The Sun.
London, England, 1829-01-09 00:00:00

WEST-PORT MURDERS.

(From the E+1;01,,,i-ilt.Weektg loroniele.)
There have bei-n some 'vet) ,:ispiriong of
late that the invesrigarion ot• these
be further proseet ; and, from the ekeu•ns!anoe
of 31`Dougal and Consroznine Borke anti His wife
having left this city fur the West Ceumfy on Wed-
nesday morning lost, we are inclined to believe that
such at one time was the Lord Advocate's deter-
mination. We hopper. to know that a certain public
functionary, (not the Lord Advocate, whose zeal
in forwarding the late trial is beyond all praise,) re-
marked the other day that they were perfectly sick
of the business, and were resolved to stir no farther
in it, lest it should bring shame upon the city ! If
this gentleman's sensibility is such as to dispose him
to throw a shield over crimes of the deepest die, all
we shall say is, that he is totally unfit for his situa-
tion. If, by limiting the inflicticn of punishment to
one of the murderers, others shall be encouraged to
repeat crimes of the same kind, then, according to
the views entertained by this gentleman, still greater
disgrace will attach to the city ; and then, according
to his precious logic, so much greater will be the
propriety of taking no notice of them. In the pre-
sent excited state of the public mind no Lord Ad-
vocate will dare to say. " Thus far—(to the death
of Burke)—shall the tide of public vengeance flow,
and no farther."

With regard to Dr. Knox too much delicacy and
reserve have been maintained by a part of the press.
When the atrocities in question first transpired, it
was stated that Knox conducted himself with the
utmost civility towards the police officers, who
went to his house in search of the body, when the
fact is, he swore at them from his window, and
threatened to blow their brains out; and it was only
upon their proceeding to force the door of his lec-
ture-room, that it was opened by one of the keepers.
Great pains, too, have been taken to persuade the
public that the Doctor was imposed upon by Burke
and Hare with regard to the mode in which they
acquired their subjects ; but mark how a few queries
will put down that supposition
Were not bodies—one of them of a girl, with her
hair en papillote—both warm and supple, repeatedly
received into his lecture-room ?

Did not Burke and Hare exclusively deal with
Dr. Knox; and must not all their subjects have ex-
hibited nearly the same symptoms—which symp-
toms, in the case of the woman Docheity, at once
satisfied other medical men that she had been vio-

lently bereaved of life ? And why did not the
constant reeurrence of these symptoms, as well as

the symptoms thernselveF,, rouse Dr. Knox's suspi-
cions ?

Has not the Doctor acknowledged that he has re-
peatedly bought bodies which had never been in-
terred, alleging (and we believe partly with truth)
that they had been disposed of by relations ? And
did not his doing so encourage among the lower
orders a most barbarous, unnatural, and demoralizing
practice?
There are certain atrocious particulars connected
with the murder of the woman Docherty, which are
very susceptible of proof. A person in Dr. Knox's
employment actually ofcred her for sale to a re-
spectable gentleman of the profession before she was
despatched; he saw her in Burke's house imme-
diately after the spark of life had been extinguish-
ed ; and he then again offered her for 15/. to the
same gentleman, who indignantly ordered hith out
of his house.

If neither Dr. Knox'nor his man can be consider-
ed as any way accessory to any of the murders (and
we hope it may be so) there cannot be the least
doubt that both may be indicted for the misdemean-
our of purchasing bodies under the circumstances
we have described ; by which process the public may
be relieved of those terrors which their presence in

this city so naturally inspires. While the question
as to the policy of winking at occasional exhuma-
tions remains unsettled, we have no desire to have
the law strictly enforced against those who purchase
subjects which have been come at in the ordinary
manner; but all the circumstances of this case are
fraught with a peculiar criminality, which requires
must exemplary punishment.

. .
We are sorry to learn that Mr. Brougham is
so much indispos;l as to he unable to !cave his r00m..-..
MOnling Herald.

BOROUGH OF conse-
quence of the flight of Mr. Stephenson, one of the Repre-
sent Itives of this Borough, Mr. Bish has again offered his
services to the Electors. A friend of the latter gentleman
visited the Borough last week, and was very cordially re-
ceived.— Worcepter Journal.

At the Catholic Association held on Tuesday
last, Mr. O'Connell, after expressing, in animated terms,
his regret at the recall of the Marquis of Anglesea, which
he very properly designated "a Rational calamity," moved
that -all the parishes in Dublin should meet on Sunday
next, in the Plicenix Park, for the purpose of petitioning
Parliament against his recall. He also suggested that meet-
ings for the same purpose should be held in every part of
Ireland.

The article in Blackwood's Magazine, on
the policy of abolishing the Vice Regal Government in
Ireland, is, we suppose, intended as a mere feeler. We
hope that the people of Dublin will louk to it in time ;
the thing we believe is in contemplation, and they ought
to bestir themselves ere it lie too late. Dublin is bad
enough, but that would reduce it to complete beggary.
Dublin Morning Post.

There is now living at Lynn, a Mr. Flenry
Regester, formes ly a considerable wholesale tailor and
draper in that tuwn, who, since he was seventy-four years
of age, has cut six teeth ! He has been blind four and
twenty years, and though now in his eightieth year, has
lately cut out and made himself a complete suit of clothes,
without any assistance whatever.—Stamford Mercury.
On the 27th ult., a slomp, about 40 tons, was
seen off Holyhead, with loss of bowsprit, nothing stand-
ing but the mast, and no person on deck. Two steam-
boats went out of harbour, but did not see her ; it is sup-
posed she had been run down the night before.—North
Wales Chronicle.

FOG.—Yesterday the fog on the river was so
close, that several of the steam boats were interrupted. We
have even heard that a collision between some steamers took
place a good way down the river, but the particulars, at the
hour of publication, had not reached us.— Glasgow Free
Prese.

MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT.—We regret to
state, that on Thursday the 25th tilt. a fishing boat, con-
taining seven of a crew, was entering a small creek at Seter,
near John o'Groat's ; a sudden surf rose, by which the
boat was upset, and all on hoard perished—four of the
sufferers were married, and have left families to deplore
their untimely end ; four of the bodies have been found,
but nothing has been seen of the boat or the other three.—
Seotsman.

MYSTERIOUS AND FATAL AFFAIR.-
About one o'clock on Friday morning, one of the watch-
men observed a man standing at the head of an entry in
the Castle Hill, in a sickly state, bordering on insensibility.
As he gave him no satisfaction when questioned, the watch-
man brought his neighbour, and they assisted to convey
him to the police-office. When he entered, he stated that
he had been robbed of his watch, but could neither say
when, where, nor by whom. When searched, a silk purse,
containing 2s. 2d. and a silver pencil-case, were found in
his possession. lie was lucked up in a watchman's room,
and visited and examined by the surgeon, hut making
no complaints, he was left till the morning. When next
visited, he complained of a severe pain iu his back, and
lie expressed some anxiety to get to his own house, which
is in the southern districts. When he obtained his
hat, he walked out of the office, took a coach at the
foot of High-street, and was driven home. He stated
that an attempt had been made on his life, and ern-
! phaticaily said, "he had been Burked." He became
weak so rapidly, that no farther explanation could be ob-
tained. The remark that he had been " Burked," led the
medical men to examine his body, and very decided marks
of injury were discovered on the thorax and abdomen.—
Such are the facts of the ease, and they certainly do lead
to the euspicicn that other parties have been engaged in
the trade of murder, besides the nest of ruffians whose
deeds have been recenrly brought to light. It is but fair
on the other hand to acknowledge, that while the public
mind is so much exeite.l, there mast be a tendency in indi-
viduals to trace a purpose of assassination in ev;ry act of
personal violence offered to them.— Scotsman.