A Northern Joke.-The respectably-dressed and well-looking young fellows in comedies are called walking gentlemen, and this is the probationary line of business usually assigned to young actors. When Mr. Bcame to Edinburgh, being then very young and very careless, he incurred divers debts, for which the myrmidons of the law were troubling him; on such occasions it was his wont to run off to a place called the Sanctuary, within the precincts of which a debtor's person is unassailable; scarcely a day passed but Mr. B-- might be seen flying along the streets with an officer after him. All this damnified the respectability of the establishment, and at last the manager told his comedian that he wanted a walking and not a running gentleman, and they must part. A man that cannot keep out of debt when he is receiving a good salary, has seldom much chance of doing so when he receives none, therefore poor B-— was soon in such a state that he could not move out of the Sanctuary at all; he applied to the manager to allow him to take a benefit; it was granted, and his creditors consensed to let him remain unmolested until the night was over. The house was well filled, the pieces chosen were Folly as it flies," and "Catch him who can."-Mr. B――winding up the joke by absconding the moment the curtain fell. The manager was so annoyed that he paid the amount of B―'s liabilities; but was as much surprised as pleased, a month or two afterwards, to receive the sum per post, with this laconic epistle

66

With the heartfelt thanks and deep acknowledgments of "THE RUNNING GENTLEMAN."

Formation of our Theatres.-All the old theatres were wider across than from the curtain to the boxes-all our new ones are the reverse-the old mode bringing the audience nearer the actors was of course most favourable to sight, and I believe not injurious to sound. The theatre in Goodman's-fields, where Garrick first acted in 1741, was as wide as the present Haymarket theatre, though in depth from the front of the boxes to the curtain it was twenty-two feet less than in that theatre.

The Victoria, from its peculiar formation, holds as many persons as Drury-lane; on one occasion 3,800 paid in one night there.

The greatest theatrical season within the last quarter of a century was that commencing September 1810, and ending in May 1811, when Coventgarden Theatre took 98,110%.; season 28-29 the receipts at the same theatre were only 41,0297.

CHAPTERS FROM THE NOTE-BOOK OF A DECEASED

LAWYER. NO. IV.

If we were to hear in the present day that a young gentleman of fortune and rank, in the very heart of England, surrounded by his family, friends, and servants, residing in the mansion of his ancestors, were, in the prime of life, and in excellent health, cut off from the land of the living, and that, too, under circumstances which could not fail to impress on the mind of the most unsuspicious a belief that he had been unfairly dealt by,-we should, I think, be disposed to wonder at the temerity which could hazard the commission of such a crime, from whatever motive it might spring, where the certainty of detection appeared so clearly manifest. But if, in addition to this, we were to be told that the mother of the young man and some of his domestics had witnessed the last agonies of his dissolution, rendered more fearful by the unnatural death of which he died-that facts, which could neither be doubted nor misconstrued, seemed to point to a very near relative as his murderer-that his guardian resided at the distance only of a morning's ride, and his apothecary but two miles from the place of his death-and that no inquiry was instituted into the cause of this unexpected event, but that he was buried just as if he had been visited after the common visitation of all men-and that it was owing to the firmness, and perhaps obstinacy, of a young man, utterly unconnected with him by either acquaintance or blood-that, after he had been consigned to the tomb, the grave was called upon again to resign its tenant, and expose him to the examination of professional skill, to ascertain the cause of his death;—we should, I am persuaded, unless convinced by undoubted testimony, be disposed to fancy that the narrator was trifling with our credulity, by palming upon us the wild and exaggerated picture of his own imagination, instead of giving to us a representation of an occurrence in real life. The facts, however, are perfectly true: they were proved incontestably to the eyes and ears of thousands; and though now remembered by few, are worthy of being brought under the notice of all. Sir Constantine Barrington was a baronet, of an old family, and considerable fortune, residing on his paternal estate in mother resided with him, as well as his sister and her husband, a gentleman of the name of Morton. Sir Constantine had been educated at Eton, and after passing a short time at Cambridge, was, at the period of a few months before the expiration of his minority, residing with the relatives I have mentioned, at his family-seat. Had Sir Constantine lived to attain the age of twenty-one, he would have had in his own power, and at his own disposal, the whole of an opulent fortune; in the event of his dying before that time, the greater part of it descended to his sister and her husband. About two months before the time at which he was to be of age, he had proposed to spend that interval in a visit to a college friend who resided in Northamptonshire. He had, at the time of which I am now speaking, been attended by his family apothecary for a slight disorder which he had contracted at Cambridge; and on Tuesday evening, the 29th of August, in the year, that gentleman had made up a draught, and sent it by a servant of Sir Constantine, for the purpose of its being taken by him on the Wednesday morning. March.-VOL. XLIII. NO. CLXXI.

-shire. His

2 B

Sir Constantine had spent the Tuesday evening with some of his menservants in the diversion of fishing. He returned in good health and spirits, gave some directions about household matters, ate a hearty supper, and retired to bed. He was called by a servant at an early hour on the following morning, jumped out of bed to reach something from a closet in the room, and appeared in perfect health. About seven, Lady Barrington, his mother, got up, and went into his room, as he had before desired her to do, for the purpose of giving him his medicine. He desired her to reach down the draught, which was standing on a shelf-she did so, and poured it into a cup. He had not swallowed above half of it, when he complained that it was so nauseous to the taste and disagreeable to the smell, that he feared he should not be able to keep it on his stomach. This observation led her to smell the draught, and she described the smell as exactly resembling the taste of bitter almonds. He swallowed the whole of it, washed his mouth with a little water, and lay down again. In a very few minutes after he appeared to be in a considerable degree of agony; his stomach heaved, and his eyes seemed much affected. These emotions, however, his mother at the time conceived to be his efforts to resist the bringing up of the medicine. She took no further notice at the moment; but as he became more composed, she thought he was going to sleep, and left the room. She returned in about ten minutes, when to her inexpressible horror and astonishment she found her son in the agonies of death-his eyes fixed -his teeth clenched-his stomach heaving violently-and a considerable quantity of foam issuing from his mouth. She instantly called up her son-in-law, Mr. Morton, and despatched a servant for the apothecary. On Mr. Morton entering the room, she observed, "Good God, what medicine could Mr. Thomson have sent? I am satisfied it would have killed a dog if he had swallowed it." The answer was-" Where is the bottle?" She pointed to it-he took it down, poured water into it, rinsed it, and threw the contents into a bason of dirty water. Lady B. remonstrated upon the impropriety of this conduct, desiring every thing to be left untouched till Mr. Thomson arrived. While the unfortunate young man was lying in the agonies of death, Mr. Morton insisted on the maid-servant taking down the bottle and dirty water, and cleansing the room; and in spite of Lady Barrington's entreaties, this was done. The apothecary arrived shortly after, and Mr. Morton instantly began to explain to him that Sir Constantine had been out late the night before fishing, and had taken cold, and that cold had occasioned his death. Not a word was said about the medicine that had been taken, or its effects -no inquiry was made as to the mode of his death, but Mr. Thomson left the house without the slightest examination, and apparently satisfied with the explanation which he had received.

A letter was written by Mr. Morton to Sir William Archer, the guardian of the deceased, in the following words:

"Dear Sir-I am sorry to be the communicator of Sir Constantine's death to you, which happened this morning; he has been for some time past under the care of Mr. Thomson for a similar complaint to that which he had at Cambridge. Lady B. and my wife are inconsolable: they join me in best respects to Lady Archer and yourself.

"I am, dear Sir, your obedient servant,
"JOHN MORTON.”

Nothing further happened to excite observation, until the Monday following the death. The body had been put into the coffin, and soldered down on the Saturday; but on the Monday a letter was written by Sir William Archer to Mr. Morton, stating that a rumour had reached him that Sir Constantine must have died of poison, and requesting him to have the body opened, naming at the same time the medical gentlemen whom he wished to be present. Mr. Morton answered this communication by a note, stating the approbation of himself and the family that the body should be opened, and received in reply a second letter from Sir William, saying, he was happy to find the family in that dispositionthat he could not come over himself-and that it would be of no use his doing so, as the medical men were the proper persons to act. The persons named by Sir William, three in number, were sent for by Mr. Morton, and arrived at the house on the Monday evening. On their arrival he showed them the second letter of Sir William's, but made no mention of the first. The medical men asked why they were to open the body? To which he answered, that it was for the satisfaction of the family. They were then shown into the room whare the body lay, which, being at that time in a state of putrefaction, and no mention being made of any suspicions as to the cause of the death, they declined meddling with it, as it appeared they could not do so without some risk of personal danger to themselves.

On the next day, a surgeon residing in the neighbourhood, hearing that the body had not been opened, called at the house, and expressed his readiness to open it at all hazards to himself. His offer was declined, on the ground that, as he had not been named by Sir William Archer, and as the other gentlemen had declined the task, it would be unfair to them to permit him to make the experiment. Mr. Morton wrote the same day to Sir William, stating that he had had great pleasure in sending for the medical gentlemen-that he had given them his letter to peruse, and act as it directed-that they had proceeded accordingly, and had fully satisfied the family; and adding a wish that Sir William should hear all the particulars from themselves. The letter then went on to state, that Sir Constantine had used medicines that were likely to be injurious to him, in order to repel a disease which he had contracted. Sir William was satisfied with this letter, feeling assured that the body had been opened; but the next morning learning that that was not the case, he desired that somebody should be sent for, naming the surgeon who had volunteered to open it and another, and that, at all events, it should be opened. When these gentlemen arrived the body was represented to be in so high a state of putrefaction, that it could not be touched without great danger, and nothing was done. Another letter was written to Sir William, referring him again to the first set of medical men, as to the state in which they found the body some days before, and that it was the intention of the family to have Sir Constantine interred on that day at three o'clock, it being the eighth day since he died, but that they would postpone doing so, if Sir William wished anything further to be done, adding, that one of the gentlemen who had seen the body should be sent with the letter, to answer any inquiries that he might desire to make.

No answer being received from Sir William, the corpse was buried between three and four o'clock on the Wednesday afternoon; but by this time reports had been circulating, that Sir Constantine had not

come fairly to his death, and the surgeon who had volunteered to open the body had been loud in the expression of his opinion of foul play having been used, though suspicion was not particularly directed to any one. Several gentlemen in the neighbourhood, being roused by these observations, insisted that the body should be disinterred, and the coroner and a jury be summoned to investigate the circumstances of the death. This was accordingly done. Lady Barrington, Mr. Morton, and indeed the whole family, were examined as witnesses; and when her ladyship was relating the history of her son's death, and had mentioned the fact of Mr. Morton's having washed the bottle in spite of all opposition, he was observed to pull her by the sleeve, as if to check her from giving that remarkable circumstance in evidence. It is not material to state the whole of what took place before the coroner; it will be sufficient to mention that upon the result of that investigation Mr. Morton was committed to gaol, to take his trial for the wilful murder of Sir Constantine.

The excitement caused by the trial was of no ordinary kind, and, as usual, men's minds were much divided with respect to the guilt or innocence of the party accused. On the one hand, there were circumstances bearing so strongly against him, that it was thought impossible he could either remove or explain the suspicions which they excited; and on the other, there was such an appearance of integrity in his conduct, such a seeming anxiety to court inquiry as was thought inconsistent with the supposition of his having anything to fear from the result of an investigation. What added to the intensity of the interest was, that as the day of trial approached, it was rumoured that the prisoner had asserted that the real criminal was a person still more nearly connected with Sir Constantine than himself-that letters had been written by him during his confinement in prison, in which this had been--not cautiously insinuated, but boldly advanced; and that he intended to offer to the jury evidence to substantiate the charge. The personal character, too, of the judge who was to try Mr. Morton had no small share, particularly among professional men, in giving rise to speculation as to what his conduct would be on the occasion. Mr. Justice Buller, who in after years attained a reputation almost unparalleled, and especially for his knowledge of the principles of evidence, and their application to the examination of witnesses, was, at the time of which we are speaking, comparatively little known. He was regarded rather as a favourite child of fortune, who had been prematurely elevated to the judicial bench, than as a grave and experienced lawyer, whose knowledge and practice would be sufficient to guide himself, and the jury whom he was to direct to the attainment of truth, amid the jarring elements of discordant science, and the subtle disquisitions of learned disputants. His success at the bar had been very slight; or it would be more correct to say that he had been unsuccessful. A relative and protegé of the Lord Chancellor Bathurst, he had obtained a silk gown at a very early period of his life, in the hope of procuring leading business. In this his expectations had been disappointed; and after waiting a few years in looking for briefs which never came to him, he accepted the first judgeship that became vacant, and was raised to the bench before he was thirty years of age. At the time of Morton's trial, he had been but few circuits, and had had no opportunity of displaying those great powers which afterwards so emi