The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1848-06-13 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

ALLEGED MURDER AND SUICIDE AT BRISTOL.— OR Monday the bodies of Maria, Edward, and John Hill, mother and children, were exhumed for the purpose of being submitted to an examination, rendered necessary under the following-circumstances :—ln October last the wife of Mr. Thomas Wellington Hill, a retired builder of Bristol, died somewhat suddenly, and her death was followed in a short time afterwards by the decease of two of her children. No suspicion was attached to any party at the time of the death of Mrs. Hill, and not until application was made by the husband for the amount of a policy effected upon the life of the wife in the National Lean Fund Assurance Society. As the policy was to a large amount, £3',000, and was only effected four months previous to the death of the insured, the parties in the insurance office disputed payment and caused inquiries, to be made respecting the death of the wife, and it was discovered that her illness had been attended by vomiting. Mr. Hill having threatened the insurance society with an action, they caused the body of the wife and also the bodies of the children to be disenterred, and the intestines given to Mr. Herapath, the celebrated chymist, for analyzation. During the time the bodies were being disinterred the suspected party committed suicide by means of essential oil of almonds which he had procured—a portion himself and another portion by means of a sister—from. two druggists' shops. Mr. Hill wrote a note previous to taking the poison, in which he said, in disconnected sentences, " his head suffered severely from mental distraction. His mind was bowed down by the attempt of a powerful party to crush him. He was not guilty of the atrocious charge," &c. At the inquest respecting the death of Mrs. Hill and the children, it was stated that in each case arsenic had been detected, and the inquiry was adjourned to to-day (Tuesday). TRADE AepouNTs.—We are sorry to perceive that the official tables-of the board of trade for the past and present years, ending on the sth ult., show a very unsatisfactory state of things. The falling off in the import of tea has been upwards of one million pounds. But it is in our export trade that affairs look most gloomy. During the first four months of the present year, the total decline in the value of our exports, as compared with those of the same period last year, was £1,746,937, or, at the rate of £5,240,000 a-year. The value of the exports, in the month ending sth May, in the present and the two prece, ding years, were the following :  1846. 1847. 1848. £ e 1,467,530.... 1,646,252.... 1,272,351 746,333.... 670,082.... 298,078  Cotton manufactures Cotton yarn  As the exports to the East Indies and China have been on a tolerably large scale, the preceding decline, and particularly the striking decrease in the shipments of yarn, are due to the disorganised state of commerce on the continent of Europe. The total exports of British produce and manufactures also show a decided decrease, both for the month and the four months ending sth May. They are the following  1846. 1847. 1848. .e Month ending sth May 4,337,683.. 4,812,852.. 3,345,735 Four months ending sth May 15,873,858.. 16,157,969.. 14,411,032 These accounts now begin to exhibit the effects of the large purchases of silk goods in France, consequent upon the low prices prevalent in that country. There is a very large increase in the imports during the month, the quantities being 70,606 lbs. weight this year against 41,622 lbs. in 1847, and 52,566 in 1846. The imports for the four months comprised in the accounts, also exhibit a marked. increase in the present year.