24 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1818. [Feb. 



Burlington-street ; and on witness 

 inquiring after a patient of the 

 deceased's, he exclaimed, with 

 great eagerness. " That he would 

 give 500 guineas it was over, 

 rather than have to attend her ;'' 

 he fancying her in danger, but 

 she was delivered safely. On 

 Tuesday last Sir Richard came 

 for witness, but he had left home. 

 Sir Richard's servant stopped him 

 in the street, and requested, at 

 his master's desire, that witness 

 would attend on another patient 

 for him, who resided in Sloane- 

 street. Witness repaired to Ca- 

 dogan-place, Chelsea, and the 

 family were much surprised that 

 Sir Richard did not attend, when 

 he had the case. At half past 

 four on Friday morning, the Rev. 

 Dr. Thackeray requested witness 

 to call at his house, and stated 

 what had happened. Witness 

 went immediately, and on enter- 

 ing the deceased's sleeping-room, 

 he found him lying on his back 

 on the bed: he was quite dead 

 and cold. Witness thinks lie 

 committed the rash act in a state 

 of insanity. 



Dr. Baillie corroborated the 

 above testimonj\ 



At the conclusion of the evi- 

 dence, the Coroner and Jury 

 retired to take a view of the body 

 of the deceased, which lay in an 

 upper apartment, and was in a 

 dreadful condition, the head being 

 blown to pieces, and the deceased's 

 bed and bed-clothes being cover- 

 ed with blood; each hand grasped 

 a pistol, which had been loaded 

 with a slug and small shot; the 

 contents entered at the temples. 

 On a chair by the side of the 

 bedstead on which the deceased 

 lay were several of Sliakspeare's 



plays. The room was very small, 

 and it appeared as if the deceased 

 had been reading. The jury 

 returned to the jury- room, where 

 the Coroner (Mr. Stirling), 

 summed up the evidence, and 

 the jury, after a short consulta- 

 tion, returned a verdict of — 

 " Died by his own act, being at 

 the time he committed it in a 

 state of mental derangement." 



The Cotton-factory at Coin- 

 bridge, near Huddersfield, occu- 

 pied by Mr. T. Atkinson, caught 

 fire about 5 o'clock on Saturday 

 morning, the 14th inst., and 

 raged with such rapidity and 

 violence, that it destroyed the 

 whole, with the machinery and 

 stock in the same, in half an hour. 

 But what is most tragical to 

 relate, there were about 26 per- 

 sons at work, and only nine 

 escaped. Seventeen (all girls, 

 the eldest about 19 years of age) 

 fell victims to the devouring 

 flames. The manner in which 

 this awful and melanchol}'^ dis- 

 aster took place is related as 

 follows, by a boy, about tea 

 years of age, who was the unfor- 

 tunate instrument of so calamitous 

 an event : — He says, that about 

 five o'clock, he was sent into the 

 card- room (which is on the 

 ground floor, but not worked in 

 in the night),, with a lighted 

 candle to fetch some rovings, and 

 in taking them, some loose cotton 

 lying near, caught fire. He says, 

 he ran up stairs to inform those 

 at work, that the ftictory was on 

 fire, and then ran to the top of 

 the mill, under the idea of greater 

 safety ; but finding such intense 

 lieat and smoke, he again 

 descended, and when he came to 

 the stairs, under which the fire 

 § was, 



