The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-07-31 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

MELANCHOLY.SUICIDE.-

On Wednesday evening -hist'considerable sensation was
created in the neighbourhood of the New Ceinetry, iu censer
quenve of 1 person of respectable appearance having been found
in the grounds there with his throat cut from ear to ear in the
most horrible manner. He was not quite dead when discovered
in this awful situation, but-ire a few minutes afterwards he. ex.
pired. It was subsequently ascertained that the unfortunate
man was, Mr. J. F. Mercer, a gentleman of 'most respectable
family, who, some time ago, carried on the business of a wine
merchant in Chesterfield. near Sheffield, and had latterly been
connected with the firtit.of,Arrowbmith and Rider, in the same.
business, in Manchester. He arrived in Liverpool about a
fortnight ago, (during the races,) since which time he had taken
up his abode at the house of Mr. Roger Backhouse, the Wil
liam the 4th, in Williamson-square. From his unaccustomed
absence from Manchester, and not having written home, his
wife, who has a large family, became uneasy, and on Wednes-
day morning a friend of his came over to loiv.expool ler the pur-
pose of requcstiu' him to go home. His friend found. him 'at'
his liotel, and on the afternoon of the evening the shocking
deed was committed he promised to return with his friend to
Manchester by the five o'clock train. About four o'clock the
same evening he left his friend, at the same time shaking hands
with him, and stating that he would be punctual to the time the
omnibus started for the railway. At the hour deceased was ex-
pected, his friend ( Mr. Street, of Manchester) received the fol-
lowing letter, which had evidently been written before deceased
left the Walk= the Fourth, because the date of 29th of July
to be subsequently inserted, and before he departed he
inquired the day of the month:—
Liverpool, 29th of July, 1833.
" My dear Friend,—Since you left me my mind has become'
ten times moreoverburthened than ever, for the more I think
of matters, both public and- private, i find myself the less capa-
ble of bearing up against them. But before I write further upon
this melancholy subject let me entreat you, in almost my last
dying words, that you do not, under any circumstances, make
known this letter only to my dear wife and children, which
God in Heaven I hope will, in the utmost distress, give fortitude
to and assist under my unfirtunate extermination, which ha,
been chiefly brought on by three years and a half repeated insult
.
upon insult, tyranny upou tyranny. After every exertion within.
the limits of most men's powers had been put in force and effect
by me for the benefit of others, and that too without giVing the
slightest seeming satisfaction. Again, private pecuniary matters
have also very heavily borne upon me, and of which I can see
no earthly prospect of ever extricating myself from ; I have
therefore come to . the full determination of putting a period to
my existence in the Rock Cemetery, where I hope you Will find
me, and see me buried; and may the Almighty God have mercy
upon my hurried away soul ; and may he be pleased, in the
event of my wife's, or either of my boys deaths, to take them
into his holy keeping, from whence there is no return, is the best
prayer I can offer for them. The conduct of Mills upon this
occasion has been extremelY unfriendly as well as unmanly,
notwithstanding which I forgive him, and hope to die in perfect-
peace with all mankind. I should wish my warmest gratitude,.
to be offeredso Mr. John Wilkinson and family, arid also to,
Mr. Henry Wright, and his fauidy, both of. vrtiOnillaYe•heen,,
very great friends- to me, not only personally but in the way a
business. Accept also, my dear Sam, the same from thoisc',
hands which will very soon be no more.
"F. J. MERCER.
" The blessing of Almighty God be with and ever attend my,
dear, dear wile and three boys is the earnest prayer of .
" F. J. MERCER.
" P.S.—I was just closing this letter when I saw you and the.
captain coming'ult the flags from the York Hotel at noon."
Mr. Street immediately on the receipt of this letter hired a
coach, and went to the cemetery, but arrived too late, as the
unfirtunate gentleman had just expired.
Yesterday a coroner's inquest was held in the Town-clerk's.
office before atones • Pownall, Esq., oue of the bailiffs for the
borough, .and Hesketh Statham, Esq., clerk, on view of the
body, when Mr. Samuel Street, an eminent surveyor of Man-
chester, stated that he was intimately acquainted with the
deceased. Deceased left Manchester on the liTith day of July
instant, and came to Liver pool partly on business and partly on
pleasure, and to attend the Liverpool July races was another
object of his coming. On Saturday last witness was informed
that the deceased was absent from Manchester, and that Messrs.
Arrowsinith and Rider and his friends did not know where .he
was. The same afternoon circulars were issued in Manchester
by Messrs. Arrowsmith and Rider cautioning the public from
paving any more moneys to the deceased. On Tuesday last
witness heard that deceased was in Liverpool, and he deter-
mined to course over and see him, with a view of taking him
home. On that evening witness saw him- at the William the
Fourth, in Williams, .n-square, and had a good deal of conver-
cation with him, and he finally agreed to return to Manchester
the fallowing day with witness. Witness thought when he saw
him the this manner was conFi lerally changed from what it had
usually been. as be appeared 4n low spirits,. and, talked very
little. On Wednesday morning deceased appeared still more
depressed in spirits. On that day witness remained with him,
interval of two' hours, from eleven
with the exception of an in
o'clock in the forenoon uo tit four o'clock in the afte,rnoon, when'
deceased lett him, saying that he was going to his cousin's in.
Byrom•street, and would be back again at five o'clock to go to
Manchester bythe railway. Deceased particularly wished that
witness would defer going by the train at five o'clock, and go
by that at half-past five. Witness expected to have seen
'at thatlime,,instead of which he received the letter read. Wit-
ness immediately took a coach to the cemetery, and there found
him dead. • _

Captain Terence Garrett M‘Mahon stated, that he reides in
Williamson-square, and had known the deceased ,some time.
Had seen him since lying dead in the Cemetery, and knew
him to he Mr. Mercer of Manchester, the gentleman• alluded to
in Mr. Street's. evidence.
__

Jaynes Wiison, a publican, in Blair-street, Toxt et h- park,
stated, that the deceased who had called at his house a few
days previously, came in on Wednesday afternoon, a little be-
fore - four o'clock, and having called for a pint of " good ale,"
read. the. Liverpool Courier. After this he asked for sealing-wax
tai seal a letter with, which was brought to hint. flaying sealed
the letter, he i'sked if there was a boy who would take a letter
'to Williamson-square, and he would give. him 6d. ; a boy was
procured, and a man coming up at the time for a glass of ale,
deceased !aid, " Mr. Wilson. give him the pint I called Abr."
Deceased then went into the house, took a glass of brandy, cud
i,died..,wituues good night.. Witzuisa saw no. uousiaif
he ,40. v him dead shortly afterwards. • " .
, .
. Robert Jones; a constable, stated that on Wednesday after-
noon, between five o'clock cud- half-past five, he afitt into the
Cemetery in conseq.rence of hearing of the suicide: and in the
passage leading to the bottom of the Cemetery, near the chapel,
he found the deceased with his throat cut, iu the sho'Lkiog man-
ner described; • there was a razor lying on the ground near to
deceased, which was the saute now produced.. Witness carried
deCeased to ilewtou's public-house, Rathbone-street. Witco
witness came to deceased he wets stripped of bin}coat and:wilist-
coat, hat, and handkerchief, which lay beside bits.. Some Silver
and a pencil-case were found in
,his pockets.
This being the principal part of the evidence, the jury retired,
and shortly returned, with a verdict of "Temporary derange-
ment."

investment of 'Capital, that it would cause the buildings to be
erected upon such land to be of a wretched and cLlteriorated de-
scription, and that great injury would accrue to mortgagees,
Mr. Hohne concluded by proposing the first resolution.
Mr. HENRY BOOTH said, he could not .be considered as a
very great stickler for vested rights, but he would say, that tnev
ought not to be interfered with, unless any very great good
would be thereby received. (Cheers.) In the present case there
would not only be a very great injury to the holders of property,
but the interests of the town and the building Of property would
be greatly interfered with. He should, therefore, very cordially
second the resolution.
Mr. SAMUEL HOLME begged to make an observation which
had been that moment suggested to him, that there were at the
present time 150 acres of corporation property its the town
which was unbuilt upon, independently .of dilapidated houses.
The CHAIRMAN then put the iesolution, which was carried
unanimously. ; •
Mr. 'l'. B, BARCLAY briefly proposed.the second resolution,
which was seconded by Mr. ADAM HODGSON; and carried
unanimously.

Mr. S. tIoLsiE said that it might remove .any impression that
the corporation had made too high or too low a scale of fines,
when he mentioned that they-were calculated by Mr. Morgan,
of Loudon, on a fair and equitable principle between man and
man.

Mr. A mEROSE LACE said that some gentlemen were of opinion
that the two clausesin the billaffecting the leaseholders were not
sufficiently explicit. These clauses mean that the corporation
for the future shall have the power of leasing for 31 or 75 years,
but if for the latter period,.at an annual rack rent, and that in
case of a lease which shalt not be granted on these terms, the
Lords of the Treasury must be applied to for their sanction.
Now, he would ask, whether it was in accordance with their
ideas of sense, that an application for a five years' lease should
have to go before the Lords of the Treasury? There -were
3000 leaseholders in the town, and it was probable, from the
ground yet unbuilt upon, that there would be a still greater
number. He, himself, held as much as twelve statute act ea,
that would be, most probably, sold to 300 leaseholders, but he
could not build upon it without the risk of half the usual rate
of interest for such property, provided the act passed As it now
stood. The direction to the builder, in such a case ,would be,
as Mr. Holme had very justly described, " Erect a building
which will last for. thirty-one years; if it tails down at that time,
I cannot help it, for I cannot have it again." He would ask
whether there was not a much greater risk of jobbing and 'anfaii
dealing on their parts if the servants of the corporation should
have to lease at rack rents ? Should the surveyor let a friend.
of his have a lease worth £5O a-year at £25. It would lead to
more jobbing than any system that could be contrived: (Cheers.)
The property of the town would be thus .greatly deteriorated,
and would not be sold at the same prices. it eta well known
that at the present time no person would buy the remainder, of
an expiring lease without they could have a larger return of in-
terest than if it had seventy-five years to run; consequently,
the money that would otherwise be applied to the purchase of
co rporation property would pais intoother channels, and instead
,of such property being improved in value, no more would he
expended upon it than was sufficient to keep it in proper repair
:for'the remainders:4 the lease. _

Mr. Bitoo peyfectly coincided with Mr. Lace in the remarks
he had wade upon the injury which the clauses were likely to
entail upon both corporation and leaseholders. Like the story
of the reel in the bottle, -his only wonder wits, how they had got
in. The 94th clause must be considered as a continuation of
the 93d clause. it was very proper that the public mind should
be disabused.

Mr. Lack said he never sold a single yard of land without the
question being asked the corporation renew the lease?"-
and he had always replied that there was a regular scale, by
which it might be renewed at any time.
M r. STEWART having been strongly collet) Upon by Mr. Samuel
Holtue to give his valuable opinion upon the operation of the
clauses, then said he agreed with the gentlemen who had pre-
ceded him, that they were injurious and injudicious. By its
provisions it was quite impossible for a ship carpenter, or. a
cooper, whose buildings were of very little value, to have any
renewal of his lease. He saw a gentleman present a short time
previous, Mr. Fisher, the ship-builder, whose building yard was
corporation property, and had been in the possession of his
family for a long period. The bill would -operate very
materihlly against the renewal of Mr. Fisher's lease. It
was well known that the value of property in thee, town
was frequently affected by its position : elms, houses in
Great George's-square, St. Anne-street, and Wolstenholme.
square, would not now be worth so touch as they o-ere for-
merly. Suppose a gentleman had taken, a lease at the rack
rent of a house, iu any of these situations, when they were fa-
shionable, at a fair rent; and now that Wolstenhohne-square
is not a place of residence, he might wish to build a warehouse
in its place; if he had a large rack lent to pay, he would not do
so, for he would say he would be spending a large sum of money
for a building in which he had no interest. The clauses would
cheek all improvements--a great number of old leases are now
outstanding which are not renewed into 75 years. The mort-
gagee of such a house expects the mortgagor of the house at
present to put the house in full lease; and this being done, he is
satisfied. But if the property were to be renewed by an annual
payment of rack rent, the mortgagee has to pay the rent, and he
derives no value from it all; as a matter of figures, the renewal
of a lease is against the party renewing. It is much wiser to let
the lease go on until it is nearly run out.—(Cheers.)
Mr. M. a Lowndes said that the concluding part of the pe-
tition prays that the petitioners may
.be heard by counsel. Mr.
Lace, who has considerable interest tit corporation property in-
tended going toLoudon. He (Mr. Lowndes) therefore proposed
that a subscription should be entered into, for the purpose of
paying the expense of counsel.
Mr. BRooas:beggeri leave to move as an amendment, that
Mr. Lace be deputed by the leaseholders of Liverpool to go to
London, to watch over their interests.

This was carried unanimously, and upon the motion of Mr.
S. Holine, who spoke in the highest terms of the utility whiCh
Mr. Stewart would be of to the cause, Mr. Stewart was included
with Mr. A. Lace.

A subscription was then entered into by the gentlerien pre-
sent, and thanks having been voted to the chairman the ineettug
broke up.

THE NEW MECHANICS' INSTITUTE.

A meeting of the subscribers to the building fund of the Me-
shanics' Institute yeas heid clt_ the Cotton._._zales-rown ott Wed-
nesday, on which occasion Mr. Theodore Itathbone was called
to the chair." That gentleman intOrtned the meeting that through
the active exertions and benevolence of many gentlemen the
Subscriptions bad been increased from three thousand seven
hundreci iai" five thousand and seven pounds, being seven pounds
more than the sum originally intended to be raised. As, how-
ever, the corn now required ‘vouhl be eleven thousand imunds,
considerable discussion had arisen as to the propriety of pro-
ceeding with the building instanter ur waiting until two thousand
pounds more should have been:subscribed in addition to their
present funds. Some doubts too had arisen as to the povihility
of raising, by way of mortgage, any large sum upon a property
to which no rental was attached.
Mr. lt. V. 'Y produced a band to- render the committee'
individually liable ror the solo of one hundred and fifty pounds
each--but the worthy gentleman's proposition was negatived.
Mr. tat. remarked that it was quite farcical to retain the'
names of Lord •Sandon and Win. Ewart, Esq., on the committee.
Mr. Kim r was of a different opinion, as Air. Ewart; the hon.
stavmaker said, was now actively supporting, in his place in
parliament, two bills fur the iu,provement of artists, mechanics,
and manufacturers.
Ali. WILLIAM RATHBONg said the conversation was alto-.
gether irrelevant, the advertised object of the meeting -being
for .‘ the committee to report progress and to decide upon the
propriety of proceeding with the building,"
Air. itA vci.i VP said that at present the boys had not room to
lay their plods on the desks, and that if the building were com-
menced be thought the subscriptions would increase. He knew
if a certain person got the contract, his (that person's) brother
would give a considerable sum.
M r. asked if the meeting could be favoured with *sight
of the plans and elevation of the intended building ? To this
the chairman replied that it would be in the room in the course
of a few minutes.
knew why, for it is a
[The plan afterwards produced was, we'are informed, drawn
bveyry pvelayallitlngqiinatkaenr—likseelea(fft,l'idr—natildrYeeeived in preference to
several tendered hy the first architects iu Liverpool, and in
preference to one from- a London artist conversant with all the
public buildings M the united kingdom and the greater part „f
those on the continent.]
With reference to the plan exhibited; a gentleman asked if
the expense of the intended structure had been estimated from
working drawings
111 r. RADCLIFF replied in the affirmative. and that everything
had been done on the best system. •

Mr. Alderman CA sr: theii submitted, as a 'notion. "that the
committee be instructed to proceed in contracting for the in-
tended building forthwith."
Mr. THOMAS BOLTON, seconded by Mr. Cocit. AN, moved as
an amendment, " that the illllll of seven thousand pounds ►►hould
be first raised."

_
The motion of Mr. Alderman Case wag cart ietl unanimouslT,
the only dissenting hand held up against it being that of Mr.
'llotnas Bolton. When this tuotion nas carried the chairmen
diootve.l the meeting.

[We alwaytthought that the necessary funds and estimates,
founded upon the best plan, received atter mature deliberation
RS to its applicability for the purpose for which it was intent*,
were raised and agreed upon preeiuudy to laying the foundation
stone of a pisbiio building. The subscribers tothe building fund
have, however, the satisfaction of knowing that ever'thiug has
beet' done upon the best system. -Lord Brougham has Laid, the.
foundation stone—that is something any how.]