The Sun.
London, England, 1828-08-16 00:00:00

REMARKABLE COINCIDENCE.

It has been mentioned, that no allusion was made
by the Counsel on either side, in Corder's case, to
the dream of Maria Martin's mother, importing that
her unhappy daughter's corpse would be found buried
in Corder's barn, and the motive attributed to the
Counsel for their silence was the fear of encouraging
" superstitious" feelings in the lower class of the
people. This is somewhat absurd. If the Coun-
sel for the prosecution supposed that the state-
ment or proof of such a circumstance as• Mrs.
Martin's dream would have helped to esta-
blish the prisoner's guilt, he neglected his busi-
ness by failing to adduce it; if, on the other
hand, the , dream had been such as would have
raised for Corder one particle of scepticism,
or gleam of compassion, in the minds of those
who tried him for his life, the prisoner's Counsel
would have been equally culpable to suppress it.
They cared little about the superstitions of the
people; nor do we imagine that a belief in the pre-
ternatural origin of dreams would in this country
gain a single convert from the most active use that
the most ingenious advocate could have made of the
• above poor woman's prepossession, when it was so
naturally and palpably ascribable to the course of her
waking suspicions.
The statement, however, that such a dream had
occurred to the step-mother of Maria Martin has
led to our receiving from a correspondent of unques-
tionable veracity another history of a sleeping vision,
which we cannot refrain from subjoining. The acting
party in this instance (if a dream can be called an ac-
tion) is now alive—the witnesses to whom he made
known the particulars of it at the time are living,—
the subject matter of the visitation was connected
with, or rather it corresponded with, that of a catas-
trophe at once so memorable and so shocking as to
be still imprinted on the mind of every adult in the
kingdom,— -and the dream itself was no less striking
for the singular conformity of its details to those of
a contemporaneous tragedy which was performed
nearly 300 miles from the person of the dreamer,
than unaccountable to those who fancy they can
theorize upon dreams, by assuming an insight into
the ways of Providence, for its want of every cha-
racteristic of a warning, a remedy, or any other vi-
sible usefulness, so often alleged in explanation of
that faculty :
" In the night of the 11th of May, 1812, Mr.
Williams, of Scorrier-house, near Retinal!, in Corn-
wall, awoke his wife, and, exceedingly agitated, told
her that he had dreamt that he was in the lobby of
the House of Commons, and saw a man shoot, with
a pistol, a gentleman who hed just entered the lobby
who. was said to be the Chancellor; to which Mrs.
Williams naturally replied, that it was only a dream,
and recommended him to be composed and go to
sleep as soon as he could. He did so, but shortly
after he again awoke her, and said that he had a
second time bad the same dream; whereupon she
observed that he had been so much agitated with
his former dream, that she supposed it had dwelt
upon his mind, and begged of him to try to compose
himself and go to sleep, which he did. A third time
the same vision was repeated ; on which, notwith-
standing her entreaties that he would lie quiet and
endeavour to forget it, he arose, then between one
and two o'clock, and dressed himself. At breakfast,
the dreams were the sole subject of conversation, and
in the forenoon Mr. Williams went to Falmouth,
where he related the particulars of them to all of his
acquaintance that he met. On the following day
Mr. Tucker, of Trematon Castle, accompanied by
his wife, a daughter of Mr. Williams, went to Scor-
rier-house, on a visit, and arrived about dusk. Im-
mediately after the first salutations on their entering
the parlour, where were Mr., Mrs., and Miss Wil-
liams, Mr. Williams began to relate to Mr. Tucker
the circumstances of his dreams, anti Mrs. Wil-
liams observed to her daughter, Mrs. Tucker,
laughingly, that her father could not even suffer Mr.
Tucker to be seated before he told him of his noc-
turnal visitation ; on the statement of which Mr.
Tucker observed that it would do very well for a dream
to have the Chancellor in the lobby of the House of
Commons, but that he would not be found there in
reality; and Mr. Tucker then asked what sort of a
man he appeared to be, when Mr. Williams described
him minutely : to which Mr. Tucker replied, " your
description is not at all that of the Chancellor, but
is certainly very exactly that of Mr. Perceval, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer ; and although he has
been to me the greatest enemy I have ever met
with through life, for a supposed cause which had
no foundation in truth (or words to that effect),
I should be exceedingly sorry indeed to hear of his
being assassinated, or of any injury of the kind hap-
pening to him." Mr. Tucker then inquired of Mr.
Williamsrif he had ever seen Mm. Perceval, and was
told that he had never seen, nor had ever even
written to him, either on public or private business ;
in short, that he had never land any thing to do with
him, nor had lie ever been in the lobby of the House
of Commons in his life. At this moment Mr. Wil-
liams and Mr. Tucker still standing, they heard a
horse gallop to the door of the house, and imme-
diately after Mr. Michael Williams, of Trevince (son
of Mr. Williams, of Scorrier) entered the room, and
said that he had gallopped out from Truro (from
which Scorrier is distant seven miles), having seen
a gentleman there, who had come by that evening's
mail from town, who said that he was in the lobby
of the House of Commons on the evening of the
11th, when a man, called Bellingham, had shot Mr.
Perceval; and that as it might occasion some great
Ministerial changes, and might affect Mr. Tucker's
political friends, he had come out as fast as he could
to make him acquainted with it, having heard at
Truro that he had passed through that place in the
afternoon in his way to Scorrier. After the asto-
nishment which this intelligence created had a little
subsided, Mr. Williams described most particularly the
appearance and dress of the man that he saw, in his
dream, fire the pistol, as he had before done of Mr.
Perceval. About six weeks after, Mr. Williams
having business in town, went, accompanied by a
friend, to the House of Commons, where, as has
been already observed, he had never before been.
Immediately that he came to the steps at the en-
trance of the lobby, he said, ' This place is as dis-
tinctly within my recollection, in my dream, as any
room in my house :' and he made the same observa-
tion when he entered the lobby. He then pointed
out the exact spot where Bellingham stood when he
fired, and which Mr. Perceval had reached when he
was struck by the ball, where, arid how he fell.
The dress, both of Mr. Perceval and Bellingham,
agreed with the descriptions given by Mr. Williams,
even to the most minute particular."

It is said the establishment of the Treasury at
the India House will be broken up, and the business will
be transacted at the Bank of England.

Mr. HORNE, the celebrated coach-proprietor,
whose death we mentioned a few days since, may well be
considered to have been the greatest capitalist in his line,
if it be true, as is said, that he possessed upwards ofl,ooo
horses, and more than 100 coaches. Of servants of one
description ur other he must have had nearly as many as
he had horses. Besides which, he was the owner of five
or six of the principal inns in London, and of booking..
offices, and stabling of immense extent, both in and out of
town.--Morning Herald.._{We understand that Messrs.
WAtErtirouste have nearly double the number.)
CONSECRATION OF THE Anciptsuop ov
CANTEREURy.-Yesterdav morning the ceremony of con-
secrating Dr. W. flowx.r.y, on his appointment to the
Archbishopric of Canterbury, was celebrated at Bow
Church, Cheapside. At eleven o'clock the Archbishop of
CANTY:REFRY, attended by the Bishops of LONDON, WIN,
CHESTER, CHESTER, OXFORI), and Ilocitzsrmt, and (lie
different Officers of the Ecclesiastical Court, entered the
church. The Commissioners appointed by his MaJi.sTy
to see the inauguration of Dr. frOv.l.Er to the high office
to which he has been called carried into effect were the
Bishops of WpictrFsTEit, CHESTER, OXFORD, CHICHES-
TER, and ROCHESTER. As soon as the parties who as-
sisted in the ceremony had taken their seats, the usual
oaths were administered to the new Archbishop—viz.,
those of Supremacy, Abjuration, Simony, &c. Prayers
were then read, after which the necessary documents were
signed by the Commissioners, stating that the usual forms-
lit: #s had been carried into full Act.