The Weymouth, Portland and Dorchester Telegram. — 1869-09-17 (Weymouth, Dorset, England)

SUICIDE OP A "SHAKER." The American paper. contain reports of an inquest held at Leabanon Springs on tho body a • Poor 70000 girl named Ellen Calor, • member of Me United Society of Shokers, who hod committed suicide by drowning herself on the sth of June laac The inquiry which tole place immodiaMly after her death not being esteemed matiefactory—sino it ow held before • frit:Lally Joytioe:f. theaLP.= iltdlref.oren,attea, Comm investigation into all the cecumetances v. 0.0 made, at Me clom of last month. Ellen Calves with her parents mud her faintly, nine in Dumber, soled from Eugland November ISIS, and landed in Aineri. on New Year's day of 1850. She was then • MOM more man two years of age. in September of 100 or. Mar the child, hong about thr. years old, was 'moved to Oho Church Family of Shakers at Now Leabanon rind there, wo penman, she remained uotil, on the s.thi of June. .10 wan found drowned in • pm& Her Msto nmeli. stated before the Coroner that she had seen Ellen on the day of her death ; and the only thing that amok her on that morning was, MO the deceased metaled pale, ate no breakfast, and W. niore than anti, out of sorts. E'er the promo month she had been “queir," though she had made no complaint. There I. no nedd for the hypotheate of foul play ;but, Vatbete'rn. iteh,001000,00)1077.° 'l`o7l'soolol= the saga-, Coroner, Omani Allan, of Chatham, the Seekers Lad entrueOd the conduct of the hootigation Seiutre Bull, who seems to have been musidred their friend. liumour in the States is even more fast aml deo of wing Mao arnonget ourselves What if the you. girl had onee by bar death oofoooloi Might 1010,0 not hoe been signs of violet..o7 oth. r mark* Mout the body which would had to • shrewd guess the oal cause of death? After lying seven woke in Mc grave, the body of the unfortunate 0u.6 I 70=:5% wp;:c:Mart.; jute r,g'ut; Inquiet. Amelia Calves Ellenk Mater, was allowed to inform the Court of a revelation which she had received 1,,,, 150 160(007 yer I,lciejo%the grave, oShe told Me Mesmer Eql'entinicue viTa'rthoof'bero7.l'o7,V,!ft7:o":.:oo wotten down by me. I gave iv to mr hrother- She told inc she would not Lao caused o—the Shakers—so nmch I ouble Mr eix thensand winkle. She said elm felt etrome . Me stood by the am., and wanted to jump right ;bon something held her beck. atid she kliew tau inure until the voter struck her face. 100,0 had no doll* about her death since her communication to MP. She never opressed dhmtisfaction with the Shakers." Now, from this revelation—for testimony it Ott scarcely be ealled—it is plaln toot the Shaken, leered to get into trouble about Ellen Calver's death. Her lister obviooly entertained doubts. even .1 0,01, as to the cause of death; mai, finally, the uroncy of 11,, case has been m great that a apint mud needs be aummoned to captain the Mlficulty ! But see how magrahful otos people are. The first pereen examined haler. the Cotoner was Betijanatiee Oates, one of the tam.oo taf the octet,. 10,0000 he had noticed evidences inemalty as far bob az January last. He skawfa it in her eyes. Insanity rem hmeditorary in Me milmily —were they not ell ephitualios The other witnesses exatxdued before the Coroner do mot appear to have thrown very much light on the induedtate cause of the poor girl's suicide. Sarah Ann Standish, • member of Me society, affirmed that Ellen hid complained of feel.. ingbad in Ler head before the fith of June. She helped ,to Mx" the body in the coMet, Itloo. no bruise upon it. George Johnson had seen the body after death, , the next day, and ho had 0000001.0010 on Mc forehead, the eze of • abiding. near the edge of the hair. One of tho sister. had told him that Ellen mot bare hit ber head against something at the bottom of the pond. Kelm Beck bad noticed the poor girl to be extremely unsettled and "0007 funny in the eye, shortly before , she ruslied out to throw herseif into the eater. James Moon gave some curious Metiony as to the minotely , virtuous rulee of the order—for ilifitUace, limit it Vile L.Collilat, to adders to oh lee hands with worldly women without cutifeseina ;to play mth cats and dogs ; for brothers and sisters (of the community) to plea on the ataire ;to go out of 1.1. door-yard inthout liberty ; to read newspaper. ;" les The eau. triton. I declared Mat the Shakers made great pretensions 10 cheat., and preached it from mono)10 to oight 701 he had hen Solo few days in the somety, whin pooe I Moily Slaughor- Marred of all innocent joys aud ',mixed, perhaps, by curiosity about the real meaning of the virtue m perendently dinned la her ears-- ote me that Me loved me, and she hoped I would 00001 100 in the garden." Young Mr. Moon declared Mat he , 1.1 " .00 050 014,00 .08 Elderesses oing into each others rohmk at almost every time of the day ;" but clearly the Society could not admit that the testimooli of this witness ws worth .11,0011 g—for had he not the effronty to confess that he "met that girl in the garden,' Other evidence prompted more than • su-picion that the Shaker community .1 o.o* Lebanon 000104 10 bob up the affair of Ellen Calor by getting witneseete out of the way ; but, on the whole, the So tv does not seem to have exercised my severitio Mat directly caumd the suicide • and the Shakers are held to be •• exonerated" by Me vcidict Mat Me dimmod committed suicide by 1000,0100. Still, the peculiar people of New Lebanon do not seem to have Mom tbe ordeal with the online, eaLn of eitascious innocent.o. 01,07 000008 • statcoat to he read before their uieetisg. in which they gave their own 0000'00 00 the neat., and in that acmunt • few ascertained points of the poor girl's bMgraphy are set out as we have given Mem. Me is described as a person of be iiht intellect, sensiiive temperament, and delMate brain ; of oblemi-hed reputation, end of comlot above censure. In her phrenological character were preclommant veneration, firinneas, self..temn, mei large hope. She hall element illuminations while in thia family imitable. She over ex,reesed di-satisfmtion with the Simko, therefore the °MY mum, as somc impose, which .uld bare led tn so untimely and disagreeable m exit wm iremnity on this point of epirit life in the spirit sphers" The Shakers aro at great pains 10 .o,o* hove they adopted all the ph:cautious in their power to give poblicity to her death, end 00 00011 ' investigation ; in Mort. they., that they did everything posaible, save summonsinglhe Coroner. Granting that they are " exonerated," WM, all the incidents strongly recall 10 000 minds 0500100000, nernimedi haphazard striving of peculiar sects in the Stateo to Sod out the truth about either life.