The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-18 00:00:00

A QUACK DOCTOR COMMITTED

FOR MANSLAUGHTER.

An inquest was held on Friday on the body of Mrs.
Mary Harris (late of Aston-hall, Shropshire), before Mr.
H. Churton, at Birkenhead, in consequence of the fol-
lowing certificate having been sent to the Coroner :
" We, the undersigned medical officers of Birkenhead,
at the request of Mr. Booth, the constable, have made in-
quiries relative to the death of Mrs. Mary Harris, of
Aston hall, near Worn, and find that the deceased was
attended by a person of the name of Port, an unqualified
practitioner residing at Tranmere' who professes to cure
cancer without the aid of the knife. She died, after the
application of two plasters, under symptoms such as
might be produced by the absorption of arsenic.
" B. VAUGHAN, M.D.

" T. C. FOULKES, Surgeon."

The Coroner issued his warrant for the- disinterment
of the body, which, after some difficulty, was obtained,
and a jury was empannelled on the 4th instant, but ad-
journed to yesterday in order to give time for the neces-
sary inquires and analyses to be made.
The facts in the certificate briefly stated were given
in evidence by Dr. Vaughan and Mr. Foulkes, and
they were clearly of opinion that there were no marks
of internal disease sufficient to cause death, except
such as were the effects of some irritant poison.
The whole of the internal viscera was healthy
with the exception of the lungs, which were slightly
emphysematous. On the right breast there was a large
slough about the size of a breakfast cup, extending
about one inch into the substance of the flesh, and in
this breast was a tumour, not partaking of a malignant
character, about the size of a hazle•nut. (This was the
part treated by Mr. Port for cancer.) The breast, sto-
mach, and its contents, as well as several other portions
of the viscera, were removed, and placed in the hands of
Professor Brett, of the Liverpool School of Medicine, for
the purpose of being analyzed. Both witnesses were
clearly of opinion that death had been caused by some
irritant poison, and that had arsenic been applied to the
breast, it might have been absorbed into the system, and
would have produced the appearances and symptoms
which presented themselves.
Professor Brett stated, that he had made a careful
analysis of the breast, the stomach, its contents, and the
other portions of the viscera which had been delivered
to him. He was, however, unable to detect arsenic in
the internal portions of the body or their contents, but
in the breast he clearly discovered it. This he obtained
by what is termed the silver test, Marsh's test not being
delicate enough. He added, that if arsenic had been
applied externally to the breast of the deceased, it would
be absorbed into the system, affect the stomach, and
produce death, but that the period between the applica-
tion and the death would entirely depend upon the
susceptibility of the patient and other circumstances.
Mr. Port offered to produce a number of persons who
were in attendance, and who, he stated, had been cured
of cancer by the application of the same plasters. He
also offered to produce before the jury, several cancers
which had been extracted by them, but the Coroner de-
cided that such evidence could not be received.

The CORONER, in summing up the case to the jury,
said if they believed the evidence laid before them, it was
their duty to find Mr. Port guilty of manslaughter.
The jury, after half-an-hour's consultation, returned
that verdict, and Mr. Port was forthwith committed,
under the coroner's warrant, to take his trial at the next
Chester assizes.

[We understand the prisoner has amassed consider-
able property in the neighbourhood of Birkenhead by
his practice as a medical man, vast numbers of persons
having placed themselves under his treatment, including
persons of rank and title, and much larger fees having
been paid to hint than would be given to regular and
authorised practitioners. He at once admitted before
the Coroner that he had no diploma as a medical man.]

IRELAND.

EXTRAORDINARY SCENE IN A CHAPEL.

Duaimi, Nov. 13.—The following strange statement
appears in the Tipperary Vindicator: —" CLONMEL, Nov.
10.—On this day the Catholic soldiers belonging to the
4th Royal Dragoons, Artillery, and 90th Light Infantry
at present stationed at Clonmel, were marched under
arms, as usual, to hear mass at the new Chapel, uncl`2r
the command of a young Sub, belonging to the c..'"Oth,
when the Rev. Mr. De Burke, the clergyman officiating,
turned round to announce to the congregation that the
tribute of a nation's gratitude to their liberated martyr
would take place on next Sunday. The moment that the
much-dreaded name of O'Connell was mentioned, up
started the gallant officer and rushed down the gallery,
his long sword knocking against the steps, and which in
his haste was nearly tripping him up, and sending him
down in more haste than he bargained for in the onset.
Arriving in the aisle of the chapel the commander of the
forces beckoned to his troops to leave the chapel, but the
poor fellows were too intent on listening to the eloquent
appeal of the patriot priest to see what their officer was
at. He then ran up to the front of the gallery and or-
dered the men to march. They, of course, obeyed, with
seeming reluctance, when they were ordered to fall in,
and the roll called, it was discovered there were some of
the gallant fellows still in chapel, and a file of men, with
shouldered arms, were ordered in to bring the defaulters
out t.—a mission which was effected after a very short
time. The poor fellows were then marched to their bar-
racks."

MR. O'CONNELL AND THE ARBITRATION

LAWS.

Dumnr, Nov. 14.—The Freeman's Journal contains
the following correspondence :
" Darrynane Abbey, Nov. 10, 1844.
" My dear Gray—There is a subject of the greatest
importance to which I think it is now time to call your
attention. I mean, that of forming tribunals for ar-
bitration in as many places in Ireland as may seem de-
sirable.

" I call your attention particularly to this subject for
two reasons. _ _ _

First, because you are no longer a member of the As-
sociation, and cannot, therefore, be indicted by the noble
pair of friends, Brewster and Smith, for a foul conspi-
racy' to enable the people of Ireland to obtain justice
without any expense.
"Secondly, because no man is better acquainted with
the details for working out efficiently the plan of such
tribunals.

" Will you then, my good friend, join with me in set-
ting the crown lawyers and their prompter at defiance ;
and helping me to bring home cheap justice to all the
Irish people, who are anxious fur (as who is not ?) that
inestimable article ?

" For my part, I have made up my mind, no matter at
what risk, to assist the Irish people in the establishment
of a universal system of arbitration.
" There will be three great advantages derived from
that systam :
" First—lt will enable the Irish to have their cont
versies decided by judges of their own choosing ; and in
whom, therefore, they have confidence.
" Secondly—lt will enable them to have their con-
troversies carried on and terminated without any expense
whatever. _ _ _

" Thirdly—lt will greatly diminish the awful flip-
pancy of oath-taking ; and will, therefore, diminish con-
siderably the horrid crime of perjury.
If I were able, by wasting all the exertions of the
remainder of my life on the subject, to prevent only one
perjury, I would deem my labour most amply rewarded.
Will you then, my excellent friend, assist me ? Will
you, in fact, become my secretary, to carry out my plan
for the working of the arbitration tribunals upon as ex-
tensive a scale as possible ? If you do, and I hare no
doubt that you will, agree to assist me, I do beg of you
to arrange all the materials for such a plan in the in-
terval that will elapse between this and my return to
Dublin.

" Our plan must have no connexion whatsoever with
the Association, so as in any way to involve that body in
our acts. But I trust our plan will not be the less effica-
cious on that account ; as we will, I hope, compensate
by energy and activity, for the loss of the influence which
the Association so legitimately possesses.
" I propose that, immediately upon my arrival in Dub-
lin, we should send a circular to some person, clergyman
or layman, in each locality, requiring to know whether
an arbitration tribunal be requisite or advisable. We
shall then proceLd to procure persons suited to be arbi-
trators and ailing to undertake that most nseful duty.
Of these a sufficient number for each district shall be
named, and in each case, two or more of them will sit, at
stated periods, to hear such cases as shall be submitted to
their award. . _

" The submission in each case must be the voluntary
act of the parties litigant ; without dictation or control
of any other person.
" But I need not enter into further detail. You are
perfectly conversant with the operation and modes of
working out a system of arbitration, as your reports to
the Loyal National Repeal Association abundantly prove.
" We shall keep within the strictest letter of the law.
But, doing so, we shall procure for the people of Ireland
cheap justice, speedy justice, and justice untainted by any
suspicion of partiality or corruption.
" Soliciting your aid, I have the honour to be, your
fellow-martyr and faithful servant,

DANIEL O'CONNELL.
" John Gray, Esq., M.D. proprietor of the
Freeman's Journal."
To the above letter Dr. Gray has returned the follow-
ing answer :

Freeman's Journal Office, Nov. 10.

" My dear Sir—You can command my services as
your secretary in carrying out your proposed plan fur
the establishment of arbitration tribunals.
" Separated, as I unwillingly am, from the Repeal As-
sociation, I rejoice that
„you have assigned me a depart-
ment in which I can again personally labour in the great
work of national regeneration.
" Deeply gratified that anything I hare hitherto done
should be so remembered by you as to have induced you
to think my assistance worth asking fur, I remain, my
dear sir, with the deepest sentiments of respect and at-
tachment, as a friend and an Irishman, faithfully yours,
JOHN GRAY.

" Daniel O'Connell, Esq., M.P."
CONFLICT WITH THE POOR-LAW COMMIS-
SIONERS.

This is becoming a very serious matter. In all direc-
tions the boards of guardians are up in arms against the
commissioners. The provincial journals, received this
day, supply the following details :—The guardians of
the Dallinrobe union met on the 31st tilt., when a com-
mittee %vita appointed to take into consideration the re-
solutions adopted by the Limerick guardians.
THE LIXERICK GUARDIANS AND TUE POOR-LAW
Commisstommxia.—Yesterday a communication was re-
ceived in town from Sir Coleman O'Loghlen, that there
• was every prospect of the Limerick guardians succeeding
against the poor-law commissioners in the Court of
Queen's Bench.—Limerick Rep of yesterday.
• The Tuam guardians are threatened with the ven-
geance of the Queen's Bench by the poor-law Commis-
sioners, for not issninc, warrants to the collectors of the
rate, after having declared a rate in the union.
The perverse conduct of the poor law commissioners
has a tendency to make repealers or federalists of the
f union guardians to Ireland.—Limerick Chronicle.

Captain O'Brien, 72d, has got notice of an action at
law for breach of promise of marriage to Miss Forrest, of
Mitchelstown.

AFFRAY WITH PIRATES ON THE
WEST COAST OF AFRICA.
LOSS OF LIFE.
(From the Devonport Independent.)
We have been favoured with a perusal of a very
interesting letter from her Majesty's brig Alert, 6,
Commander Bosanquet, from which we have made
the following extracts :
" Information having been given by the master of
the Courier, merchant brig, that a party of her crew,
as also of the Margaret, merchant barque, having
landed on the island of Anguini-near Cape Blanco,
lat. 20 47 N., long, 17 2 W., Western Coast of
Africa, fur guano—which had been represented as
being very plentiful there—had been savagely mur-
dered by the natives (a tribe of Arabs) on that part
of the coast, their boats taken away, and that three
pf the crew were still remaining on the island, se-
verely wounded, her Majesty's brig Alert was or-
dered up from the Galinas, to make the necessary
inquiries concerning the fate of the three men. She
arrived off Cape Blanco on the 7th of September,
and proceeded upwards of fifty miles within the
shoals ; but from the shallowness of the water and the
intricacy of the passage—it having never been sur-
veyed, and there oftentimes being no more than 13
feet of water, the brig drawing 121 feet, she could not
get nearer than Cape Salinas. Having reached this
point, the pinnace and two gig 3, manned and armed,
with Captain Bosanquet, Lieut. H. B. Creyke, Mr.
Wilkes, surgeon, Messrs. Parker, purser, and Cooke,
and about thirty men, started on the endeavour to
find out the settlement ; but from the place being so
imperfectly known, after exploring every little bay
alongside, and sounding all round, they returned the
next morning without success. The following morn-
ing the boats again left the ship, manned and
armed as before, and after pulling in another
direction for five or six hours, in the heat of the day,
(themr. 105 in the shade), when suddenly rounding
a headland; came in sight of the island of Anguin,
and observed the island literally covered with
armed men, with six large boats, three apparently
English, on the sands near the town, in a strong posi-
tion, under an old French fort—the island having
formerly been in the hands of the French. Our boats
pulled within a few yards of the beach, but, having
heard of the treachery of these people, it was deemed
prudent, for the present, not to land ; all this time
the natives used every artifice in their power to in-
duce the boats to come on shore. At last Mr.
Parker, in the first gig, was ordered in shore, under
cover of the marines in the pinnace, and had a con-
ference with the chief, who stated that the three men
in question had died of their wounds, but he could get
no further information. The next thing to be
done was to get possession of the merchantmen's
boats taken by the natives, as before stated. About
nine o'clock in the evening, a murmuring noise being
heard on shore in the direction of the boats, sup-
posed to be the hauling them higher on the sand, we
immediately weighed our grapnel and pulled in, just
keeping afloat. Sergeant Symes, of the Marines,
was ordered to fire a musket, to intimidate the na-
tives, but he had no sooner done so than they gave a
most terrific yell, ran down to the edge of the water
in a mass, and commenced a very heavy and well-
directed fire of musketry on our boats. The firing
was returned pretty warmly by our gallant Marines
and small-arms party, but owing to the night being
more than ordinarily dark, we could only judge of
the position of the natives by the flashes of their
muskets ; our party was a better mark for them,
the ripple on the water, and the white jackets and
accoutrements of the Marines, making the objects
more conspicuous, and enabling, them to take deadly
aim. In a few minutes, in the pinnace, one of the
Marines was killed, and five wounded. It being then
too dark to land, and not knowing the strength of the
pirates, which, at least, must have been upwards of 100,
and well-armed, we hauled off, to renew the attack with
more advantage in the morning. At daylight, on
landing, we found that during the night this haunt
of pirates had been abandoned, and not the least
vestige of the people, boats, &c., could be seen, with the
exception of two guns, one of which—a very fine piece
of ordnance, a six-pounder, supposed to have belonged
to the Margaret—we brought off. Not being able to
gain further intelligence of the pirates, and the wounded
in the boats being uneasy, we soon returned to the ship.
From the quantity of blood traced to the door of the
chief's house, it is presumed he must either have been
killed or wounded, which, in all probability, was the
cause of their decamping during the night, as they had
showed great spirit and determination on the preceding
evening. The names of the killed and wounded on our
side are, George Bailey, private, R M., killed ; John
Cole, private, R.M., died from his severe wounds shortly
after returning on board ; Abel Seymour, A. 8., wounded
in the head,. since dead ; Thomas Glanville, gunner's
mate, slightly ; George Lumb, gunner's mate, two mus-
ket balls in right arm, and one in right breast, recover-
ing fast ; Thomas Hancock, quarter-master, one musket
ball in neck and arm-pit, nearly well.
" P.S. Near Cape Blanco, it will be remembered, the
Medusa, French frigate, was wrecked in 1816. The
wind blowing exceedingly heavy, and an ugly sea rising
rapidly, it behoves seamen to be careful in approaching
that part of the coast."