, the coroner of the district, who
came down, and in the presence of the medical men
and others viewed the remains. He then summoned a
jury, who have since met, and after a view the coroner
informed them that, as the case was so mysterious, they
could not at present come to any decision, that he
should adjourn the inquiry, and lay the facts of the case
before Sir G. Grey, the Home Secretary, and request the
advice and assistance of the Government upon the sub-
ject. In the meantime the most energetic inquiries
would be made by the police, and he hoped the next
time they met he should to in a position to lay such evi-
dence before them as would enable them to arrive at a
satisfactory solution of this mystery. The jury assented
to this course, and the inquiry was adjourned.