The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-24 00:00:00

THE TORY INCOME TAX.

A meeting was held in the Guildhall, Norwich, on Tuesday, in
opposition to this hateful tax, the Mayor in the chair. A petition
to the Queen, and another to the House of Lurds, were unani.
mously agreed to, and received in the course of the day a great
number of signatures.
At a meeting of the United Reform Club, held at Bradford yes.
terday, strong resolutions were also passed against the proposed
measure.

The solicitors, an influential body, are about to make common
cause in resisting the scheme. A Correspondent states that, taking
into account the heavy stamp duty paid by solicitors, and the
charge of 121. in the metropolis and 8/. in the country, a profes-
sional gentleman making by a country practice '2OOl. a year, would
pay to the revenue in direct taxation not lees than 7 per cent.

AN INQUEST BY ANTICIPATION.

LAMENTABLE CONSEQUENCES OF THE INCOME-TAX-
DEATH* OF JOHN BULL, ESQ.-CORONER'S
INQUEST
ON THE BODY.

An Inquest was held this morning (October sth,
1843), before Mr. WAKLEY, Coroner, and a highly
respectable Jury, on the body of John Bull, Esq.,
who was found dead in his bed, and worn away to a
shadow—in fact, picked clean to the bone, as much
so, as if a parcel of hungry vultures had been dining
on his remains. '1; he countenance wore an expres-
sion of great discontent and anxiety, and a frown still
hung about the forehead, as if the old gentleman had
died while in the act of launching an anathema
against the " eyes " of his medical attendants, both of
whom were present at the Inquest.
After the Jury had viewed the body, they returned
to the Inquest-room, when the following evidence was
adduced :

Doctor JOHN RUSSELL, M.D., who was the first
witness examined, deposed that he had been for some
yea's in the habit of attending the deceased, who,
though somewhat testy and wayward in his temper,
generally enjoyed pretty good health. About the
year 1830, he suffered severely from an inflammatory
attack, well known to the faculty by the name of
" The Reform Fever," but by cooling and aperient
medicines, he (witness) restored him to his usual
state of convalescence. Since then, however, as he
still continued to be indisposed from time to time,
he (witness) ordered him to be shut up in a nice,
new, cool work-house, and his wife to be taken
from him, and locked up in a separate ward, so that
he might have nothing to annoy him ! Deceased
visibly improved under this treatment, especially as he
had thin water-gruel twice a week--
CORONER—Pray, Doctor Russell, did you ever
taste this gruel yourself ?
Dr. RUSSELL (making a wry face, as if he were
swallowing physic)—Never, thank
,God ! The truth
is, it does not agree with some constitutions, and
mine is one of them. But where it does agree, it
agrees wonderfully ! It answered . exceedingly well
(continued the witness) in the deceased's case ; and he
would no doubt have become better than ever he was
in his life, if he had not, in a sudden fit of caprice,
called in a Quack Doctor—one Peel of Tamworth,
since when he had never enjoyed a day's health. The
witness added, with lively emotion, that he always
pred.cted Dr. Peel would be the death of John Bull,
for to his (witness's) certain knowledge, he had inva-
riably killed every patient for whom he had ever pre-
scribed !

Doctor ROBERT PEEL, M.D. was the next wit-
ness examined—He is a middle-aged man, of imposing
address, but with something sly and sinister in the
bland expression of his countenance. He entered the
Inquest-room with the dignified gait of a gander,
and commended giving his evidence with «great
buoyancy and alacrity of spirit," which, however,
visibly diminished as the examination proceeded. He
stated that he was called in, at the deceased's own
particular request, and found him labouring under a
complication of disorders brought on by the inju-
dicious treatment of the last witness.

Dr. RUSSELL (considerably excited)—That's a
bounce, and you know it !
Dr. PEEL (looking viciously at his rival)—l was
fully prepared for this factious opposition on the part
of Doctor Russell.

CORONER—Doctor Peel, will you be good enough
to state the symptoms of deceased's case ?
Doctor PEEL—(stammering, and looking greatly
embarrassed)—Symptoms !—Why, really—oh, the
symptoms, you mean !—Why, Vhe was labouring
under, what in medical language is called, a decided
hic, hcec, hoc, genitive, hujus, dative, huic, comment
vous portez vous, quod erat demonstrandum, in swcula
seeculorum, &c.
A VOICE FROM THE CROWD—Exactly so ; so he
was, and I never heard the symptoms of his case so
clearly explained before.

CORONER—WhO is that ?
A JURYMAN (looking round)—Oh, its only an old
woman named Sibthorp, a great admirer of Doctor
Peel's.

CORONER (with dignity)—Turn the old woman out!
After the interruption occasioned by this lively
sally of the old gentlewoman had been put an end to,
the witness went on to observe, that when he had
carefully considered the deceased's case for upwards
of six months—

CORONER—Upwards of six months ! And was the
deceased's malady gaining ground all this time ?
Doctor PEEL (looking exceedingly foolish)—l am
sorry to say it was, but I never thought of that.
When, however, I had sufficiently considered his ease,
I prescribed a corn plaster, on the homoeopathic prin-
ciple, in infinitessimal small quantities, which unfbrtu.,
nately only increased his irritation, whereupon I
thought it best to produce a counter-irritation, so
worried him with a parcel of tax-gatherers, in order
to divert the excitement occasioned by the corn-plas-
ter. This succeeded admirably, bitt it happened un■
luckily that the patient died, just as he was getting
over the irritation produced by the plaster.
CORONER—Pray, Doctor Peel, what is your usual
mode of practice in ordinary oases of illness ?
DR. PEEL—Why, I have generally found that most
patients' maladies originate in an organic derangement
of the chest, so I always begin by cleaning that well
out

CORONER (impatiently) The Jury have heard quite
enough. Is there any other witness P
A stout, elderly gent:lona/1, b name Daniel
O'Connell, here stepped forward, and deposed that de-
ceased was his particular friend, and that he had heard
him declare, Int three days before his death, that
though Doctor Russell hed not don 9 him quite as much
good as he might have done, vet that it was the irrita•
tien occasioned by Doctor Peel's tax.gatherers that
had "done his business for him." These, added the
witness, were deceased's own words.
Mr. O'Connell concluded by stating that if John
Bull had taken his advice, he would have kicked off
both Doctor's, in which case hP would now have:l)m,
" Great, glorious, and free,
First flower of the earth, and first gem of the see!"
No other witnesses having been called,
The CORONER summed up—Tie observed that, tin•
accustomed as he was to public speakitigi he should
be brief hi his remarks, for, the truth Wan, thu case
lay in a nut-shell. There could not be the slightest
doubt that the deceased had met his death at the hands
of Doctor Peel's tax-gatherers ; and addressing the Re-
porters, the Learned Coroner added, that he trusted it
would go abroad that in all cases of serious indispo-
sition, a dose like that prescribed by Doctor reel,
must inevitably prove fatal.
The Jury, after deliberating a few minutes, re-
turned a verdict to the effect that ." Deceased died by
the Visitation of the Tax-gatherer 1"
The deceased gentleman will, we understand, be
buried next Tuesday, at the expense of his numerous
friends, Doctor Peel having, in accordance with his
usual mode of practice, effectually cleaned
him out.
The proceedings excited intense interest--indeed,
such as has not been witnes.sed within date oldest living inliabitazt the memory
. .