LONGEVITY.-In the commune...
The Times, 1824-09-11T00:00:00

LONGEVITY.-ln tde commune ot' Esladens, in the *le. paruLtment of the Upper Gjaronne, there died on) tht 2-.L uht. a man O! the name of' Stephen, B:que, who was upwards of 124 vears of age He waS born on the l6th of January, 171lt. fIe was latterly callec T/e S`aint. from his disposition to visit, ais a pilgrim, the celebrat& churche8 or miraculous shrines which abound in Spain. fie had several times p4id his devotions at the shrinc ot' S'. Jatmes, of Galli. cia, and that of our Lady of .Moiitscrrat. l:or the last sixtv leari of his lit'C, he constantly traversed the Py recneei, collecting mtnsdcina herbs, and living on the charkY of the peasantry. .The excess oG atlms which ,his extraoidinary reputation tor sznctily obtainet, hc distributed among the less iormtiate poor; and, relying on general benevolentce,he repeatedly rctusedl the succours evec t fi(overnnelftt His grotesqLue drees excited surprise, and his piety commanded re. spect wvherever lie went. 0scupiedl to Lhc last with the exercises ot prayer acid mortitication, te refiuseda the offer of a bed on which to rest his dying limbs, an( begged piqrmission te expire rether on) him pallet of straw. Ilis iienorv. which continued unimpaired to tite last, was sO stron, as to enable him to recognize his friends after 60 or (;i years of absence, and recoXIIt to yOungSters of i(, thie oc. currences whiah took place in the days of ticir gratndfathers. I NQUESTi Atr RLAMtStA'TIE.-'tVe gave in our last the par- ticulars of an itiquest which litd been held upon the body ot e child named Maria Mason, and we also stated tthe exLraordinarv re. iusal of Mt/r. 1Pettmian, surgeon of RIamsgatc, ut gite his evidence upon oath-iris subsequent elisappearance-the Coroner's issuing hit wirrant to apprehienid Mr. Pettmat-and the furtheradiourniment ot the i4que,t till Friday last, the :3d inst. Upon that das' the Jury again asseiilsled, and after sitting some little, the inquest was ad. journed for a fortnight, and the t-other of the deceased sflid libe. rated upon ball. ttito this hour lIt. Pettinan had neithler been ap- prehended nor 'had he made bis appearance. Otn Friday evening, hlOwever, he went to Sandwich, and iniiiediately apprised the Mayor by letter that lie was ready to atend hin,; and he was in comseouence served late in the evenitig with a notLice to attend the inqutest at Ranmsate on the folbloing morning. The town -clerk of Saniidwid (.lr. (larrett) was des,patlced to re-assenible the jury on Saturday. For the fifti titie the jury again rmet on that morning., atid atter ex'- mining Mllr. Petmian upon oath, together with others, the jury re- tuined a verdlict of " Departed this lift by the visi!afi to (. od. -- Suicii is the result of five days' irwestigation intothe cause of the death of t his poor child.-Ke),it Iler al,i. f VLA:.A 4CMOLY Acc(:ID2'N'I.-Ott -oitlay afternooni atbout three o'clock, the inhabitants of Baries were put in a sttate ut great Llariti by the utpiettidng of a, boat, in which were Lieutenant Webb and AIr. 1'alhicer, laue a isidlthipman in the Royta Navy. It appears thac a sudden gust of wind coming oni, Mr. Webb, who had cite helh, let go the main siteet, leaviric it tO his friend to brail it to tite mast ; the latter, however, losing hils presence of mind, fult his foot on the lee side of the boat, and tnade an attempt to catch the sheet ; im this act, tintortitnately, the boat was upset. Dlr. Nirebb, being a suplerior swimmier, saved himself; but we regret to add that lr. Palimer, after a tcw struggles, sunk to rise no more. After abtiut three iluarcers of an hour's search, his body waNs tbutid, and was takeni into the house of C:aptatii Cowper, tesitting there, wtiere every exertion was used to restore animation, but without effect. M r. Palmer was a sitigle man, abottt 2k years of age, and has left a mothier anti sisters to regret his loss. DgESTRucIrtr' EFitRE.-Last night,abou t half-past 9 o'clock, adestractivefire broke outin Rosemary Branch-lane,Resetnary-lan,c Towver-hill. The fire is supposed to have orielinated in the house of a cooper. The neighiboorhood is litihabited by foreign Jews, who were seen ruconing about in all directions, in a state o' nudity. The surrounding shops ic Rosemary-lane were so overpowered with the unexpected visitation, that they txfused to opeis their doors to the fu- gitive wretches, doubting the truth of their latnicttable story, tili they raised their eyes, and( saw the whole horizon in A biaze. No soouier weretthc poor d&stitutc creatures adinitti, titahn hev said that upwards of30 houses were enveloped in flames. Tihe fire-enigines now arrived, but could only act in a partial nianner, in consequence of' the contracted situation of the buildings. 'l'he rain fell very heavy during the evenici", and was then falling in torrents; but it wauremarked, that fire aiways buirns fiercer in such cases. We ui- derstand that noless ttian 20 fires itave takeni pitce in tils inanmmediate vicinity during thc last year, and severil within a feew yards of Lhis very sBot. At ten o'clock several etigines arrived, but their exer- tions were neeessurily. limited bv the narrowness of the space. NV'e have not heard thaw any lives were lost, but the fire has done great damage. SutdtDE.-On Monday night last, a man named Beckett went to the gaol at Chester, tnd demanded admittance, declarin$ that lie had committed a rape. He was desired to go about his business. when he observed, that he was guilty and deserved hanging, a&W if he was not taken in as a prisoner, lie would do something to himn- self. He was not attended to: next morning he walked down to a place called the Groves, atid threw himself into the Dee. where he was drowned. There is no doubt but that he was suffering under mental derangemee4t. The rains in the tneighbourhood of Chester have been very heavy this week; with a likeliiood of contintuance. The very small quantity of grain in the fields is tlierefore placed in great jeopardy. We are sorry to learia t.hat a sergeant's gtard of the Ist Royals wfere mostly killed aind wounded in a rencontre with the country'people in sheneighbourhoodof Castlebar, county Mayo, while endeavouring to protect an iJlicit sti wbichs they seized, and wvhich wat rescued by the mssob. The bodies of some of ite soldiers have not yet been foansd.-Ctonmel .Herjsld.