The Sun.
London, England, 1828-12-30 00:00:00

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dead bodies are procured. They had better be
more cautious ; as the dissecting schools can
seldom be -supplied except by violation of the
existing laws. But, undoubtedly, the least that
can be expected by living society is, that the sub-
jects presented for sale should be carefully exa-
mined, and death from natural causes esta-
blished, before they be accepted, or the person
who presents them be suffered to depart. But
the thing which is of most consequence is, to de-
vise some legal method of supplying the medical
profession with subjects for examination (as the
Seolsman newspaper properly terms it), by legal
means. We have before 'recommended that all
persons who destroy themselves should, by the
Coroner's warrant, be consigned to the surgery,
before they be conveyed to the grave : we think
that such a course would both tend to prevent
suicide, and would afford a small supply. It is
absurd to talk of its heightening the prejudice
against dissection, though we know that this has
Been asserted. Those, however, who thus as-
s'ert, should go further, and inform us then, what ,
will lessen the prejudice, and provide bodies in
4uflicient numbers. It is proper to add as a ge-
neral reflection, that probably all the persons
-.;nticed into the shambles of the monster Burke
and his associates, were either drunk or were
made drunk before they were murdered. Ilow
many such 'victims wotild the streets of London
supply every night I Drunkenness, which sti-
mulates one class of men to the commission of
crime, exposes another to the hazard of having
it perpetrated upon their persons. An intelli
gent and humane Legislature, which would sup-
ply the means of attai!ling medical science le-
gally, should cut ow iilegai methods, by abating
AS much as possible the predisposing practice of
idrunketikierss,—in other words, by some tax on
that cheap and ready poison, which is the cause
WAwo-thirds of the crimes committed.—lbid.

The Irish Catholic Association (good, most li
excellent Christians !) had a meeting on Christ-
mas Day, to do some base and filthy business.
Mr. Coppinger (a person who seems to pollsess
more ?tense of propriety and justice than any
of the other Members) talking of the Quixotic
expedition to England, puts the question
whether the funds necessary t 1 defray the
expenses of Mr. O'Connell's cut-ante into
the House of Commons are to come out of
No. 1, or No. 2, of Mr. O'Connell's banking ac-
tount—that is, out of his private account, or the
Catholic Rent account. Mr. O'Connell replies,
out of the funds of the country, meaning the
Rent. The Noblemen and Gentlemen who are
to be his Tail are to defray their own expenses.
The leading members of the Association who
ennot afford to parade at their own cost, are to
be billetted upon the Rent. This does not'
satisfy Mr. Cuppinger, who laments, and very
properly, that some fifteen or twenty thousand
pounds of the money wrung from the poor are
to be squandered for such an object. It is really
disgusting to see the heartless indifference of these
Agitators, who know, or ought to know, that
every shilling se laid out is laid out for an object
which cannot be accomplishe,ll.—Morning Post.
We this day give frem the Scotch Papers the
conclusion of the trial of Burke and Macdougal,
which terminated in a verdict of Guilty against
the Conner, and not proven against the latter,
who is thus dismissed with a stain on her cha-
racter—not proven being not an acquittal im-
perting innocence, but only that the guilt is not
satisfactorily established. We confess that we
think the Jury a great deal too scrupulous with
respect to Macdougal, whose participation 'in
the murderous business was but too clearly •
established. It appears that Hare, the accom-
plice, confesses to twelve murders, in which he
had himself a hand, and one of which he knew,
but in which he was not concerned. The Ca-
ledonian Mercury supplies some particulars
which did nct transpire at the trial. Burke was
in general decoy and executioner, as being less
sinister in his appearance than Hare, and the more
powerful of the two. The particulars of the mur-
der of Daft Jamie are given in considerable de-
tail in the paper alluded to. If in one year these
miscreants have sacrificed thirteen individuals,
there is but too much reason for suspecting that
many more have fallen by similar means. The
wretches went about their horrid trade with all the
coolness of men who have long conquered all
the repugnance men entertain naturally for deeds
of blood, and their security seems to have been
disturbed by no apprehension. It actually ap-
pears as if they thought they were following a
fair way of earning their livelihood. We have
heard of soldiers acquiring, in the course of a
long campaign, something like this indifference
to blood, from being constantly engaged in
marauding. The soldier supplies his necessities
as he can, and we do not expect either law or
humanity amidst arms. Uut that in a great city,
possessed of a strong and active police, a whole-
sale trade in murder should have been organized
and carried on so long with success, is a circum-
stance for which few people were prepared. They,
however, who read with attention the evidence
before the Committee of the House of Com-
mons on the subject of the supplies for the ana-
tomical schools, taken last session, can hardly be
surprised at what has taken place. It appears
from that evidence, that the resurrection men arc
the very scum of society, who live by rapine. It
was stated that the high price of bodies held out
a temptation to commit murder, which they
could hardly resist. We observe that the SCOts-
Man observes—

" While we would go far, in so far as the Press is
concerned, Ia making allowances for professional z,-al
both in teachers and students, and for the biinding
effects in a moral sense of rivalry, and a thirtit for
gain ; we must yet avow, and losert, as we tit) so-
lemnly, that fur the future no consideration or motive
will justify any teacher of anatomy, surgery, or me-
dicine, in paying money for a body without knowing
whose it is, and being satisfied that nothing, with a
view to dissection, has been done by any human
being to abridge or destroy life. The profession in
general enjoy that reputation, and are known to be
actuated by such humane and honourable feelings as
to place them far beyond the reach of suspicion ;
but it is manifest that if, after what has happened, a
Teacher or Professor were to give money for a body
without inquiry and proof of natural death, he might
not only be accessory to murder, but, when educa-
tion and cultivation of mind are taken into the ac-
count, would be even worse than the wretch debased
by vice, and corrupted by his money, who should
have perpetrated the deed."
two have great doubts whether the teachers of
anatomy can take effectual precautions in the
way mentioned by the Scotsman. - How easy,
for instance, would it be for the miscreants who
deal in bodies to bury them for a time, to give
them the appearance of having been exhumated.
They can have no other security than the ap-
pearances of the bodies and the accounts of the
Resurrectionists. They are entirely at the merey
of these men, according to Mr. Brooies. That
suspicions flashed across the minds of other
pc-"sans than Anatomical Teachers that bodies
were obtained in an unhallowed way, may be in-
ferred frwa a vial ty entrap a man with a view to

sell his body forming an incident-in a novel
published in 1827, under the title of- " Rich-
mond ; or
.Scenes in the Life of. a Bow-
street Officpr.': .'-.The police officer i sent for
by a parson, Whose house had been robbed
6y persons who effected their purpose 113 gito:na.
" There vas a large antique tomb, the burying-
place of I know not what family of distinction.
After listening attentively, I thought the voices
certainly proceeded from it; and on going nearer, I
saw a very faint show of glimmering through the
keyhole of the door. Here, then, thought I, the
spectre conclave are assembled, whatever their pur-
pose may be.
" I now went close up to the entrance, which was
of large. dimensions ; and, indeed, the whole vault
was capacious enough for all the Capulets.' On
peeping in at the key-hole;throtigh which the light
streamed, I could perccive the three white figures
which had lately, passed me, together with two men
in dark dresses, sitting upon the coffins, in earnest
conversation ; one of the men holding upon his
knees a small lamp, fixed in a horn lantern, the door
of which wasopen probable toafford more light. One
of the men in the dark *dresses, I imagined, upon
close inspection, to be my friend the Sexton, and
the sound of his voice put the matter beyond doubt ;
for I heard him say, in the slang style—
" I fear the trap has nosed us. I tried to
gammon him abOut the ghosts ; thof I don't know
whyfore he kept axing me consarning 'em—l did'nt
like the look on't.' •

" "fhere's only one trap, you say. Are you
sure of that, Sexty ?'
" < Yees, sure as Clint, i'faith 1 Daddy Dumps
went to Lun'on himself for 'un.'

" If that's all, we can take 'em on the sly—
serve .'em with notice to quit—and stow him right,
and away for Windmill-street. Jones will give us
four or five screens for him

We must gammon him on a nose, till we can tip him
a scratch with a chiv on his blow-pipe.
" Can't say to a minute,' replied one of the
spectres. Jones must travel it on the sly now,
since he was so devilishly blown about that boy at
Lun'on. He is at present with one of our number
near Lyndhurst, in the New Forest ; and if you step
thither, the blunt will be forthcoming, l're no doubt.'

" In the meantime the spectre desperadoes in the
tomb were bestirring themselves, in moving some
large skins of liquor which were stowed there, and
which I supposed to be brandy; while the sexton
and the other dark-dressed man proceeded to violate
one of the coffins in the vault, by •breaking up the
lid. The coffin Was new; and from the converea-
don of the ruffians, I understood that it contained
the remains of a young lady, which they unceremo-
niously stuffed into a large sack, with many a coarse
jest, unfit to be repeated. They then proceeded to
carry it off, for purposes which were but too obvious.
Two or three empty sacks were
ready, I supposed, to receive more of the Sexton's
merchandize, and to one of which I was myself des-
tined by the lawless miscreants, if they could sue-
ceed in, their design of decoying and murdering me.
I shuddered at the very thought, but it only gave me
an additional spur to exert myself in defeating them."
This is fiction, no doubt ; but there are inci-
dents in this work that must have been gleaned
from some acquaintance with resurrection men.
They are hardened criminals—men who know.
that they are objects of detestatima—whose lives
are in constant danger, and who must acquire a
ruthless character. We trust that the knowledge
which has accidentally been obtained in Edit►-
burgh of those unhallowed doings, and which is
yet kept secret, will find its way to the public,
and that means will be adopted to secure the
community against this horrible danger. The
criminals of this country do not murder unne-
cessarily ; but they will murder on system for
gain.—Morning Nronicie.

The letter which the Duke of Wellington is
represented to have addressed to Dr. Curtis, a
gentlethan being what the Roman Catholics
please to style an Archbishop and Primate of
all Ireland, excites, as it may well do, a good
deal of observation. By some its genuineness
is denied=but that we see no reason for. By
another it is said that one word has been altered
in the copy, which has materially changed its
meaning—but what that word is cur microsco-
pic eye has not been able to discover. Others
contend that it could nut have found its way into
print without the consent of the noble writer ;
and that therefore, though it professes to be a
private communication from the Premier to his
friend, it was designed, and has beet), in fact,
put forth, as a feeler upon this important ques-
tion. After all; however, we must confess we do
not see in it any of the importance which is en-
deavoured to be attached to it ; for what does
it amount to but an avowal, on the part of the
Duke of Wellington, of his anxiety to see
the Catholic Question set at rest, accompanied
by his despair of that being the case as long as
it is rendered by its advocates and opponents a
source of party zeal and excitement ? Who is
there that can doubt but that these are the sen-
timents of the Duke of Wellington,• as they arc
those of every rational and dispassionate matt in
the kingdom ? Who is there can doubt but
that, had it not been for the reason which still
impedes its success, the question would have
been set at rest long ago ? In one sense the
Duke's letter is of importance, and might be
rendered of incalculable use and value ; viz., by
showing the reasonable part of the Catholic body
the way by which alone their object is ever
likely to be obtained. Whether it will have that
effect remains to be seen. Past experience fur-
nishes us but little hope that it will. The best
and most desirable thing which could hiippen to
the Catholics would be the dissolution of that
focus of agitation, the Popish Parliament.—
Mo 7 fling Herald.

PII RENOLOOY.—Dr. Spurzhcirn, the pupil
and friend of the late Dr. Gall, is now at Toulon, examin-
ing, by permis-,ion of the Govertstnent, the skulls of all the
convict:,.

WRECK OF THE LETITIA.—\Ve have been
favoured with the perusal of a letter from Porto Prays,
island of St. Jago, and another dated the 2id of October
last, from Rio de Janeiro, stating some of the particnlars
of the unfortunate loss of the above ♦essel, and the fate of
the passengers ; and as many of them have friends in this
city, we publish the following particulars :—On the 14th
of August last, the Letitia anchored in the hay of Porto
Prays, to take in water and some fresh provisions; and on
the 19th, although the weather is represented as being
moderate, it appears she drifted on the rocks, and shortly
after bilged and became a wreck. The passengers end
crew were all landed safely, being near the shore—but
►ittle or nothing was saved of the eargo or passengers
luggage. On the 27th, 46 passengers, including the cap-
tain and his family, proceeded in an American ♦eseel to
Rio Janeiro, where they arrived in 39 days, having lost
savers of their number, viz.—McGee and wife, Mr. Ha-
milton, Mr. Lowry, Mr. Cunningham, jun., Mr. Lindsay,
and Mr. Clarke's servant ; the five latter were all young
men, and their deaths are stated to be mainly attributed
to bathing in a tropical climate. We are happy to state,
that Mr. Charles Pentland, although attacked by fryer and
ague, was recovering, and that Mrs. Moriarty, who was
confined on board, with her child (a ton) were doing well.
It will be gra,ifying to the friends of Mr. Moore, of this
city, who, with his f4tnily, were passengers on hoard the
Letitia, to learn that they arrived safely at Rio, where
they again proposed to take shipping, and proceed to their
ultimate destination. Another letter has been since re-
ceived from the British Consul at St. Jago, which states,
that Mr. Edward Roberts, one of tha passengers Who pre-
ferred remaining on that island, waiting fur a passage home,
died of a fever on the 6th of October lo.A.—Dublin
Evening lkfaii.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.