WHITECHAPEL CHURCH.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2086, 10 September 1875, Page 3

WHITECHAPEL CHURCH.

On June 16, in pursuance of a faculty granted by the Consistory Court, the local authorities proceeded to remove the bodies which had been disinterred in the course of the operations rendered necessary by the erection of the new church upon the site of the old one now in course of demolition. As the excavations have proceeded many interesting relics of Old London have been brought to light, and the remains of persons who in their time have been known and celebrated have been identified. When disinterred the coffins have been placed under temporary awnings or sheds, where they now remain preparatory to their final deposition in the crypts of the new church. Among the remains which have been identified are those of Dr Markham, one of the chaplains of King George 111., and also those of Richard Parker, one of the prominent leaders of the Mutiny at the Nore. Of Sir John Cock, one of the judges, who was buried here in 1710, a curious story is told. It appears that he left a will, which upon his death could not be found for a long period, and endless litigation ensued in consequence thereof. The missing document was eventually discovered among the marriage registers of the church. On the 20th of June, 1649, died Richard Brandon, the executioner of the City of London, the man who is generally supposed to have decapitated Charles I. It is stated that Brandon had £30 given him for his trouble, and that he had an orange stuck full of clover and a haudkerchief out of the king's pocket, which he afterwards sold in Rosemary-lane for 10s. Be that as it may, the following entry is still to be seen in the burial register of the Whitechapel Church:—" June 21, 1649. Richard Brandon, a man out of Rosemary lane, supposed to have cut off the head of Charles I."

Veey Strange if Tbue.—The following is translated from Le Petit Marseillais :—" In one of the poorest quarters of Paris, at the Butte-aux Cailles., has just been born a phenomenon; it is a child monkey; it is, moreover, perfectly formed. This phenomenon has "a long tail; his body is covered with a soft and silky hair, of a golden yellow. Like the monkeys tho child is a quadruma; his face is that of an ordinary child ; its expression is, however, more lively than that of a newborn infant. His upper jaw has already four teeth, and the lower one six. This precocious dentition will prevent the mother from rearing him with her breast. She is much afflicted at being obliged to use the feeding bottle. The father, a carpenter, is completely prostrated by this birth ; he has not come back to his house since two days; he has taken refuge at his brother's, who lives in the neighborhood of Paris. Great fears are entertained for the reason of the unfortunate man, who cannot reconcile himself to have' for a son a child-monkey, the doctors affirming that the child will live. It is, however, "a sure fortune in these times of phenomena and monsters."

In Death not Divided.—Among the many incidents recorded in connection with the finding of the bodies of the hapless persons who were lost in tho "Schiller is one which reads with peculiar sadness. The bodies of a young couple were picked up, and landed within an hour of each other at Scilly. Upon each of the corpses were twin rings, engraved with the initials and date, " A.W.A.M., 27th April, 1875." In the pocket-book of the gentleman was his marriage certificate, bearing the same date. By these they were identified as Mr and Mrs Auguste Munte, of New York. They were married on the very day the Schiller sailed.

If George Washington himself had only been cross-examined by Judge Fullerton before he died, we have no doubt, it would really have turned out that he lied about the cherry tree after all.—American paper.