26G 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



clasp-knives, such as are used by 

 sailors, were found in the stomach 

 and intestines. The hafts of them 

 were entirely decomposed, and the 

 iron work partly so. The account 

 given by himself was, that several 

 years ago he had swallowed six of 

 his messmates' knives, in a drunken 

 frolic ; and that feeling no immedi- 

 ate bad consequences, he had on 

 two subsequent occasions, swallow- 

 ed twelve or thirteen more. For 

 these two years past he had applied, 

 at frequent intervals, for admission 

 into various hospitals, and he was 

 uniformly dismissed as an imposter, 

 upon telling his strange story. He 

 was received into Guy's hospital, 

 only a few weeks ago, after having 

 been stripped and minutely exa- 

 mined by Dr. Babington and Mr. 

 Astley Cooper. 



APRIL. 



2. Bath Crediiltfi/.— The fol- 

 lowing extract of a letter from 

 Bath, dated April 2, describes 

 some of the effects produced by 

 the panic lately excited there : — 

 "A report was circulated, that a 

 certain infallible prophet or pro- 

 phetess, had predicted that an 

 earthquake would be severely felt 

 in Bath on Good Friday: and that 

 Mount Beacon and Beechen Cliff, 

 two immense hills, situated at the 

 northern and southern extremities 

 of the town, should meet, and of 

 course destroy and swallow up 

 houses, inhabitants, |.igs, and poul- 

 try. Some affirmed that Joanna 

 Southcott was the predictor ; others 

 that it was a prophet now living at 

 Midford, near this city, who was 

 with Noah in the ark, and has been 

 travelling over various parts of the 



world ever since ; but the greater 

 part affixed the name of a female 

 fortune-tellerresidingat Bath. This 

 conjuress, however, denied the 

 charge in the Bath papers. Thus, 

 though they could not positivelj' fix 

 on any specific prophet, yet all 

 agreed there had been such a pre- 

 diction, and thousands implicitly be- 

 lieved the event would take place, 

 in consequence of this report, hun- 

 drcdsand thousands absolutely quit- 

 ted Bath ; old and young, rich and 

 poor, high and low, soon found out 

 excuses for leaving town so sudden- 

 ly. Some were obliged to attend a 

 sick relative at a short distance, 

 others had an uncle or aunt dead, 

 while many more were ordered oft' 

 to Cheltenham or Clifton by their 

 physician: and a few, who, by the 

 bye, had previously ordered their 

 salt fish for Good Friday's dinner 

 in Bath, recollected that they al- 

 ways made it a rule to dine in the 

 country on that day, as the rural 

 scenes tranquillized the mind, and 

 they could behave more devoutly in 

 a calm retired place, than they pos- 

 sibly could in a noisy populous city. 

 It is a truth, that the post-horses 

 belonging to every inn in Bath are 

 completely knocked up by this bu- 

 siness. A variety of accounts con- 

 cerning it have appeared in the Bath 

 papers ; but none of them have 

 given the origin of the affair, 

 which was as follows: — Two noted 

 cock-feeders, who live near the be- 

 fore-mentioned famous hills, met 

 by accident some time ago at a 

 public-house, and after much boast- 

 ing on both sides, a match was made 

 to fijrht their favourite cocks on 

 Good Friday ; but fearing the ma- 

 gistrates might interfere, if it be- 

 came public, they named their spi- 

 rited animals after their respective 



walks, 



