Vow. IV.] 
« years. He has an uncle, a brother, and 
two fifters living. His acquaintance with 
*¢ the perfon he «entions in his writings upen 
«' the wall has been, I believe, of eighteen 
“ or twenty years’ ftanding, He was always 
“ forward in performing aéts of friendfhip to’ 
«¢ his fellow workmen, and was a truly good 
4; man to his neighbours. I have converfed 
¢¢ with a particular friend and old acquaint- 
st ance of the deceafed, who is acquainted with 
6¢ every circuumftance and the whole courfe of 
sé life of this extraordinary man; and he is 
&¢ ‘collecting every information he can, which he 
 wiil fend you, in a letter, in a few days, 
» © Tam your’s,” | &c. 
The following is an extract from the letter 
alluded to: 
U'SIR, @ 
“ London, Nov. 20, 1797. 
*¢ You feem to be very anxious concerning 
“ the life of the unfortunate ftranger found 
«* drowned. in Sea-Mill Dock. You have 
“* a right to know it, for the kindnefs you 
«* have fhown to his unfortunate remains.—— 
«6 James Doe was born at Lambeth, about two 
“ miles from London, of honeft parents, who 
*¢ ‘brought him up in as creditable a manner as 
* their circumftances would admit. “At the 
*¢ age of fourteen years, or thereabouts, he was 
‘* put as.an apprentice to Mr. Griffiths, at the 
* delft” pottery, High - ftreet, Lambeth, 
$6 “When he was out of his time, he continued 
** working at his bufinefs until it became flack, 
and the queen’s ware meeting with great en- 
** couragement, he went into Staffordthire for 
employment, where he remained upwards of 
twenty years, working for different mafters, 
** and then came up to London, in want of 
employ, and got work at China-gilding for a 
few months. He was then invited into 
Staffordihire again, where he remained but a 
fhort time; and from that time he has been 
* confidered as the wanderer of the trade. He 
was the moft charitable man I ever knew; 
and he was often known to neglect himfelf 
when misfortunes came on his friends and 
acquaintances, to whofe relief he contributed 
“sn OA 
nw 
n 

Sir, I 
** do not pretend: to bold ray friend up to per- 
* fection, the laft action -of his life is againit 
- 
Account of the Briftol Suicide. 
557 
© him ;.but I believe, the denial of relief b 
“6 that man whom he had ferved and relieved 
“¢ in diftrefs, was the fole caufe of his commit- 
* ting the rafh act of fuicide. The languzge 
*€ of the manufcript writing is nearly the fame, 
s* as his lait converfation with me, as far as this 
friend is mentioned. J perfe&tly agree with 
«¢ you, that he was in his fenfes as much as he 
« ever was in his lifey when he committed the 
*€ act of fuicide. He was acquainted with a 
** Mr, Greenwood, in Staffordfhire, for fome 
. years, aman remarkable for fine knowledge ; 
“* to that man the unfortunate Doe owed a great 
“¢ deal of his knowledge ; and although Mr. 
“ Greenwood was a very fenfible man, yet he 
** held it juft for a man to deftroy himfelf, and, 
‘* like my friend, in his perfeét fenfes, a€tual- 
“* ly made away with himfelf the day before 
he was to have been married to a perfon of 
** credit and property. They are two of the 
‘* ftrangeft fuicides I ever heard; and had 
s¢ James Doe written to his friends in London 
* he would have had money fent him; for 
his friends in London would have thought it 
a happinefs torclieve him. He wasa very 
“ ufeful man in the Staffordhire ware manu 
‘ 
“ factory, as he ‘had ftudied the chemical 
“fecrets of ‘that bufinefs. He was fond of 
“reading. { fhall be happy in communica- 
ting amy farther particulars you may ree 
‘© quire 3 andam, fir, 
© Your’s,?”” 8c. 8c 
To the information gontained in the afore- 
going letters, I beg leave toadd, that I have lately 
converfed with feveral perfons that knew the 
deceafed in Dublin, in Staffordfhire, at W or= 
cefler, in Swanfea, and near Exeter; they all 
unite in one geneial opinion: viz. that he was 
an excellent workman, was univerlally beloved 
by all ranks of his fellow workmen, that he 
poffeffed a charitable and humane heart, and 
Was CvcF ready in affifting his.fellow creatures 
in diftrefs. Hecame~to Briftol carly im Au~ 
guit, and immediately vifited his friend men 
tioned in his writings. I have traced him to 
his friend’s houfe, where he fpent three of 
four days and nights immediately before drown. 
ing himfelf. From a very particular and-cir- 
cumflantial enquiry into the. conduét and 
deportment of the deceafed, even to the 
very morning of Sept. rr, I do not find there 
Was any the ieaft mark of iafanity about him ; 
neither was he involved in debt, excepting 
ten or twelve fhillings at his lodgings. It may 
then be afkéd, what motives could induce this 
per‘on to deftroy himfelf? Enjoying full health, 
and poffetfing an art by which hé could obtain 
a competent and perhips genteel livelihood, he 
had the means of providing for himfelf, and. 
rifing fuperior to want. We muft therefor 
let him fpeak for himfelf, He fays * If my 
‘¢ ——— acquaintance had become my friend, 
he might have faved me from an untimely 
“ death.” And again, “ How often dues 
** fympathy foften one’s forrow, and, with the 
s aid of 2 little pecuniary affftance, reftore an: 
unfortunate 
