The Sun.
London, England, 1817-10-31 00:00:00

CORONER'S INQUEST.

An Inquisition was taken last night, at the
Brown Bear, Milhank-Street, Westminster, at
seven o'clock, before HUGti Lewis, E-q. Coro-
ner, on the body of John Dottim Price, pro-
prietor of the New Exchange Coffee-house,
Strand, who was found.drowned ou Wednesdav
morning; about two o'clock, in the Thames, op-
poSite Alillbank.
John Grant, waterman, Green-Arhour-court, Doetors'-
Commons, sworn, said, that about two o'clock on WedneS-
day morning be was towing a West country barge up the
river, towards Chelsea. When he got oppa,ite
row, he observed•the body of the deceased floating on the
surface of the water; lie stopped his boat, and tied a rope
round the arm of the deceased, and towed hint to shbre ;
he conceited the deceased had been dead some days, Which
was the reason he did not take the body out of the water
until he had towed it to the river side; he lifted up'thc head
oldie deceased out oflhe Water, he appeared quite dead, his
hands were cold. He called a Watchman, who was on some
coal barges, and told him that he had towed a body to shore.
The man did not conic to help him to take the body out of
the Water; believing that he was past rceovcry, lie tied the
'cOrd which was listened to the arm of the deceased to a barge
which was by the river Side-, and left the body in the water ;
he told the man, whom he supposed was a watchman, that Le
was going t 6 tow the barge a little further, and shOted soon
"return, and bt,,,ed him to have an eye on the huily until he
'came back.

Coroner-7." Is it the practice of watermen to
let persons fie under water, atter they have touni
them, for hours ?-,--•Why did not you take the
body Out of the water the moment you found
hint I"
Witness---He thought he had been in the water seven or
'eight days'; for he understood Im'dies }}ever floated On the
set) face of the water 'until they had been in the water that
length of time. He went away in his boat, and went with the
barge up the rivers and returned a.,otit tour o'clock the same
morning ; he found the deceased still lying in the water
where he left him, tied to the barge; the man whom he sup-
posed Was a watchman was not near the body nor was
any other person near it. He and some other watcrmen
went to the Brown Bear acid sent for the beadle ; he ex-
amined the pockets of the deceased, in the presence of
nine or ten persons, and found a knife, an eye-glass, a
!Mitch of keys, five shillings in silver, and also a card of ad-
aresS, oil Which was printed "J. D. Prie, -New Exchange
Coffee-house; Strand." The body was taken into the Brown
Bear. He did nut think that. the deceased had been long in.
the water when he first saw him, for when he returned at•
four o'clock, he found that hi's neckerchief was nut viet
through, and he had every --appearance of tteibig recently
drowned. He was sorry that he committed such an error as
he did in leaving the body in the Water.
Coroner—'' 1-n future I hope such a circutn•
stance will never happen ; common sense would
have dictated to you, that he ought not, to haie
- • in .
been left toe water, foi means are frequently
successful in restoring persons who are apparently
dead, and in this case, had means been used, the
deceased might have been now alive."
Alekander Hogg, waterman, No. 11, Gloucester place,
Vauxhall-bridge, rteing sworn, said, that about seven o clock
on Wednesday,evening , he was•stowing his boat near Vaux-
hall-bridge, arid a man that was on the bridge called to him
to row near the centre of the bridge, and said that a man had
jumped into the river. He had heard a noise like something
falling into the water, and rowed towards the spot insialitly;
he found a hat (which he produced), and continued for some
time rowing backwards and forwards, and as he could not
find any body, he went on shore, and was surprised that the
person who called to him from ie bridge did not come round
to him. „,
Robert Frederick Owen, of the Strand, being sivorn, said
that he had known the decea,ed a eonsiderabletime. His
conduct lately had been very singular, and had been noticed
by the officers of the army and navy, by whom the house was•
chiefly frequented. He had visited hint daily, and knew hint
to he in a low way.
Mr. John Sullivan, 2, Villiers-street, Strand, sworn, said,
that he had been hair-dresser to the deceased, his family, and
the officers and families attending the hotel, for more thlin
twenty years; lately he had been very unwell and despond-
ing, and not, in his opinion, in his right mind. He believed
that lately he had great losses in his business, and that might
have caused;in a great measure, his desponSency.
Thomas Brightman, head-waiter to the deceased, being
sworn, corroborated the above evidence; anti added, that he
was of opinion, from the state of the deceased's mind, that
he had dtowned himself. The deceased was fifty years
of age. •
The CORONER, in addressing the Jury, 'said,
- -

that the conatret of the waternian, in leaving the
deceased so long in, the water after he found him,
was highly censurable ; although the deceased bad
been so long in the water, that there was no like-
lihood he conld.have been restored. The evidence
was conclusive- -as to the state of his mind, and
the only point for them to consider was, whether
he came to his death by his own act or the act of
some other person.
Verdict.—" The deceased drowned himself in the River
Thames, near Vauxhall Bridge, when in a state of munkul
derangement:'

CAUTION TO PARENTS.—A litte hay, in the vil-
lage of Halton, near Runcorn, in Cheshire, while
playing with a damson-stone in his mouth, by
a deep inspiration, drew it into his wind-
pipe. The symptom's were of course, of an,
alarming nature, and death appeared inevitable.'
A surgeon who resides in the village, recom-
mended opening the windpipe externally, as the
only chance of saving the child's lite. To the
parents, and surrounding neighbours, this ap-
peared impracticable; for cutting the throat to
preserve lite, carried with it, in their imagination,
the idea of madness ! The prejudices of the pa
rents were, however,
.at length overcome, and'
they consented to have the operation performed ;
the offending body was accordingly removed, and
with it every bad symptom. lts is-now only three
weeks since the operation was performed ; the
wound is quite healed, and the boy perfectly re•
covered.

~rM.r:.~-~~,

PRO V! NC Th L J() JRNALS.

'Amidst tke .rithimirs ut ivar, 'the efforts

ittittectibh its at lifithe

we ft.t.l :•ery' refreshing to imuse *a while

t
uric' I)aci;ic stibiert: The extract ivlricii 'we st,l)-
till troai the Dit/ilin if/eel:ly I^e, literEaiv
places rig 'kali/lig tit lila tilid•flow'ers; "trail we are
satiqit.d h•ir take intieb iiiea

sure i k so `agrc-eahte of a trip c,
is of 11(!!, high—re-01140s of 'the highest imoor.~•
sock'. We a-re Oa also to find, that agricoltnie
i 3 stmlied it/ It etiti/Lint: diligently pursued, not
only /13 a 1;n/fir, hitt as a science.

" AGitiCU-LTEIRE AND BOTANY.

" Upon the.se two most inreresting subjects,
intimately cote netted together, duriog the months
of May, 3ime,•july, Augmist and September, Doc-
tor Wade, Prafessor to the Institution of the Dub-
lin Society,. has delivered above-'6O lectures,
which. We are happy to say it, were nunierously
and Most respectably attended-.
• " Sitoated and circumstanced as Ireland is, the
abov• subjects, deeply interesting to mankind at
larg,, are of .paramount 4)4)olr:ince to her. It is
Iron, the bosom of time earth that she Must derive
the principal source t:f her wealth '; and cantemp-
tuonslyas some very contemptible writers haVe
ventured to speak of agricultural' pursuits, there
are none so yontiticive- to the weltare, either
Moral or political, of a nation, and none, When
prosecuted in a liberal and philosophical Manner,
that require rt
tetider or M m ore.coprehensive range
of acquaintauee' with the useful arts and sciences.
Considered in the first respect, that is, in a
moral point of view, it is evident that such pur-
suits are not only not ft lemony to, but are abso-
lutely incompatible with, any that are calculated
to dissipate or debauch the mind, to pamper or
enervate the body. But, without reasoning a
priori, it we look immediately to effee:s, we shall
find persons seriously engaged in the business of
agriculture, no matter of what rank, distinguished
from their equals in other respects, by regularity
Of life, sobriety of demeanour, and general de-
cency of conduct, .characteristics that tad be
ascribed to no other cause than the nature of their
Pursuits, which require all these as toncomitantS
necessary to ensure them
.success. They have
little, or no time to spare for the frivolous anntse-
Thents and debilitating pleasuresof town life, and
none whatsoever -to devote to the interests of
Party or Faction. Whatever loosens the bonds
of Society, or serves to sow the seeds of disseo-
tion or discord amongst if) 11,1eMber3, is directly
adverse to their interests ; and, accordingly, we
never find them joined in time outcry Of sedition,
or ioterferitig, in any degree, except for the laud,
able purpose of 'restoring • order and harmony.
Re•idine where their property lies, a circtimstance
essentially necessary to their avocations, the in-
fluence of their example, still more titan of their
authority. if felt throughout the whole neigh-
bourhood, and the peasantry becomes reconciled
and even well affected to that life of labour and
industry, in which they see their landlords, their
natural- friends and protectors, take so deep at
iutee,,,te •
" If tee consider the matter in a' political point
of view, wreshall hod that it is equally beoeficial
to a state in all its external relations. No coun-
try is sti difficult to he "conquered, as a country
strictly agricultural; labourers, says Machiaveli,
form time very best soldiers., because their bodies,
inured to all the vi, issitudes of the seasons, and
readered vigor Ons by temperance, are more cap-
able than those of any other description, to un-
dergo the fatigues and hardships of military life.
To then: the acqui,ition of discipline serves as
an amusement, as a sort of relaxatiomm from work.
Sr far tar the mere machinery of an army, for
what the French call the materiel; let us now
examine as to its moral energy, which is much
more essential to the grand and ultimate purpose,
that of defending the country, and repellipg
vasion. Here an agricultural nation has an on-
ppealiable advantage' over every other. Property,
whet Im r in a'civilized or savage state, is the great
Cement of society, of which it is time creature.
1t is dearer to than than life, and the reason is
it does not arise from a blind instinct .of our
'nature) because property is essentially necessary
to maintain all those social relations, to which
lite is indebted for its principal charm. The man
who 'sacrifices, his life, sooner that resign
property, may be truly said to have sacrificed it to
his family, to his relations, to his friends, and to
his country ; kir, as Cicero justly observes,
Amines omniptin caritates una PATitiA eomplexa est.
it is not, therefore, from,a principle of selfishness,
that such a sacrifice is made. Noty, of all pro-
perry, the least moveable is that which is attached
'to time soil. It is there property is realized—it
there becomes what the law terms " real proper-
ty." It is the cultivation of the soil that renders
such property .valuable. The 'merchant may, in
a case of paramount danger, transfer his capital
to another country, to .another hemisphere. It
has paper wings to Hy. With ; it is.endo wed with
a sPecies of obiquity ; but the land is'stationarv,
as it is stable ; the oecttpier must defend, if he
'swishes to keep it ; and, as in an agricultural
society,' the occupier has rarely any other kind
of propriety,' he seldom resigns that, except with
his breath. Thus the paramount interest of so-
cial man engages him to defend his country, and
all the uniform habits of his life are admirably
calculated to coality-liiin for the performance of
the -duty.

shall make apology for the length of
this article ; anti, indeed,- little apology will be
deemed Ocressar --a. COll4l ry, where, as here
•and in theSister-Islandi- men May seem to be so
sensible of .the truth of the principle that we
have been endeavouring to inculcate. Tifill our
eyes where mite will, and we shall find instances
cit. the truth' of Wis.remark. But we need not go
beyond the•very institution, which has given birth
to the Profestorshi'p, to: the. labours of which
-we have been referving. The Dublin Society
gives that degree of consideration, and precedence
in consideration, to the Agricultural interests of
Ireland to which they arc entitled. The Institu-

tion, therefore, is truly of a patriotic character;
as such, it has received the liberal encou-
ragement and encrgeticsiippint of a parental Go-
vernment. The example it sets' has 'been most
extensively foll Owed, and in'eiery to:trier we End
laming societies arising under various
nations. 'l'o the diffusion of•knOwledge, 'on this
subject of pararninint national importance, tlie
%cientific labours, ill the Botanical 'Garden at
Glastlevin, have contributed, more 'even titaft
men are aware of. The merits of Doctor Wade
in this departnient liave been 'evinced by thilr
effect upon thy Public. Hi 3 Lectnres, a's we have
already remarkeil, have been Most nuttiv-ously,
and most restectatity attended -; this
.cOuld be
only for, the purpose of acquit'ing inforthation ;
be-citisSe the s'ekuce of Botany is destitute of that
attractive glare, iyhich Chemistry au,l tsther
branches- of experimental philosophy posse'ss,
and which Is calcUlated to gratify an idle curio- ,
sity, as well as a liberal thirst for information.
But if this were at all "clouhtfuj, the serious at-

tendon paid to him by his auditors, and the se-
dulors care with which they are observed to
note down his Lectures, and to preserve the dif-
ferent specimens which he submits to their ob-
servation, are substantial proofs that his labours
answer the grand purpose to which they are
directed, and for which they were intended by
that respectable Body, whose organ he is. The
Duke of Bedford, bred, up in the school of that
great Patron of Agriculture, his late brother,
did not think it below the Viceregal dignity to
attend the Lectures of our. Professor. He at,
tended them, and with unostentatious attention.
His approbation, so highly honourable to the
talents of the Lecturer, was ,evinced, not only
by Isis repeated attendance; While bere, hot by
his recollection, of them, after he had retired
front office, and Withdrawn fs:oin the country.'
This appearS fr'om his correspondence with Doc-
tor Witde, upon subjects connected with those
of his Lectures, and by the present of a unsigni-
ficent folio edition of a History of Grasses, pre-
sented to him by his Grace. and of which hut

a few copies were struck off. These are open
for inspection at the Botanic Garden ; and
we mention the circumstance merely to slew

that a science, so caicidated for the benefit
society, Js meeting encour3gtment and stoppor
from those whose encouragement and support
tan best contribute to its progress and props.
gut ion."

LAW INTELLIGILNCE.

COURT or tftINCERY, obi. 30.

The proceedings in the Vice- Chanceiloi•ii Cour
:his day were wholly nnintereliting, consisting o
fry legal argument in Bankrupt and Partnershir
ransactions.

COURT OF KING'S !3ENCE-1, SERGEANT'S I:tti HALL,

otioliE a 'SO.

HOLLAND AND CO. V. HALL AND CO.

This was au action hrooaht 'by the Plairitifts
against the Defendants at the last Assize at Croy-
don, betore Mr. Justice I.3trattouGuts. The fol-
lowing tvvre the principal farts of the ease, as
stated from the report of the evidence ert the
trial

At a pet iod kvhen the export of arms from this
cuuntry.to South America Was prohibited, the two
parties in the case agreed to send Out a C81.;40 of
arms to Buenbs Ayres, and a ship named the A me-•
lia was jointly purchased by (hem to take the car-
go ion board. The plaintiffs were to pay two-
thirds of the price, and the defendants the remain=
ing third, which amounted to 466/. 6s.'Sd. It
was arranged that the arms should be put on
board the Amelia, with. a covering license for a
cargo, of salt to Ostend, but that another ship,
called the Richmond, should be. ready to re-
ceive the firms on hoard, at sea, from on board the
Amelia, and convey them to South America. After
some time, the arms not having been put on
board, the speculation was.consideted unpromis-
ing, and abandoned accordingly, and a cargo. '
salt was conveyed by the Amelia. to Ostend. The
third of the price of the siiip,•amounting to 4661.
6s. B,l'.‘was chimed from the defendants, who re-
sisted payment, on the ground of the illegality
of the original agreement, and their coose-
ctently not being bound by it. The Jury,
under the direction of the Learned 'Judge,
found a verdict for the plaintiffs, subject 'to be
set aside by the Court, and a nonsuit entered.—
A rule having been obtained to .spew cause
why a nonsuit should not be entered, Mr. Gurney.
showed cause in support of the verdict. No illegal
act was, he contended, committed by the parties.
But, on the contrary, the cargo of salt- Wcl6 sent
on board the Amelia to Ostend: This, he main-
tained, legalised the agreement. Every thing il-
legal in the.contract had been abandoned. And
the Jury, upon a view of the facts of the•case,
must have been 'satisfied of this when they found
a'verdicrfor the plaintiff.,
The Court was of opinion, that as the agree-
ment originally was illegal, it could not bind the
defendants. :.knd no act of the parties had been
proved, shewing that the contract had been lega-
lised or abandoned. On this ground their Lord-
ships ordered .a nonsuit to be entered,

SUICIDE.-Tuesday a young man named Ebbs
put a period to his 'existence by taking a (inapt ity
of poison, at a p.iblic--house at Hackney. The
,untortunate young man carried his desperate pur-
pose into effect in the most deliberate Manner.—
On the morning in question be called on an ac-

quaintance, anti asked him if he would take a
walk with hint. -His friend complied, and in the
course of their walk passing a public-house in
Hackney, he invited his friend to go in and take
part of a glass of brandy and water. His invita-
tion was accepted, and on its coming to his turn
•. to drink, Ebbs took a small paper of 'powder front
his pocket, put it into the liquor,•and drank it oil'.
On his friend asking.bitn what it was, he said it
`vets physic, which took in consequence of .his
stninacb being out of order. He. then took the
glass to the bar, and desired the mistress to wash
it (juke clean, as he bad been mixing physic in ir,
and stood till he saw it rinced several times. Soon
after be was taken violently ill, and it was !hen
discovered he had taken atsenie. rle lived'aboutd
.three .hours, when he expired in the greatest]
agony. •

bi,b hA:t LtA*.

CUTTING A-N-i)
Yesterday Without miry,- aged v, as indicted
for utaliciaisly Cuttiwr ra •ud maiming Alaria Hera,
with intent to do hay bodily harm, and prevent
his lawlid anPrehension. The facts of the case as
detailed in the evidence are its fnllow t--01) the
2Sth of September, -Joseph Jacobs, with whom
the young woman iS servant, went with his family
to Bromine») Charier), leaving the house in care
of the servant. IVhile engaged iu One of the
rooms op stairs, She was alarmed at hearing a
noise below, espeCially as there %vat no person left
in the aortae but herself. On going down she
fOnt`ni the prisoner in her master's dreSsiagarooni;
stooping over a portmanteau. She uttered a'cry
ut " Oh 1 villain, what are ynu doing here ?"
He inamediately rose, se'ized her by the arms, and
said, " By Clod, I'd kill you if you say one
word." She begged hint to spare her lite, on
which lie was leaving the,roony, and had reached
the door, when seeing he was about to lock it, she
seized it with both her hands. On this he cut her
severely across the hands with a drawn knife,
which he had at that moment in his hands, by
which she lost a considerable tplantityof blood;
and was' a fortnight under the care of a surgeon.
She ran to a window, and called out murder, on
which Holliday, a young Gentleman in one of the
Cloyernment Offices, came to her assistance, and
secured the prisoner. The outer door.beingbsten-
ed, Mr. Holliday stated, he obtained entrance by
going over an iron rail and breaking a pane'of
glass, by which h opened the windoW and got
in. The girl, at the time he 'entered, was bleed-
ing profusely, and the cuts seemed deep. The
prisoner had not his shoes out, but when taken he
made no resistance, and in going to the watch-
house, he vnlantarily acknowledged having enter-
ed the honse for the purpose of robbery.
Iu his defence fie endeavoured to spew that t!,e
cut was the effect of accident, and was solely
owing to 'the gill's imprudence, who would not
surf: r hits t 6 quit the house in the 83411 C quiet and
peaceable way that he had entered it. She was
continually. calling him a villain, a robber, and a
murderer, which so 'prOvoked him, that he said,
" If I' an) either I will send you jumping into the
other world." He said he did so because she was
the public to•come to her aid,'and he .vas
not willing to fall into the hands of public jus.
tice. He called no witnesses, but spoke in the
above manner for neatly 17 minutes.
Mr. Justice DALLAS summed tip the evidence,
and praised the conduct. of the servant in the
strongst terms. He held it to be law, that if a
person found in a honse.bya servant in this situa-
.tion cut her in any way to cause death, he would
certainly be guilty of murder. if be wiltally cut
her in the house tel- the pitrpose of making his
escape lie was liable wider the statute pissed 15
years ago, The only question here was simply this,
did he wilfully or accidentally cat her ? ser-
vant had positively sworn that he did deliberately
do so, as she saw hits wove his hand for that
purpose ; while he denied it in the most positive
terms. They would therefore consider whether
it was possible this, could be the case, aad see
what eredit,wrs to be given to the witnesse, The
eircumstanceof his having a erivii koileat the
moinent In his Ii cud, was. ekt remely: an t 'mate ;
but a portnianteau being in the room, he might
probably have had it for the' purpose of cutting
that portmanteau. These weie points worthy of
the deepest attention, and Wi,Juld; no doubt, have
a proper consideration from the Jury,,wbo were
bound to take no notice Of the 'motive he might
have had in entering the house, but merely to at-
tend to the facts charged in the indictment..
One of the Jury feeling unwell, the other eleven
retired with him, and in twenty minutes returned
a verdict, finding the prisoner Guiilia----Deatit.
The prisoner is a stout Man, and was dressed
in'a black coat and waistcoat, black silk Laud-
kerchief, and grey. pantaloons. Ile seemed in
deep thought during the time die Jury were out
of Court.

Yesterday James,Kelly, 37, and John Thomson,
26, ‘vere indicted for assaulting George Curtis on
the highway, and robbing him of ten 11. notes.
The prosecutor is a seafaring man, and hail been
for two years with the prisoners in the. same ship.
On the 141 U of Ovober he was in company with
them in it,,sern4lyoape,' when they complained
they were badiAtt, on which. be said, •` come
along with me, and give you meat and drink."
They accordingly weOt to a public-house, where
he gave them sonic beef steaks and eight pots of
porter. They went with him .after this under the
pretext of seeing him home, and on the road they
knocked him down, beat him, and robbed him •of
the money. He procured a constable, who in two
hours after fohnd Thomson, on whom were seve-
ral of the notes, a handkerchief and some papers,
which were the property of the prosecutor. On'
Kelly there was found also some of the property.
The description of the two men given by the pro-
sectitor was sO accurate, that the Head-borough
bad no difficulty in tracing them out, aud Kelly
made a desperate resistance. The prosecutor was,
extreme)), hurt by them.'

I u (reitnee they alledged that he had given them
the money, but of this they had no evidence, nor
any to chartic/er.

The Jury were charged by Mr. Justice DALLAS,
entisidered the conduct of the prisoners one
Of the Most brutal and inhunian in erery point of
view, Ile particularly commented on the circuit:
stance of their treating hint So Cruelly, after the
humane manner in which he had ,relieved than,.
complaining to .him as an old t► lend that they
were; in deep distress. No doubt whatever appear-,
ed to hint which he could possibly suggest in their
favour,'and he was afraid the Jury mast find them

:Th-e Jury considered the case, very clear, and
without a moment's hesitation found them Guilty,
Death.

Wm . Edgar, 19, and Joseph West,- 18, were in-••
dieted tor assaulting George Saunders, and rob-
bing hill) of 241. it, Notes, From the prevric.ac-
ingAnautter.itt trbich the-prosyeutor detailed the
vase, 111 r. Justice PAtul surpired the pri)sectizioti,
and refused Saunders his expences.--=-The prison-
erawere of coarse diicharged.. •

The following. were capitally convicted :
Thonts Welch, for
„acsaulting Elizabeih Crew on. the
highway, and tithing from her Inperson a shawl.
Robert Kelly, for assaulting' Matthew Young. on the Vgh-,
way, aut.l taking from ais person a silver watch.

POLICE

i,"::\SION t'i6trsi,.

•
. _
. ,
•
tk're&siva Itosn R Et/011apOrli
dryer, cliargcd with robbinti his empb,yer,
of•Sulithlield; ot 62Si. 17s. was yeiter•
day filially, examined., The 1)10ln:111:J1S of tbo
•ease ivere fully detailed a few days'since, and yes-
terday the whole of the e'videlice regarding tf“;
flight of the
.prisoners his ext'Yaordinary vicissi-
tudes.in France, and arrt•st at Ch4thant, was read
over and sworn to by the several witnesses. The
prisoner was 'fully committed tot; trial.