Star.
London, England, 1818-05-14 00:00:00

DEATH OF PE77ON.

=TRACT OF A LATTER PROM TORT At; IPRIXCE,
DATED APRIL 1, 1818.

0 I was forced to break off yesterday morning, to
attend the last remains of the President. The fune-
ral was grand ; but we were kept six hors in the sun,
which, with the fatigue, incapacitated me from doing
any thing more that day. The corpse was laid in
state two days, and, to the momeat of being con-
sip,rned to the vault, the features did not exhibit any
visible change. Every one who chose went to see it,
and you would have been surprised at the scene
which occurred every instant : they were such as are
seldom witnessed on the demise of men in power. In
the different quarters of the galleries of the palace
were men, women, and children, some on their knees,
others standing, who, after taking a last sight of the
body, were imploring Heaven for his soul. They
were all bedewed in tears, and on retiring from the
palace, filled the air with their cries and laments.
tions--not perhaps one dry eye quitted that place,
out of the myriads which visited it. But at the fu-
neral the stoutest heart must have melted. The pro-
cession had nearly a mile to go to church and to re-
turn to the place of interment, which was in a vault
under the Trre'c•l Liberty, opposite the Palace ; the
troops, of which there were a great many in town,.
were formed in two lines from the Palace to the
Church. The body %MS on an open bier, dressed in
state clothes, and laid on a car made in imitation of
that used for our late Lord Nelson ; it was drawn by
.six horses, covered with black silk velvet, ornamen-
ted with white tassels, and with white feathers and
crapes on their heads, the same as on'the car; round
the four sides of the latter was written-6 Alexander
Petion, Pr.:,,ident d'Ha i ; imitons ses vertu:. Il del
jamakfait colder kg' rs de personne:
orit
" The concourse people was immense, and the
lamentations unceasing ; the women, in particular,
screeched and howled, clasping their hands as if,
they had been frantic. The men walked silently
along ; a few with simply a dejected countenance,
but the greater number by far with streaming eyes.
The same was the case with the soldiers forming the
line; the officers endeavouring in vain to conceal
their tears behind the pillars of the galleries ; in fact,
never, I believe, was there witnessed more real and
undissernbled grief—it was not confined to the lower,
the middling, or the higher classes ; it was univer-
sal, and the moment the body was lov.-e: ed into the
vault, exhibited a scene which it is not in my power
ever to attempt to describe.
" It is a curious circumstance that he has died vo-
luntarily, which, indeed, was suspected by some
about him from the beginning of his sickness, which
only lasted eight days, from his constantly refusing
all kinds of medicine and nourishment, and even
water; and he preserved to the last that calmness and
serenity of mind for which he was so remarkable
through life—expiring without a groan or a struggle.
His body has been opened, and found as sound as
that of any man ; no Indications of any disorder
whatever, and the physicians do not hesitate to de-
clare that he died of inanition! What may have
been the cause is yet a mystery. He had frequently
been heard to say. that he wished himself dead; for
that. with all his study to render the people happy
and prosperous, some were still dissatisfied, and
made hi life a torment. About a fortnight ago a
man was taken up about the palace, who, it appears.
intended to assassinate him ; but, from what has
transpired, I deem it most likely that he was a mad-
man; but, at all events, it can hardly be supposed
that this accident could contribute to his fatal deter-
mination. Time will, perhaps, reveal the cause ; in
the meanwhile, his loss is to be lamented ; for, I re-
peat, there are fexi such men as he was, more parti-
cularly in acts of charity and benevolence. His
death threw all the merchants into the greatest con-
sternation, as there is computed to be in the Repub.
lic 6,000,000 worth of British property alone, inclu-
ding the shipping.
" The judicious measures which were immediately
adopted, tended, in some degree, to calm our fears ;
all the military were turned out, and have been kept
at their posts to this day. An embargo was placed
on the shipping, and no one suffered- to leave the
town till pretty late on Sunday ; and the appoint-
ment of the present President (Boyer) has been una-
nimous ; nor to this moment have I heard of any
chief having expressed a wish far the situation—we
Are, therefore, reviving a little. The President will
be proclaimed this day, and in two or three he will
proceed to the frontiers to examine the line ; for it is.
very possible that Christophe, on hearing of the death
of Petion, might advance in the hopes of profiting
by dissensions which might arise between competitors
for the Presidency ; some of the troops which were here
in garrison, and attended yesterday, were marched off
after the solemnity, for the frontiers; in fact, every
precaution that prudence can dictate for private tran-
quillity, and exteinal security, appears to have been
adopted. It is also the intention of the merchants to
request Sir Home Popham to send a ship of war here,
in the event of Christophe's advancing."

MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCL —The Maltreat He-
rald of March 15, says, « The house of Mr. NEIL
Fenousom, a settler from Scotland, situated in the
township of Leeds, was destroyed by fire, and the
whole family consisting of Mr. Feaciusox, his wife,
and four children, perished in the flames r •

CORONER'S INQuarrs.—Yesterday an Inquest was
held at the Clayton Arms, Clayton-street, Kt:lining-
ton, on the body of Mr. William 'f inkier, late land-
lord of the White Horse, Brixton Hill, one of the per-
sons who lost his life through the effects of the late
flood. Verdict—Found Drowned.
A second Inquest was held at the same time on the
body of James Simmons, whose body was found in
the same Creek. Verdict—Accidental D.,ath.

Au Inquest was held yesterday on the body of Mrs.
Mary Tomlins, aged 50, at the London Hospital. It
appeared in evidence that the deceased kept a board-
ing-school in Spring-gardens, Stepney, and went
from home on Sunday for the purpose of going to
chapel. From her infirmities she had occasion to
walk with a stick, and from the careless practice of
persons throwing orange peeling on the pavement,
her stick came on a piece, and she slipped down on
the pavement and broke her hip bone, and received
several other injuries. She was carved to the Lon-
don Hospital, being the nearest place, but she died in
the greatest agony. Verdict—Accidental Death.