The Sun. — 1848-08-25 (London, England)

SUICIDE AT GREENWICH. Yesterday evening Mr. C. J. Carttar held an inquest at the Greyhound inn, Greenwich, to inquire into the circumstances attending the death of Mr. James Coro, late of the firm of Messrs. Corns and Roberts, clothiers and outfitters, 63, Shereditch, who was found weltering in his blood, with a pistol by his side, at that inn. Mr• James Corse, sen., identified the body of the deceased as that of his son, aged 22 years. The deceased, who was engaged in the business of the firm, left home about ten o'clock on Tuesday morning to purchase goods at a warehouse in Wood-street. Witness found that deceased had purchased several hundred pounds worth of goods, which were sent home that day. Never saw the deceased afterwards.  Thomas Roworts, the waiter, said deceased came in soon after ten o'clock on Tuesday night, and engaged bed, and then sat for about twenty minutes in the coffeeroom, when he went to bed. He seemed low and desponding. In the morning witness was called up stays by the maid servant, and he found the deceased lying undressed, prostrate, and bleeding from a wound in the head.  Mr. John Sewell, surgeon, proved that death had been occasioned by the deceased's shooting himself with a pistol. The ball had lodged in the head near the left temple.  The following is a copy of a letter which was found upon the person of the deceased : " Greenwich, Monday Evening. "My dear Father,—My madness has at length conquered me. Now, when in possession of everything I wished, all around me seems nothing but gloom. That great defect of my character, want of determination—ft defect that I have laboured day by day and hour by hour for the last three or four years to cancel—grows upon me and spoils me in everything I undertake. I dare not look to the future, for I see it there making a beggar of me. For myself I care not, but time must reconcile those whom I would rather undergo any torture thka bring into trouble. It is the certainty that this day would come, sooner or later, which determines me now, while unfettered, to end all. Did I, my dear father, see. one ray of hope for improvement in my nature, I would live. The only future that I can paint to myself is wife and children beggars, and myself hearing theirs and the world's curses for bringing them to that state. Be it cowardice, or be it laziness, it is not to be eradicated. How many times have I tried, and how many times have I flattered myself improving, and yet it remains an indelible black spot, as even at school. It was the same in America to a great extent, but since I have been home the thing becomes worse and worse. I cannot write—it unnertes me for that which I now feel to be my duty. I had intended not to have written, but felt that I owed to all who might otherwise have thought themselves in some way connected with my determination. I state again that my only reasons are the feeling of thorough incompetency to grapple with the world in business—a feeling of disgust for rn) self every day, for doing so little, so that my brain wanders, I can scarce see what I write. Give my love to all. I could not bid them good bye. Let Lizzy have the disposition of my things, and ask her to see to the letters and journals. I die, as I have lived, the wretch of the family.—Good bye! Good bye!" Mr. Corss, after hearing the letter read, said it was mere delusion of the brain, as not one young man in a hundred had better prospects or more dsmestic comforts. The family were united, and lived on excellent terms. The deceased, who laboured at times under great depression of spirits, left home one morning, and the next tuve he heard of him was by letter dated New York. Dr. Coulson, of the Old Jewry, in a letter, said that be attributed the act to physical causes, constitutional di facts which had been coming on for a length of time. The CORONER remarked at some length upon the case, and said that after reading the letter in the deceased's own hand there could be no doubt as to his state of mind. Verdict—" Insanity."  b 92 bition