Papurau Newydd Cymru
Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru
10 erthygl ar y dudalen hon
. FRIGHTFUL TRAGEDY NEAR WINDSOR
FRIGHTFUL TRAGEDY NEAR WINDSOR On Wednesday afternoon Mr. Rupert Clarke, the coroner for Berkshire, opened an inquiry at the Fox and Punchbowl tavern into the deaths of John Richard Cook, aged forty-two; Mary Ann Cook, aged nine; Agnes Josephine Cook, aged five; Eugene Cook, aged four; and Louisa Elizabeth Cook, aged two years. The jury having been sworn, with Mr. George Allen, churchwarden, as foreman, proceeded to view the bodies, the child Mary Ann only having died on Tuesday night about twelve o'clock.. Mr. Superintendent Reece watched the case for the police, and the inquiry, for more spaoe, was taken at the workhouse, when the following evidence was taken:- Joseph Brant said he was a gardener, and brother- in-law to the deceased man, John Richard Cook, who had been a hairdresser. The witness spoke to the ages of the deceased, as above given. He saw Cook weekly. Cook's wife died on; the 17th of July. Witness last saw Cook alive on Monday evening week, and they had something to drink together. Witness saw the child Mary Anne on Friday, who came to witness's house. Since his wife's death witness had not had much conversation with him, nor'did he seem an altered man. Witness had never seen Cook in- toxicated. Cook had scarcely had any employment since the death of his wife, and only jobbed about since he left Slough, about four years ago, when he was bankrupt. Prior to her death the family were principally supported by'the wife's exertions as laun- dress. Witness had heard that he had something regularly from Eton College. The Rev. Mr. Blunt: I think he had about £ 20 a ^By the Jury: There had not been any marked alteration in Cook's manner since his wife's death. Caroline Amelia Brant said she was the wife of the last witness, and sister of Cook's late wife. She knew the family, and thought that they principally lived since his wife's death on the subscriptions of the gentry in the neighbourhood. Witness had not seen Cook to have any conversation with him till she met him on Saturday evening in Sheet-street, Windsor. About half-past eight on Friday evening, the child Mary Ann came to witness's house and said, Aunt, I want to speak to you. Father has sent me to borrow two candles." Witness lent her one, and asked how her sisters were. The child said not very well, and repeated that answer on the question being again put. That was the last time witness saw her until Sunday afternoon about a quarter-past four. The child could not then speak at all. Witness did not know any of the relations who could give any in- formation as to Cook's doings during the week just past. He was a kind father, and there did not seem to be any difference since his wife's death. The Coroner said he should be glad to have any in- formation.. 1 The Rev. Mr. Blunt, the vicar, said that he had 1 undertaken to receive subscriptions for the benefit of Cook and his family, and during his (Mr. Blunt's) absence, Mr. Harwood, the curate, had given orders for necessaries, which had been supplied. On one of those orders Cook had written other things, and that had given rise to a bad feeling on Cook's part, because Mr Harwood had rebuked him for such conduct. George Lovell, No. 26, said he was constable in the Berks constabulary, stationed at Old Windsor. He knew the deceased man Cook and the children. From information he received he went to Cook's cottage, and upon getting there heard a man named Wyatt say that none of Cook's children were about, nor Cook himself. Witness knocked at the door about ten minutes past two, but not receiving any answer he went round to the back door, and also knocked three times. Ultimately, not getting an answer, he went to the front door again, and knocked loudly; after which he looked through the window, and saw a bed on the floor, and, as he faneied, a child lying on ft. Witness called a man named Temple, who was standing in the road, and said, I'm afraid it's a case with them. He went round again, and got in at the back window, aiad there saw a pail with a quantity of blood in it. He should think there was half a gallon. The razor produced was found on the mantelshelf. It was tied! tightly with tape, so that it should not shut or push back. There were blood and black hair on it. There wa3 not any trace of blood on the floor. He went into the front room, and there covered over were the three dead bodies of children. (The witness was so much affected that for some time he could not proceed with his evidence.) Witness called Temple in, Mid, making further search, they found up-stairs the child Mary Anne on the bed. In the next room he found Cook on the bed, with his throat cut: there was a handkerchief and cloth tied round his neck, as if to stanch the blood. The child Adelaide was lying by his side with a bandage round her throat, so that he supposed her throat was cut also. Cook could speak, and said, For God's sake, Mr. Lovell, give me some water, for I am parchod with thirst! Rub my belly. rub my belly I" Witness made a search, and found three bottles that apparently had contained laudanum. There was other poison besides. He died about a quarter past seven on Sunday. He frequently asked for cold water before Mr. Pearl arrived. The child Mary Ann died on Tuesday morning at half-past twelve o'clock. I Mr. Herbert Reece said he was inspector of police ,e for the division, and on being called to Cook's cottage, found the bodies of the deceased man Cook and his children. That was about four o'clock. He saw Cook upstairs vomiting a black fluid. Witness said, What have you been doing, Cook; taking poison ? and Cook said "-Tes. Mr. Pearl asked if he had been taking vitriol. Witness looked round the room, and on the drawers saw the bottle produced, about half full of oil of vitriol. There were three phials with laudanum in them. In a basin at the foot of the bed where the child Mary Ann was lying there was a quantity of tea with oil of vitriol in, or other strong acid. Witness asked the little girl if that was the tea her father gave to her, and she said yes. Witness asked when he gave it to her, and she said on Friday, she thought at dinner-time. She was quite conscious at the time, but replied in a very low tone. In the room where the father was lying he (Mr. Reece) found a quantity of clothes saturated with blood. Downstairs were two memorials or petitions on the table. He had seen the child Adelaide upstairs, and had her removed to the Windsor Infirmary. Witness also found a letter from the Rsv. Mr. Blunt, stating that he would take charge of and apply any subscriptions that might be given. There was also an agreement between Mr. Clarke and Cook with reference to a projected benefit at the Windsor Theatre, dated 7th September, 1864. The second memorial was a counterpart in substance of the George Hailey, polioe-cons-table 55, Berks constabu- lary, said that he accompanied Mr. Reece to the cot- tage of Cook, and there found some papers. There is a letter addressed to Mr. A. Cook, Foot Barracks, Mess-waiter," and another to Rev. Mr. Blunt, Old Windsor." There are three pieces of paper with pencil writing on them. The writing is in the following words :—Whoever finds this piece of paper please to go direct to my brother, at the Foot Barracks, and tell him what has happened to us. Ask him to go to my brother servants at Colleg, and ask them to speak to Mr. Harrison about our coffins, and ask my brother servants to follow us to our graves; tell them I shall btf greatly oblig to them if they will do me this last reI" qnest for me. Tell them I am miserable and unhappy, and I cannot get anything to do to support my children. Since I have lost my wife I have been miser- able and unhappy. I can scarcely keep in my right senses; my brains wonders; I am sure I cannot be in my right sences. I have prayed to the Almighty God to forgive me all my sins I have committed through life. I am sure if the gentlemen of Eton Colleg knew in the way I am paid they would pitty me, and they would bury us at their own expense. Pray tell them no and not lett us be buried at the parish expense. "J.COOK. "Please to send for Mr. Pearl; tell him I wish him to see us, and I pray he will not cut and hack us about, as he can see the cause of all this. If I could have got any employment that would not have happened; Taut I am so involved in debt that I cannot get any peace of mind, for every one is troubling me for money daily is the cause of'all this, and I am truly sorry it is not 'in my power to pay them. I pray every one not to speak disrespectful of me now I am gone. Had my poor wife lived this would not have happened. I can say we loved each other dearly, and we loved our children dearly. I have praid that my dear wife's sale is gone to heaven, and I pray the Almighty will receive our souls into the kingdom of heaven. l ain growing weak and my brain wonder. I pray God to forgive me. Good bye every one. God bless every one." The following was written on part of a supplement of the Bucks Advertiser, No. 1,093, vol. 21, the date being cut off, the day of the month being only left, so far showing it was December :—" Thursday, Sept. 20, 64.—I am quite tired of my life and not a friend in the world to speak to. If I speak to the clergyman I am treated with the greatest disdain, and what for I do not no. I am accused o that by them that I am not gilty o althoe they acouse me. If my poor wife was alive, poor dear, she would exonerate me from all I am accused of by them. The wicked people may talk but God above no all my poor dear wife visit me nightly and pray for me to leave the wicked world and come to her and bring the children with me, for she is sure I have enough to contend with them. She sais come to me while there is a vacancy by my side, for she is sure that Mr. Blunt would allow you to be buried by my side, and the children by hers. I have spoken to Mr. Harwood, but he is no gentleman, for he will not give a poor man a fair hearing. He would make a bad judge. I told him on Monday morning last that I wished to say something to some gentleman, then I should be happy, but still accused me, and would not give me a hearing. I have prayed heartily for my forgiveness, which I hope God Almighty will be pleased to forgive me.—JOHN COOK." The following letter addressed to his brother was also produced:- "My dear brother Alfred,-I hope you will come and see me. Give my love to my sisters, tell them I would have come and seen them, but I was to Heart Broken to see any one, for I no I have not a friend in the world to speek to of any comfort. Please send word to my brother Charles, and tell him I wish him to come to me directly, for I wish to see him directly, for to make all arrangements as reguards our funne. rells. I hope and trust that Mr. Harrison will make our coffins, and my brother servants will attend. I hope my fellow-servants will do all they can so that we might not be buried by the parish expense. Mr. Vaughan, Mr. Holderness, Mr. Whitfield, Mr. Carter, Mr. Westbrook, Mr. How&s, Mr. Shaw, Mr. James, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Long, Mr. Gardner, I forget your name. I humbly and pray you will be so kind as to petition to the college so that we might not be buried by the parish. My brain wonders, my poor dear wife is with me now and teaching me wat to wright. I pray do not disapoint me at my funeral there good souls. God Almighty will reward you all for your kindness. I must now conclude with a very heavy and haking Heart almost driven to madness.-I am yours, J. COOK." The'letter to the Rev. Mr. Blunt was as follows:- I have tried hard to get in your good favour, but I find there are too many against me, and you, rev. sir, give way to the idol tales, and will not believe the truth, as Mr. Harwood has accused me a great many times of that I never have be guilty of. I have asked Mr. Harwood the favour to give up his author, so that I might bring them to justice to exonerate mys-self of all these idol tales. I am sorry to say there are a great many in the parish that are found of finding faults with others instead of looking to them- selves, for the sake of getting in favour themselves. Look, rev. sir, at the thing in thp right; see the thing. yourself before believing idol people talk. My brain wander, forgive me if I say anything wrong; there are many people in this parish are guilty of telling the greatest untruth ever herd. I hope, rev. sir, you will forgive me writing to you in this way. My poor dear wife comes to me nightly and wishes me to come to her and bring the children with me, for she sais she knows I have a great deal to contend with to support them. She is with me now; she sais,' Come, come to me and bring the children with you, for I am sure the Rev. Mr. Blunt will alow you to buried by my. side, and the children by the side of you; pray come quick, before some one else takes your place by the, side of me.' I hope and pray to God that the Rev. Mr. Blunt will grant me that favour to be buried by the side of my wife and my children by the side of me; it is my wife's nightly request.-I am your humble; servant, J. R. COOK." The Coroner said the letters and papers found would; largely assist the jury, and he proposed to take the; medical evidence, when perhaps a decision would be, come to. Mr. Pearl said: I am a medical practitioner at. Windsor, and was called to the deceased on Sunday afternoon about four o'clock. His beard was elottea, with blood, and his right arm and shoulder covered with blood. He vomited constantly dark acid matter, and complained of great pain in his belly. Remedies were administered, and at six o'clock I asked h.m when he cut his throat and the child's, Adelaide, and: he said-he did it the night before, below stairs, and Irhey had been bleeding into a pail nearly all night. I then asked him when he gave the other children poison,, and he said, I never gave them any poison at all; it was the oldest child did it." He said, when he out the second child's throat he had worked himself up to a pitch of madness. He made his answers quite rationally. A post-mortem proved that he died from the effect of some corrosive poison, and vitriol would give exactly such appearances. I have made a. post- mortem of the child Agnes Josephine. There were no marks of violence, but the front of the body was quite green, and beginning to decompose rapidly. There ■mavn marts over the rest of the body. Internally "VoL' "do there was no morbid appearance in the organs of the body. There was no odour of poison, certainly not vitriol, but the effect of the presence of opium or some other poison might pass away. The child did not die from any natural cause.. The' Coroner summed up, and the jury ultimately found "That the deceased children we-re destroyed by their father, John Richard Cook, and that he alters wards destroyed his own life, but in what state or mind he was in at the time there was not sufficient evidence to determine." evidence to determine." The Funeral of the Murderer and his Victims. On Friday morning, at nine o'clock, the funeral of the murderer and suicide, John Richard Cook and the four murdered ohildren, Mary Ann, Agnes Josephine, Eugenie, and Louisa Elizabeth, took place at Old Windsor. The dreadful nature of the circumstances in connection with the deaths of the sufferers at. tracted a large number of persons, notwithstanding the early hour fixed for the performance of the sad and mournful ceremony. The bodies of the father and children were placed in neat elm coffins, bearing suitable inscriptions, and were furnished by the parish, at the expense of which the funeral was carried out. The friends and relations of Cook and his children having assembled at the cottage at Old Windsor- green, the scene of the murder and suicide, a funeral procession was formed, the body of Cook, with the coffin covered with the usual pall, being carried first on the shoulders of four of the undertaker's men. Next came the four little coffins containing the bodies of the poor children (each covered with a snow-white cloth), and borne on the shoulders of eight young men seleeted from the village. These were followed by the relatives of the deceased in black, the Police-constable George Lovell, who discovered the murder, also taking part in the procession, which was followed by a large number of villagers and spectators. It was a sad and touching spectacle which the mournful procession presented as it wound along the road on the bright autumn morning, on its way from the cottage so lately the scene of such an accumula- tion of horrors to the Old Windsor Churchyard, where the remains of Cook and his children were to be interred. The churchyard is about a mile from the house of Cook, and was reached about half-past nine, when the body of the murderer was taken through the west door into the body of the church, the coffins containing the bodies of the murdered children being taken round the church to the great door on the south side of the building, where the Rev. J. Blunt having pre- viously met the procession, commenced reading the Burial Service, the coffins being also placed in the body of the church while the service was continued. On leavintr the church the coffin containing the body of Cook was taken to and placed in a grave or hole which had been dug in an. obscure corner at the west extremity of the churchyard, near the wall which separates the graveyard from the road. Here it was deposited without any ceremony, while the four little elm coffins of the girls were placed in one common grave, over which the remainder of the service was performed by the vicar, the relatives and crowd stand- ing round and listening attentively, while many an eye was wet at the remembrance of the shocking fate which had cut short the lives of these four poor innocents. Towards the conclusion of the service the vicar briefly but earnestly, addressed the crowd around the grave,'after which the crowd of villagers and specta- tors left the churchyard, apparently much impressed with the address they had just listened to.
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A DISEASED HEART: AN EXTRAORDINARY…
A DISEASED HEART: AN EXTRAORDI- NARY CASE. Mr. Payne, coroner, held an inquest in the vestry of St. John's Church, Southwark, on the body of a married man named William Henry Cummings. The deceased and his wife had been lodging with a person named Seagar, residing in New-street, for the past twelve months. One day, about five weeks before Whitsuntide, when deceased returned home, he stated that he had met with an accident, that he had lifted a heavy iron girder up, and it had caused a pain in his heart. He afterwards became so ill that he had to go into Guy's Hospital, where he was told that he had shifted his heart. He left the hospital after remaining about five weeks. He was then much better, but he still continued to complain of pain in the head, face, and collar-bone. On Sunday last he complained more than he had previously done, espe- cially of giddiness in the head. On Monday a short time after he had got oat of bed, he was heard to fall heavily upon the floor, and he soon after expired. Dr. Higgins deposed that he was called on to see the deceased on Monday morning,' but when he arrived life was quite extinct. He had since made a post- mortem examination of the body of the deceased. It was a very interesting case indeed. He found the heart about twice its proper size, and the pericardium filled with coagulated blood. There had evidently been a rupture, but not caused by the accident. Ha should consider that deceased had died from disease of the heart, and that the disease had been going on for some time. No doubt deceased had disease of the heart before the accident, but the accident would be likely to accelerate death. He added that he had never seen such an interestiag case. He had made upwards of three hundred post-mortem examina- tions, and he had never seen a heart so large. Ultimately the jury returned a verdict of acci- dental death.
REMARKS ON THE LATE FORGERY…
REMARKS ON THE LATE FORGERY OF FORTY THOUSAND POUNDS. The Mining Journal has the following:—The failure of a house this week, caused by the defalcations of a confidential clerk and cashier, whose forgeries are said to amount to nearly £ 40,000, has caused some excite- ment in the City, especially as the delinquent was known to be a large speculator in foreign stocks and shares, and an occasional dabbler in mines. We understand it was not generally, if at all, known that the person alluded to held any commercial situation whatever. He was known to deal extensively on his own account in Russian produce, and to receive large remittances from St. Petersburg; and we believe some of the large houses in the City, who occasionally made advances upon bills so received, were ignorant that he was engaged in any situation of trust, and looked upon him as one trading on his own account. In reference to his share speculations, we think we shall be able to show, from various reliable sources of information, that a comparatively small amount of money was ever paid by him for losses in mining speculations; and that many of the dealers in the Mining Market are rather severe sufferers through his default. When East Caradons were between X40 and £ 50 per share, the person alluded to had the mine privately inspected, and upon getting his agent's report he employed five or six different brokers on the Stock aJid Mining Exchanges to buy largely for him, for the account." The price, however, contrary to his expectations, went down, and when the day of settlement came the dif- ferent brokers found, to their astonishment, that they had all been buying for one and the same person, who could neither take up the stock nor pay the "difference." Consequently every broker had to pro- vide for the settlement in the best way he could, and a panic ensued in the shares, which many of the readers of the Mining Journal will remember. The total loss in all these transactions which had to be provided for by the market amounted to something rov e' like £ 6,000; and this was eventually settled by the defaulter giving his own acceptances for small amounts for different dates, extending over a period of more than two years. As some of the earliest of these bills became due, we understand, one or two lucky hits enabled him to meet them out of profits made; but many had t@ be renewed, and the^e, with others for rather a large amount, still remain in the hands of persons on the market, and, of course, are valueless. His speculations in mines, however, from all we can gather, were as nothing oompa-red with his transac- tions in foreign stocks and of late he was known to have lost very heavily in one of the newly-established joint-stock banks.
REMARKABLE CASE AT ACTON.
REMARKABLE CASE AT ACTON. On Saturday, at the Hammersmith police-court, Margaret Campbell, aged thirty-five, and Sarah Harris (known until the inquiry opened as Miss Fogarty), aged twenty-two, surrendered to their bail on.a charge of concealing the births of two children, the bodies of which had been found in a box at 21, Argyle-villas, Mill-hill-road, Acton, a house in the occupation of the elder prisoner. The main facts as elicited at the first inquiry having been already published, the following ad- ditional evidence was taken on Saturday Emma Rachel Clare said she had lived as a general servant at Mrs. Campbell's, No. 21, Argyle- villas. About the end of last November she had been out for a holiday, and on her returning home Mrs. Campbell and her sister (known as Miss Fogarty) were quarrelling. Mrs. Campbell threat- ened that Miss Fogarty should leave at the end of another week, to which Miss Fogarty said Mrs. Campbell would keep her to smother another child. She also said the screams of the children were ringing in her ears and driving her mad. Miss Fogarty called witness upstairs, saying she would show her something that would prove Mrs. Camp- bell's guilt; but Mrs. Campbell and her other sister Ann, who was then present, would not let her do so. Witness found in the wardrobe a stained cloth, that looked as if it had been there a long time. There were three other children of Mrs. Campbell's: Witness lived there four months, and left of her own accord, because there were words about her telling a Mrs. Frogley, who lived close by, what ,she thought. Mrs. Campbell did not send her away, but paid up her wages to the day she left. She had heard Miss Fogarty say to her sister she could hang her-she had enough evidence. That was soon after she went there. The prisoner Harris said she had discharged the witness herself. Mary Ann Compton, charwoman, 10, Oldham- terrace, Acton, said she had worked for Mrs. Campbell for two years, and had known her ever since she had resided in the village. The box in which the bodies were found had been used as a toilette table more than two years. Witness had never seen it opened. She further said, in reply to the magistrate I have been there when Miss Fogarty and her sister had quarrelled, and I have heard Miss Fogarty say that she knew things that would hang her sister, but I thought nothing of it, as it was a matter between themselves. The servant Emma Clare showed me something that was in the wardrobe. It looked to me like a large piece of a sheet, and the girl told me that Mrs. Campbell ordered. her sister to do away with it. It was lying on the shelf, but no one could see it even when the door was open. It was stained all over. I did not know anything of either of the ladies being in the family way. Mr. Lingham, surgeon at Acton, said he had made a post-mortem examination of the bodies, but could not say the children had been born alive. Dr. Edwin L. Day, 48, Hertford-street, Mayfair, said he had formerly practised at Acton, and had attended the two.,prisoners about two years. He had no reason to suspect pregnancy in either of tnem. Mr. Sleigh, for the defendants, submitted that there was not any evidence to justify the further detention of his clients, and hoped therefore that they would be at once discharged. The magistate having inspected the box, which was in an adjacent room in the same state as found, minus the bodies of the children, said on re- turning into court: This is a. very extraordinary case, and the circumstances. are very dark indeed. It seems to me very desirable that it should not be lost sight of, and I think I should almost be Red in directing that the prisoners should find bail for their future appearance. However, the matter will remain in the hands of the police, and if any further evidence should at any time be dis- covered they can asrain be taken into custody. They will now be discharged. The prisoners, who were very elegantly dressed, and who treated the matter with calmness and ap- parent indifference, then left the dock and the court, but remained in the room of the building for some time, that the mob, who loudly threatened them personally, might disperse.
TWICE CONDEMNED TO HARD LABOUR…
TWICE CONDEMNED TO HARD LABOUR FOR LIFE. The Court .of Assizes of the Seine have just tried a man named Pradeilles on a charge of attempting to murder an inspector of police in the Prefecture of Police, on the 2nd August last. It appears that the prisoner, when a soldier in the 3rd Regiment of Yoltigeurs of the Guard, committed a highway rob- bery with violence, for which he was condemned to hard labour for life by the military tribunal in De- cember, 1862. In the April following he escaped from the bagne, and having obtained the passport of his brother-in-law, named Daude, came to Paris, where he was soon afterwards condemned, by default, under the name of Daude, to two years' imprisonment for robbery. On August 2nd he went to the Prefecture of Police to get his paper signed, and was there re- cognised by an inspector of police as the supposed Daud6. The inspector, without manifesting his sus- picions, asked the prisoner to accompany him to another office. He consented, but when they came to a door with the inscription Police de Surete," he drew a pistol, fired it at the inspector, and endeavoured to make his escape. He was, however, arrested before he could get out of the Prefecture. During the in- vestigation which followed it was ascertained that his real name was Pradeilles, and that he had already been condemned to hard labour for life. He was, never- theless, committed for trial on the charge of attempt- ing to murder. As the evidence was complete the jury found him guilty, but with extenuating circum- stances, and the Court sentenced him to hard labour for life.
THE HON. W. H. BRUCE-OGILVIE.
THE HON. W. H. BRUCE-OGILVIE. A member of the committee of the Rumford-street Working Men's Total Abstinence Society (Great Jackson-street, Hulme, Manchester) forwarded a form of pledge to the Hon. William Henry Bruce-Ogilvie, intimating a hope that he would sign and adhere to it; and that he would also become a member of the United Kingdom Alliance. The following letter, with a donation of Cl to the society, has been received in reply, and we have been requested to publish it:- Sir,-I have much pleasure in signing and returning you the pledge to abstain from all intoxicating liquors, and to lend my support as far as in me lies to influence others to pursue a similar course. While detained for ten days in the prison at Inverary, in consequence of disorderly conduct from the effects of long-continued and hard drinking, I had many conversations with the much-to-be-respected governor of the prison, Mr. Thomson, on the subject of the temperance society, and partly through his arguments, and partly from reading books which he placed in my hands, I became convinced that the advocates of total abstinence had reason and unanswerable arguments on their side; and I would willingly give my vote for any member of Parliament, no matter what his politics were, who would support the restriction of, or, better still, the doing away with entirely of the sale of intoxicating liquors. I am convinced, if the books published by the temperance societies were more extensively read- if they were taken in at every public reading-room, and read, and lectured upon by ministers of the Gospel-that many more would join the ranks of the temperance society; and I for one shall never con- sider that any minister of the Gospel is doing his duty, or entitled to the respect which his cloth commands, who is not a total abstainer. I enclose a donation to your society. In conclusion, if you think this letter might be of any service as an example to others, as an expression of the convictions of one whose actions from the effects of drink have unfortunately become matters ef notoriety, you are welcome to publish it.—I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM: HENRY BRTJCE- OGIXVIE. United Service Club, Queen-street, Edin- burgh, Sept. 25, 1864." OGIXVIE. United Service Club, Queen-street, Edin- burgh, Sept. 25, 1864."
BEGGING-LETTER WRITERS.
BEGGING-LETTER WRITERS. These are the corporate beggars. But there are, besides, the individual beggars; and how does the heart of the secretary tail him when he has to cope with them! And they must be coped with to some extent, because they all enclose documents (they call their scraps documents but they are, as to papers deserving the name, what minced veal is to a calf), the non-return of which would be their ruin. That is to say, they are utterly ruined now, but they would be more utterly ruined then. Among these corre- spondents are several daughters of General officers, long-accustomed to every luxury of life (except spelling), who little thought when their gallant fathers waged wai in the Peninsula that they would ever-have to appeal to those whom Providence, in its inscrutable wisdom, has blessed with untold gold, and, from among whom they select the name of Nicodemus Boffin, Esq., for a maiden effort in this wise, understanding that he has such a heart as never was. The secretary learns, too, that confidence between man and wife would seem to obtain but rarely when virtue is in distress, so numerous are the wives who take up their pens to ask Mr. Boffin for money without the knowledge of their devoted husbands, who would never permit it; while, on the other hand, so numerous are the husbands who take up their pens to ask Mr. Boffin for money without the knowledge of their devoted wives, wha would instantly go out of their senses if they had the least suspicion of the circumstance. There are the inspired beggars, too. These were sitting, only yesterday evening, musing over a fragment of candle which must soon go out and leave them in the dark for the rest of their nights, when surely some angel whispered tne name of Mr. Nico- demus Boffin, Esq., to their souls, imparting rays of hope, nay confidence, to which they had long been strangers. Akin to these are-the suggestively befriended beggars. -P _L_J. +1. They were parmuung 01 CU1U poutxo i1LlU W"'OC" JJ:J OJeJ." flickering and gloomy light of a lucifer-match in their lodgings (rent considerably in arrear, and heartless land- lady threatening expulsion "like a dog" into the streets), when a gifted friend, happening to look in, said, Write immediately to Nicodemus Boffin, Esq. and would take no denial. There are the nobly-independent beggars, too. These, in the days of their abundance, ever regarded gold as dross, and have not yet got over that only impediment in the way of their amassing wealth, but they want no dross from Nicodemus Boffin, Esq. No, Mr. Boffin, the world may term it pride, paltry pride if you will, but they wouldn't take it if you offered it. A loan, sir-for fourteen weeks to the day, interest calculated at the rate of five per cent. per annum, to be bestowed upon any charitable institution you may name—is all they want of you, and if you have the meanness to refuse it, count upon being despised by these great spirits. There are the beggars of punctual busi- ness habits, too. These will make an end of themselves at a quarter to one p.m. on Tuesday, if no Post-office order is in the interim received from Nicodemus Boffin, Esq.; arriv- ing after a quarter to one p.m. on Tuesday, it need not be sent, as they will then (having made an exact memorandum of the heartless circumstances) be cold in death." There are the beggars on horseback, too, in another sense from the sense of the proverb. These are mounted and ready to start on the highway to affluence. The goal is before them, the road is in the best condition, their sgurs are on, the steed is willing, but, at the last moment, for want of some special thing—a clock, a violin, an astronomical telescope, an elec- trifying machine—they must dismount for ever, unless they receive its equivalent in money from Nicodemus Boffin, Esq. Less given to detail are the beggars who make sporting ventures. These, usually to be addressed in reply under initials to a country post-office, inquire in feminine hands, Dare one who cannot disclose herself to Nicodemus Boffin, Esq., but whose name might startle him were it revealed, solicit the immediate advance of £ 200 from unexpected riches exercising their noblest privilege in the trust of a common humanity ?—Our Mutual Friend. Singular and Fatal Accident.—On Thursday Mr. W. J. Payne, deputy coroner for the City of London, held an inquiry at St. Bartholomew's Hos- pital, touching the death of Inspector John Jenkin Terry, of the metropolitan police. Sergeant R. Booth, N division, said that the deceased was an inspector of the N or Islington division of the police force. On the 12th of September, at a quarter to_ three o'clock in the morning, he and witness were going round the New Cattle Market; when in the sheep alley, which was very imperfectly lighted, they came upon a shepherd's dog lying asleep. The deceased did not see the animal, and he walked on him and fell over. He called out, I have broken my leg," and when witness raised him up he was found to be bleeding from a wound in the face also. Ultimately he had to be conveyed to the hospital, and he died there from the injuries he had received. The dog was a dark one, and it was a dark night. Tbe lamps were placed at great intervals, about sixty yards apart. Mr. Bostock, house-surgeon, said that deceased had received a very severe compound fracture of the left leg, and amputa- tion had to be performed. He died on Tuesday from the effects of the injuries to the leg. The coroner having summed the jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death."
ALLEGED ATTEMPT TO DROWN.
ALLEGED ATTEMPT TO DROWN. A strange charge was preferred against a youth named Thomas Smithers, at the Worship-street Police-court on Thursday. He had worked for Mr. James Russell, a wood carver, of Hoxton, and had the utmost confidence reposed in him. On Wednesday he asked Mr. Russell's permission to take home Mr. Russell's daughter, a child six years of age, on the ground that it was his sister's birthday. Leave was given, and the little girl left Mr. Russell's house with the prisoner. Some hours afterwards a couple of young men heard the child crying for her mother, and, on going to a ditcb, saw her straggling for life among black mud. They got her out, and. took her to a public- house, found out who she was, and took her home at about half-past nine. Mr. Russell opened the door, and found they had brought the child home, wrapped up in their greatcoats, and without her clothes, which they had wet in a bundle. On asking the child what had happened, she said, Tom took me up in his arms like a baby, threw me into the water, and ran away as fast as he could, but these two good men brought me home." Police-constable Frost said that, while on duty that morning, at a quarter to two, near the Kings- land station, he noticed the prisoner loitering about, and asked him what he did it for. He replied, "Nothing." He asked him if he was waiting for anybody, and he said "No." He next asked him if there was any one in the station- house he wanted to see, as, if so, he had better go in and ask about them. He then said to the witness, Have you heard anything about a child being missing ? Frost said he had not, and told him that, if he had missed one he should go into the station and inquire whether it had been brought there. The prisoner said, "No, I don't want to do that; and on asking him why not, he replied, "I took her away myself." Frest said, Then I suppose you know who she is ? and he said he did. On asking him how old she was, he said she was six years, and on inquiring at what time he took her, he said between four and five o'clock. He then added, I have put her where her friends will not see her again;" but on asking him what he had done with her he replied that he should tell him no more. On hearing all this, Frost took him into the station-house, and re- peated the conversation to the sergeant on duty, who told him that a child was really missing, and the prisoner was detained. The child was in court, and said she had been thrown into a ditch; but she was too young to be examined, and the magis- trate remanded the prisoner for a week.
FEMALE EDUCATION.
FEMALE EDUCATION. Frances Power Cobbe has addressed the following etter to the Editor of the Times on this subject. She says: In a former leading article, in speaking of the address of the Archbishop of York to the Social Science Association, you remark, The end of female educa- tion, as of all education, should be to fit the subjects of it by a process of instruction adapted to their capacity for the state of life to which they are called.' May I be permitted to reply to this as one who, when health permitted, advocated before the same Association the cause of the admission of women to University examinations, and whose arguments you were then good enough to mention with approbation ? 'The end of all education' is, indeed, to fit the subjects of it for the state of life to which they are called.' But surely this 'state,' as prepared for by the whole foundation of ordinary training, is simply that of rational and moral creatures-the preparation for any special profession being altogether secondary to that great purpose. Men are not taught Latin, Greek, and Euclid, because Latin, Greek, and Euclid are directly useful to soldiers, lawyers, or merchants, but because their acquirement trains the reason and memory and cultivates the taste. Women are not taught modern languages, music, and history to fit them for this or that special feminine office, but to make them generally instructed and refined, able to give and enjoy the delisrhts of mental cultivation. "Now, the piea of the petitioners for University examinations for women is simply this:—In as far as women are like men in being rational and moral beings, let them share the training which has been found desirable for men as such. Experiments alone can prove whether such training will be found equally efficacious in their case but till it is tried there is a presumption that it will have a similar result in clear- ing feminine brains (alas! sadly needing such a pro- cess), and cultivating feminine minds, as in clearing and cultivating those of men. When this is done the special training for all that state of life' in which woman's lot differs from that of man will come in its proper place, just as Eton schoolboys and Oxford graduates are made to read law or learn military drill to become lawyers or soldiers, after they have par- taken of a common education simply as gentlemen. To suppose that the previous training of the mental faculties by the study of the classics and mathematics will tend to efface, in the smallest measure, the funda- mental differences between the sexes, is to show very small faith in the reality of that difference. As I said in my little address at Guildhall, it is as absurd to try to keep a woman feminine by making her learn French because a. man learns Latin, as it would be to do so by making her eat mutton because he eats beef.' We may safely give her the healthiest mental and bodily food we can procure, and leave its assimilation into mind and body to the immutable order of Providence. The Archbishop pays ma.ny gracefal compliments to women, but refers them for the aid they seek to some future court of examination, to be constituted on a special system for their use. The reason why this plan is unsatisfactory is simply this A separate court and a different standard of education for women, even if more judiciously fitted for them, will never give them the same motive for effort, because its re- wards will never be of the same value, and it will never bring them up to the same attainments or cure their besetting sia of mental slovenliness, but rather, on the contrary, perpetuate that sentiment which is the bane of all female study—art and literature-the notion that a mediocre achievement is very good-for a woman." 6 Strange Sleeping Quarters for a Lady.-A lady, a stranger to Christchurch, visited the Priory Church for the purpose of taking drawings of various portions of the interior. She told the person in charge of the church, on his, showing her a room popularly known as Oliver Cromwell's Harness Room," which is approached by a very awkward circular staircase, not to forget her; and she remained there while he went about his customary duties, on the completion of which he went home, leaving the lady locked in, having entirely forgotten her. Some alarm arose as to her whereabouts among her friends, and eventually some gentlemen volunteered to search for her. The church, which was known to be her favourite resort, was thought of; and on rousing the verger, who had gone to bed, he coolly remarked, She was there, and I suppose she's there now." Lights were procured, and the ladv was found in the" Harness-room," quietly trying to compose herself to sleep. King Richard the Third's Bedstead.—The following letter has been addressed to a contempo- rary :—In turning over your paper of a few days' old I caught sight of a letter from one of your corre- spondents which speaks of the bed of King Richard (slept in on the night before the battle of Bosworth) being ill the possession of Sir Richard Roe, who had recently bought the great bed of Ware. This is cer- tainly a mistake, as the bedstead of that tyrant is in the possession of the owner of Beaumanor-park, ia Leicestershire, and stands in a room of that fine man- sion which some years ago was fitted up in perfect accordance with the style of the period in which that monarch lived. The bedstead belonged to the family ) of the Drakes, who kept the Blue Boar (the King's Arms) in Leicester, at the time of Richard's death and for many years afterwards; and it was at this house where a large quantity of gold, which the king had secreted in hidden drawers of the bedstead, was stolen from it. The robbers were discovered a few years afterwards and executed at Leicester. From the Blue Boar it went into the family of Babington, of the Temple, in that county, and remained there for more than 200 years, from whence it was removed to Beaumanor-park. The bedstead is a very handsome specimen of oak carving of that day, and highly interesting to the numerous visitors of tihe bcapitaLbia 1 mansion of BeaumMior»