The Press. — London, England, 1856-02-23 00:00:00

FEBRUARY 23, 1856. gate anb SUICIDE OF MR. SADLEIR, M.P. 'NE melancholy death of this unfortunate gentleman has created a deep sensation throughout the town. From the evidence adduced at the coroner's inquest cn Tuesday, it appears that on Saturday evening last, smut seven o'clock, Mr. Sadleir unexpectedly came home (Gloucester•place, Hyde-park) to dinner. While the butler was laying the cloth, Mr. Sadleir, giving him a sovereign, requested him to take a paper ti Maitland's, the neighbouring chemist in Chester place, and pay for what was ordered. This paper ontained the following words :—" Get from Maitland a bottle of the essential oil of bitter almonds. I do not know the quantity wanted, but Kenyon writes to me to bring 1/. worth. Pay my bill at Maitland's." The butler went as desired to Maitland's, and left the order. About half-past nine, the bottle of oil not having arrived, Mr. Sadleir desired the butler to go fa. it. The kitchen-maid was sent, and the butler took the bottle in to Mr. Sadleir. About a quarter to one a.m., the butler came upstairs to lock up, and observed that Mr. Sadleir had gone out. From that time nothing more was heard or seen of him till half•past eight on Sunday morning, when Joseph Bates, a labouring man, discovered the deceased lying on his back, close to the rails behind Jack Straw's Castle, on Hampstead-heath. On the right side of the body was a silver cream-jug, containing a small quantity of essential oil of almonds ; and on the left side an unstoppered bottle, labelled, " Essen tial Oil of Almonds. Poison. John Maitland, 16, Chester•place, Hyde-park Square." The hat of the deceased was off, his eyes were open and glistening, and a few slight indentations, marking the convulsions of death, were observed in the turf under his heels. Within reach was an open razor - case. Upon searching the pockets of the deceased, a few lumps of sugar were found, six sovereigns, one 3/. note, some loose silver, and a pair of razors. There were no letters or documents, but one simple slip con taining the deceased's name and address written in a bold legible hand. Elwyn, the butler, identified the cream jug at once as the property of his late master, and the police•co:rstable, together with the man Bates, swore to the discovery of the body. Dr. Nicholl, of Hamp stead, who was immediately sent for on Sunday morning, made a postmortem examination, and at the inquest stated his opinion to be that the deceased had incontestably died from the effect of essential oil of almonds. The coroner here remarked that nothing could be plainer than that Mr. Sadleir's death was caused by poison, and that it was admi nistered by his own hand. The only question for the Jury to decide was the state of mind of the deceased at the time he committed the act. Mr. Norris, a solicitor, stated that he saw Mr. Sadleir on Saturday, about eleven p.m. He was engaged in great commercial speculations, and seemed borne down by the extent of his undertak- ings. He talked about those affairs, but said nothing that induced Mr. Norris to anticipate any such thing as happened : I noticed (said Mr. Norris in evidence) as I was leaving the house that his eyes were bloodshot, and that he was restless and not in his usual temperament. I had never seen him in the same state before. Hitherto he was always cool and collected. Mr. Manning stated that Mr. Sadleir had several appointments with Mr. James, a solicitor, on Satur day, but be seemed to shrink from keeping. them. The butler, on being recalled, said that Mr. Sadleir had left a paper in the hall, on Saturday night, with three letters, ordering that they should be delivered on Sunday morning if he did not return home by nine o'clock. Mr. Norris further stated : Oa Saturday afternoon I had an interview with Mr. Sad leir, when he said :—" I would rather that yon would not come to see me to-night, as I want to get my papers toge ther, but come to-morrow at eleven o'clock." lint in con sequence of receiving a letter from Ireland which con cerned Mr. Sadleir, witness went there. Mr. Sadleir was walking about the room, which was very unusual, and ap peared surprised at witness going there. When witness weni in he noticed a remarkable peculiarity about the eyes, as though be had been weeping. On the following morn ing at eleven o'clock be called at the house again and he heard that he was dead. The CORONER : \Vas th e intelligence von conveyed to him of a distressing character" Witness: No. It had reference to the events which had pressed upon him since the previous Wednesday. I found on going to the house that Dr. Nicholl had been to the house and taken away a letter addressed to me for the pur pose of conveying it to my private residence. The CORONER • Have you got it with you? Witness : No. The CORONER : Did you leave it behind designedly ? Witness: No. I was so confused that I forgot it. In answer to a question suggested by Mr. Manning, Witness said : I made a remark to Mr. Stevens at Mr. Gurney's office, on Saturday afternoon, relative to 3lr. Sulkies reverses. The remark J made was. AI should not to surprised if Sadleir were to shoot himself." Mr. Sadleir THE PRESS. was a man of extraordinary coolness and strength of mind, and my impression was that these reverses having come suddenly upon him, his mind would break under them at once. I was told last week that his losses were very severe, and Mr. Sadleir admitted it. The butler being recalled, stated that the three letters he found in the hall were addressed to Mr. Keating, M.P. fcr Waterford. He sent a message with the letters to Mr. Keating's house, Shamrock Lodge, Clapham. There was a fourth letter in another place addressed to Mr. Norris, but that wit ness did not interfere with. After some further evidence the room was cleared, and on the readmission of strangers the Coroner an nounced that the jury were unanitnotbly of opinion that the inquiry should be adjourned, in order that the letters written by the deceased on Saturday night might be produced. The inquiry was then adjourned until Monday next. AT the opening of the Court of Queen's Bench, on Tuesday, on the calling over of the special jury, a person in court answered to the name of " David Wilson," and stepped into the box. Something in his exterior struck Mr. Campbell, the Associate, as not being quite compatible with the presumed posi tion and means of a special juryman. Mr. David Wilson was requested to produce his summons. He had forgotten it. A little cross-examination ensued, and the gentleman becoming confused, he was ordered by Lord Campbell to be taken into custody, until inquiries should be instituted. On Wednesday the prisoner was brought up after a night's solitary reflection, and, being confronted with Mr. David Wilson's servant, was pronounced to be not only not her master, who is in Calcutta, but not even to possess a " bad likeness " to him. Being asked what he had to say for himself, he expressed regret for what he had done. Lord Campbell, then addressing him, said he was sorry to say that the offence was a very common one, either from a desire to get on the panel and influence the jury, or from the more sordid motive of pocketing a guinea. Now that he caught an offender, it was his duty to make au example of him, and he should, therefore, sentence him tollbe imprisoned for three calendar months in Newgate ga)l. ONE OF THOSE HORRIBLE MURDERS, the fact of which at first appears incredible, from the cruelty of its nature, has been discovered this week, within twenty-four hours after its commission. A Mr. and Mrs. Somner, people of respectable connections, he an engraver by profession, and she the daughter of a highly respectable silversmith in the Croswell-road, living at 18, Linton-street, Hoxton, were brought up on Monday, at the Clerkenwell Police-court, charged with the wilful murder of a little girl of fourteen years of age. The prisoners denied the charge, whereupon Rachael Moot, a child of fifteen, and servant to the prisoners, gave the following evi dence : On Saturday night my mistress went out about ten o'clock, but before she did so she came and said I was to go to bed. I did not go to Led, but sat up making ni). self an apron. That was in the kitchen. After my mis- tress had been out some time I heard the key put into the street door, and then I put out the candle and got into bed. I heard my mistress come into the passage, and she bad a person with her. She came to the top of the stairs and said, " Are you abed, Rachael ?" I made no answer. She then went 'upstairs, and afterwards came down and drew the kitchen blind down. She then left the kitchen, and said to a little girl, Come down here." The girl did so, and then my mistress went into the cellar and told the girl to come to her, bnt the girl stopped at the kitchen door. Mistress said, " Come here ; what are you afraid of?" They both came into the kitchen. The girl then said, " I am nat afraid ; but it is a strange place to me, I have not been here before." They then went out into the area, when the little virl said, "Some one wants to cut my throat :" when my mistress said, " Suppose I was to cut it ?" The girl said, " Oh, you are going to kill me," and then called out " Mnrder." This she called out several times, and said, " The devil will take you ; the devil will take you ; yon will kill me ; you will kill me ; I am dying ; lam dying." The girl then made a horrid noise, as if she was breathing bard, and my mistress said " Hush," several times. My mistress then put the candle out, came into the kitchen and walked up and down in the dark several times, and said toherself "I will kill you She then got the Weiler-box, lit the candle, and went into the cellar again, and was there for some time, bnt I did not hear the girl speak again, and all was quiet. After all was quiet my mistress came to my bedside and said she had been to market ; that she had got change for half a crown, but that she would not pay me until Sunday morn ing. My mistress then went up to bed, and I did not see her again that night. When she was talking to me at my bedside she appeared to be very white and much agitated. My master was out at the time, but be came home about one o'clock. He let himself in with a key. Police-inspector Hutton and Sergeant Townsbeml, of the N division, deposed to the discovery of the body in the cellar on Sunday morning, and to having further discovered spots of blood upon a licifer-box, and on an old black gown of the female prisoner. The female searcher at the station house deposed to 183 having found the female prisoner's petticoat saturated with blood. Mr. Coward, the divisional surgeon, stated the nature of the wounds upon the child's body:- 1 discovered three large wounds, from the back of the neck to the front, embracing the whole of the left side. The jutzular vein was divided, and the carotid artery had three small wounds in it. There were several small flesh wounds about the neck and face, also on the left hand and one on the left arm, as if done in a struggle to save her throat. Her right side was very dirty, as if she had lain on her right side while the throat was cut from the front and then been pulled round. From the nature of the wounds, I am satisfied they were inflicted by some other person. She could not have done it herself. The prisoners having declined to put any ques tions, Mr. Corrie said that there was no evidence to warrant the detention of the male prisoner, but he should remand the woman until Monday next. The witnesses already examined were then bound over to prosecute the prisoner at the Central Criminal Court on the charge of wilful murder. The husband was then liberated, and the wife was conveyed to the House of Detention. By great perseverance on the part of the police officers engaged in the matter, the body of the child has since been recognised as the illegitimate child either of the murderess or of her deceased brother. The child had been until a week since under the care of a Mrs. Harrington, in the Hackney-road, from whence her reputed mother removed her to the house of a friend in the neighbourhood of the New North-road. On Saturday evening last, it appears, Mrs. Somner called at this house ( 18, Murray. street) and took the child away on the plea of having ob tained a situation for her. On Monday Mrs. Har• rington identified the body of the child as that of "Celestine Christmas," the child which she had brought up since birth, and of which Mrs. Sumner was the refuted mother. Mrs. Somner has since confessed to the murder, alleging as her reason for committing so horrible an act the constant quarrels with her husband relative to the keep of the child. Mr. Somner denies this, and states that he freely paid 2s. ad. a week towards the support of the child. An inquest was held on Wedneslay, and a verdict of " Wilful Murder " returned against Mrs. Somner. Fabal anb pilitarg ittriligentt. Rear-Admiral of the White Hon. Sir R. S. Dundee, K.C.B. (1853), has this week been appointed com mander-in chief of the Baltic fleet. The gallant admiral on Wednesday hoisted his flag on bard H.M.S. Duke of Wellington at Spithead. Rear-Admiral of the White Sir M. Seymour, K.C.8., (1854), has been appointed commander-in-chief in the East Indies. Rear-Admiral of the Blue R. L. Baynes, CB. (1855), will hoist his flag in the Retribution, 28, paddle-wheel steam frigate (flag-ship), of 400 horse power, at Sheerness, tor service in the Baltic. Captain Huu. F. T. Pelham, C.B. (1840), has been appointed captain of the fleet in the Baltic. Great activity prevails in all the dockyards to get the Baltic fleet ready for sea by the middle of March. The artificers and shipwrights work till nine p.m. daily. General Sir George Scovell will retire from the governorship of the Military College at Sandhurst on the 31st March. A complete change in the organi sation of the college is then contemplated. Sir Benjamin Outram, K.C.B, Inspector of Hospi tals and Fleets, died at Brighton on Saturday last.' Further reinforcements fur the Guards in the Crimea will be despatched to the service companies now in the East. This additional body will consist of 800 drilled and efficient men—viz., 31X) Grena diers, 250 Coldstreams, and 250 Scots Fusiliers. The Russian trophies in Woolwich Arsenal, lately inspected by her Majesty, are now open to public view, by order of the Horse Guards. The following telegraph has been received at the Admiralty during the week, relative to the loss of the Polyphemus, from her Majesty'siConsul-General at Hamburg : - I have great satisfaction in reporting that the quarter master, Samuel Fletcher, and fifteen seamen of the late Polyphemus, who were in the two boats, have been saved by a Danish vessel, and have just arrived from Hjerting. They will go in charge of the chief engineer, Mr. Wood, with the other men to London this evening. The Admiralty has also received the following intel ligence from Commander Frederick P. Warren, of her Majesty's late sloop Polyphemus, dated Thi.tted, February 13, 1M56 : I have not been able, up to the present date, to forward to their lordships a comet list of such men as have I. st their lives. Eight bodies have, however, been found. aid interred. Those which have been identified are the remelt s of Mr. Herbert. master ; Thomas Maunder, hvatawin's mate; Samuel I'earce, bov, Ist class: John Reynolds, cal t. aft. gd.; and Henry lion es, captain forecastle.