The Press.
London, England, 1856-06-14 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

I

JUNE 14, 1856.

THE CITIZENS OF MANCHESTER have issued an
address to the people of America, imploring them, as
,4 friends and brethren," to restrain the warlike ten-
dencies of the United States Government, assuring
them that the citizens of Manchester will, on their
part, exert themselves to a similar effect on the Go-
vernment of Britain ; and declaring that much of
the dispute has arisen in mistake, not in design ;
and that a calm and quiet survey of the question
will even yet lead to a satisfactory solution of every
difficulty, and to the removal of every cause of con-
tention and complaint.

The first experiment I made ( says Mr. Pooley) con-
firmed my suspicions. I found that the existence of a
fractional part of emetic tartar (tartrate of antimony ), with
a large amount of strychnine, is sufficient to destroy the
characteristic indications exhibited by that substance when
treated with bichromate of potass and sulphuric acid. I
repeated the experiment several times with invariably the
like results.

This assertion has given rise to a lively medical
correspondence, in which Mr. Pooley's assertions are
unhesitatingly denied by Mr. Rogers, chemical lecturer
at St. George's, and Mr. Girdwood. Mr. Rogers also as
unhesitatingly asserts that strychnine cannot evade
detection if proper processes be employed for its
separation :

In this opinion (continues Mr. Rogers) I am supported
by the highest chemical authorities of the day, and now
request a space in your valuable columns to give to the
world a process which accompanies this letter, and which
has enabled myself and Mr. Girdwood to detect that fear-
ful poison in the blood, liver, tissues, and contents of
stomachs of animals poisoned by doses such as those Dr.
Taylor administered in the experiments on which he
founded his theory promulgated at the late trial,
and which has also enabled us to separate the strych-
nine from the tissues and organs of a dog after the
body had been interred twelve months. The results of
these experiments, but without a description of the pro-
cess employed, were forwarded by myself and Mr. Gird-
wood fur the consideration of Sir George Grey, as we
were of opinion that if John Parsons Cook was poisoned
by strychnine, no matter how small the fatal dose, its
presence could even now be clearly demonstrated if the
tissues of his body were subjected to the same mode of
analysis.
I cannot conclude this letter without expressing my
opinion that, as of all known poisons there is not lee more
readily detected in the tissues than strychnine, conse-
quently no death ought to be attributed to its agency unless
its presence be clearly demonstrated.
The execution is fixed for 8 a.m.

spotting.

• lie.

Corrtspouttutt.

WAR OR PEACE WITH AMERICA?
TO THE EDITOR OF "THE PRESS."

Sir,—Aro we to have war with America, is the
question which every one is now asking of his
neighbour, and which few venture to answer with
much positiveness of assertion. There are, indeed,
persons who maintain the inevitability of such a
disaster, while others laugh at the idea of such a
catastrophe as manifestly absurd and impossible.
But the majority of those who give themselves the
trouble to think about the matter at all are neither
extravagantly sanguine of a continuance of peace nor
entirely possessed by the dread of war. The question
does not lie in a nutshell ; it depends on more ifs
than the solution of the Justice's quarrel in Shake-
speare, and I think its answer is to be found rather
in the state of America's internal affairs than in any
incidental complication of her foreign relations.
We all know that Mr. Pierce's Administration is
weak, vacillating, and unprincipled; and we also
know, which is more, perhaps, to the point, that it
has made itself exceedingly unpopular throughout
the whole of the Union. To the New England an'

568

Northern States it is especially obnoxious. Its tor- -
tuous policy with regard to the great Kansas ques-
tion has blown into a flame, the embers of the old
sectional hatred between North and South which
Daniel Webster, when ho helped to pass the com-
promise measures of 1850, fondly hoped would have
smouldered out for want of fresh fuel. But those mea-
sures which could only have been acquiesced in by
the free States of the North frcm a patriotic feeling
that anything was better than a disruption of the
Union, were. not calculated to lessen the detestation
of slavery in New England or Ohio. The old Con-
servative Whigs, even in their stronghold of Massa-
chusetts, saw their influence decline and their
numbers diminish daily ; and when blood was shed
and murder committed in the streets of Boston,
in order that the hateful fugitive slave law might be
enforced, the tide of abolitionism, which had hither.°
trickled its puny course in country towns and by-
places, now swelled into a mighty torrent, which the
old Whigs, unable to stem, have wisely endeavoured
to guide and direct. Charles Sumner, who has just
been the victim of a savage assault in the Senate at
Washington, was, in 1851 and 1852, execrated as the
Peel of Massachusetts. Elected as a Whig, and by
Whig influence, to the Federal Senate, he had soon
appeared the noisiest champion of the free-soilera.
His ostracism by the "governing classes " of Boston
was complete, and strangers were warned that too
close an intimacy with Senator Sumner would have
the effect of closing the doors of the best houses in
Boston to the offending parties. But a change was
coming. The highly-educated and liberal-minded
Bostonians soon saw that there had been more of
timid selfishness than of wise patriotism in their
sanction of the compromise measures. Slavery they
had always maintained to be a necessary evil, just as
pauperism and prostitution are necessary evils ; but
their State had made noble exertions to support the
poor and to reclaim the guilty. Had it a right to
maintain the other evil in its sister States as an insti-
tution to fence it round with privileges and immu-
nities, and even to degrade its own citizens by making
them the instruments of Southern tyranny and in.
justice?
Such questions were beginning to agitate the Con-
servative mind of Massachusetts and the other free
States, when the Kansas affair sprung up to turn,
their doubts into certainties, and to rouse in them
the manly hatred of tyranny which, if it had been
soothed to slumber for a while by self-interest or
fear of civil war, was not the less deeply implanted
in the descendants of English freemen. Mr.
Sumner is no longer a pariah, but a high priest of
the State religion. His return togioston from the
capital is an ovation. Denunciations of slavery are
no longer confined to Theodore Parker's infidel
chapel, or to obscure back-street platforms. Fenced'.
hall, the cradle of liberty, as the Bostonians proudly
call it, rings with free-soil orations, and will, perhaps,
ere long have another infant committed to its keep.
ing ; and the best and noblest of the State will come
forward as the nursing fathers
to the newer and nobler liberty—
...

in the womb—a liberty of caste
charter shall not begin, like
American independence, by

This is only one phase of
it is not an important one, and
present momentous crisis is clear
the representatives and people
the Union, smarting under the

tions which they have had to.

be so anxious to preserve civil
border that they will allow war

England—their commerce destroyed
knocked about their ears, without

rial interest or political principle
at stake, and merely to give popularity
Administration which they deter:
and extension to institutions which

them ? Will they not, as their
insist on peace, even if a disruption
and their severance from the Southern

the price they are to pay for it
But the South is probably
war which is to ruin its trade

There remains only the restless
less President and his Cabinet.

Senate will not sanction the war

wage for their own unholy purposes,
Pierce and Marcy privately hint - their
on the West India station, or

about hostilities by some overt
suit, and then appeal to the , _
States to support them in a struggle
of their seeking? This is what I fear.
Congress of America will deliberately
formal declaration of war against
account of a miserable enlistment

to defend the interpretation placed
Bolwer Treaty by the Cabinet at
to be almost an impossibility

obedient servantz
June 10. . 4' -141 AME.RICIN TRANIU44Sft.

I V. •
. , • -....,
JUNE 14, 1856. THE PRESS. 568
THE CITIZENS OF MANCHESTER have issued an The first experiment 1 made (says Mr. Poole y) con- Northern States it is especially obnoxious. Its tor- -
address to the people of America, imploring them, as firmed my suspicions. I found that the Yexistence of. a t.uous policy with regard to the great Kansas gues-
s friends and brethren," to restrain the warlike ten- fractional part of emetic tartar (tartrate of antimony), with
lion has blown into a flame, the embers of the old
dencies of the United States Government, assuring a large amount of strychnine, is sufficient to destroy the sectional hatred between North and South which
them that the citizens of Manchester will, on their characteristic indications exhibited by that substance when
part, exert themselves to a similar effect on the Go- treated with bichromate of potass and sulphuric acid. I Daniel Webster, when ho helped to pass the com-
promise measures of 1850, fondly hoped would have
vernment of Britain ; and declaring that much of repeated the experiment several times with invariably the
the dispute has arisen in mistake, not in design ; like results. smouldered out for want of fresh fuel. But those mean
and that a calm and quiet survey of the question This assertion has given rise to a lively medical sures which could only have been acquiesced in by
the free States of the North from a patriotic feeling
will even yet lead to a satisfactory solution of every correspondence, in which Mr. Pooley's assertions are
difficulty, and to the removal of every cause of con- unhesitatingly denied by Mr. Rogers, chemical lecturer that anything was better than a disruption of the
tendon and complaint. at St. George's, and Mr. Girdwood. Mr. Rogers also as Union, were not calculated to lessen the detestation
unhesitatingly asserts that strychnine cannot evade of slavery in New England or Ohio. The old Con-
detection if proper processes be employed for its servative Whigs, even in their stronghold of Meese-
ptlant. separation:— chusetts, saw their influence decline and their
In this opinion (continues Mr. Roger) lam supported numbers diminish daily ; and when blood was shed
and murder committed in the streets of Boston,
ARCHBISHOP CULLEN has issued another Pastoral
by the highest chemical authorities of the day, and now in order that the hateful fugitive slave law might be
request a space in your valuable columns togive to the
enforced, the tide of abolitionism, which lied hither.o
chiefly directed against the efforts of Protestant world a process which accompanies this letter, and which
proselytisers, " wolves in sheeps' clothing," having has enabled myself and Mr. Girdwood to detect that fear- trickled its puny course in country towns and by-
for their object, according to Dr. Cullen, "the con• ful poison in the blood, liver, tissues, and contents of places, now swelled into a mighty torrent, which the
version of Roman Catholic children by bribes and stomachs of animals poisoned by doses such as those Dr. old Whigs, unable to stem,
gold ": Taylor administered in the experiments on which he to guide and direct. Charles Sumner, who has just
Though we are living (says Dr. Cullen) in times of founded his theory promulgated at the late trial, been the victim of a savage assault in the Senate at
boasted toleration, and all that is liberal and enlightened in and which has also enabled us to separate the strych- Washington, was, in 1851 and 1852, execrated as the
Protestantism condemns the spirit of past persecution, yet nine from the tissues and organs of a dog after the Peel of Massachusetts. Elected as a Whig, and by
the progress of our holy religion could not fail to excite the body had been interred twelve months. The results of Whig influence, to the Federal Senate, he had soon
envy of the malignant one, whosnot having succeeded in these experiments, but without a description of the pro- appeared the noisiest champion of the free-soilers.
destroying our religion by violence, induces his followers cess employed, were forwarded by myself and Mr. Gird- •
His ostracism by the "governing classes " of Boston
wood fur the consideration of Sir George Grey, as we to employ new and insidious tuts, and, leaving the blood•
stained track of a Nero or a Diocletian, to walk in the foot- were of opinion that if John Parsons Cook was poisoned was complete, and strangers were warned that too
steps of the perfidious Julian. by strychnine, no matter how small the fatal dose, its close an intimacy with Senator Sumner would have
presence could even now be clearly demonstrated if the the effect of closing the doors of the best houses in
Then, explaining that an active and insidious system tissues of his body were subjected to the same mode of Boston to the offending parties. But a change was
of proselytising is being carried on by the Protes- analysis. coming. The highly-educated and liberal-minded
tent party, he alludes to the effect of the Protestant I cannot conclude this letter without expressing my Bostonians soon saw that there had been more of
free schools, in which the children of a vast number opinion that, as of all known poisons there is not see more timid selfishness than of wise patriotism in their
of Roman Catholic parents are now educated, and readily detected in the tissues than strychnine, conse- sanction of the compromise measures. Slavery they
says, somewhat illogically : quently no death ought to be attributed to its agency unless
its presence be clearly demonstrated. had always maintained to be a necessary evil, just as
In every Catholic country, under one pretence or pauperism and prostitution are necessary evils ; but
The execution is fixed for 8 a.m.
another, English money is lavishly expended in endeavour- their State had made noble exertions to support the
ing to undermine the :with of the people and to introduce
poor and to reclaim the guilty. Had it a right to
a system of doubt and unbelief. We say doubt and unbelief, sporting. maintain the other evil in its sister States as an insti-
because Protestantism cannot be propagated, for it is cursed
with sterility, and has no vitality and no attraction in it. tution to fence it round with privileges and immne
And, indeed, wherever the Catholic Church is assailed no ASCOT RACES. nities, and even to degrade its own citizens by making
them the instruments of Southern tyranny and in.
attempt is heard of to substitute any new form of belief
in place of her doctrines; and if an apostate be made TOLERABLE weather and crowds of visitors have given justice?
he is left in darkness and uncertainty, and destined to the Ascot Meeting unusual eclat this week. Some- Such questions were beginning to agitate the Con-
become, according to the words of our Divine Redeemer, thing, also, was to he allowed for the public desire to servative mind of Massachusetts and the other free
a child of hell, twofold worse than the Pharisees who per- be satisfied whether the Derby running were true, or States, when the Kansas affair sprung up to turn
vested him. whether Epsom mud had not materiallyinfluenced the their doubts into certainties, and to rouse in them
Dr. Cullen concludes with an earnest appeal for the result of last month. The ground at Ascot this week the manly hatred of tyranny which, if it had been
necessity of increasing devotion "to the Prince of was as hard as could be wished, and, as many antici- soothed to slumber for a while by self-interest or
Apostles, St. Peter." pated, the Derby running was quite reversed. In fear of civil war, was not the less deeply implanted
A STEAMER was about to leave Cove with nine the Triennial Stakes and Ascot Derby, Mr. Bowes's in the descendants of English freemen. Mr.
eight miles of electric-telegraph cable ou board, the -
Fly by Night, who was nowhere in the Derby, beat Sumner is no longer a pariah, but a high priest of
first batch intended ultimately to communicate with Cannobie, who was the third, easily for the first race, the State religion. His return tolßoston from the
America across the Atlantic. These ninety-eight and Yellow Jack, who was the Derby second, almost as capital is an ovation. Denunciations of slavery are
miles are to be laid down between Cape Ray, New-
easily for the other race. Flyby-Night, however, no longer confined to Theodore Parker's infidel
fonndland, and Cape North on Breton Island for
suffered severely from his second victory, for soon chapel, or to obscure back-street platforms. Fanectil-
eighty-five miles, and thirteen more between Cape after passing the post he broke down, and was led hall, the cradle of liberty, as the Bostonians proudly
Traverse on Prince Edward's Island and Cape away, dead lame, call it, rings with free-soil orations, and will, perhaps,
Formanton on New Brunswick.
The Gold Vase, won by Fisherman, proved that ere long have another infant committed to its keep-
Ellington was not really so bad as he seemed prior ing; and the best and noblest of the State will come
THE COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH this week, for to his Derby victory, for it will be remembered that forward as the nursing fathers and nursing mothers
the first time since the institution of the Encumbered at York Ellington gave Fisherman 61b., and was only to the newer and nobler liberty—which is even now
Estates Court, has overruled its jurisdiction in the beaten by a head. The great event, " The Cup," in the womb--a liberty of caste and colour, whose
case of Errington v. Rorke. The trial was originally proved a good race, but the result hit the gentlemen charter shall not begin, like the first charter of
one against ejectment, and the verdict was given for uncommonly hard. Both favorites, Manganese and American independence, by solemnly enunciating
the defendant. The court this week has confirmed Saucebox, were beaten easily by Winkfield, the a lie.
the verdict, which will have the effect of disturbing horse of a licensed victualler, and the rnagni- This is only one phase of American affairs, but
the possession of many purchases and seriously im- cent piece of plate given, the envy of all beholders, it is not an important one, and its bearing upon the
pugning the validity of parliamentary titles, goes pro bono publico. The Ascot Stakes were won present momentous crisis is clear and evident. Will
easily by Redemption, the Hunt Cup by Forbidden the representatives and people of the free States of
Fruit, and the Queen's Plate by Middleton. the Union, smarting under the insults and degrade-
Yalu ad Noble. The Court was present on the Heath on Thurs. tions which they have had to suffer from the South,
day, " The Cup Day," when the Queen, accompanied be so anxious to preserve civil peace within their
by Prince Albert, all the Royal children, and her border that they will allow war to be declared against
THE CONVICT PALMER. Royal visitors, met with a marked enthusiastic re- England—their commerce destroyed and their cities
THE prisoner persists in asserting his innocence ; ception. knocked about their ears, without one single mate-
and from his demeanour, there is every reason for - _ rial interest or political principle of their own being
believing that he will continue to do so to the last. at stake, and merely to give popularity to a P. and an
The preliminary preparations for the scaffold were Corrtspouttntt. Administration which they detest, and permanence
completed yesterday. Several very strong barriers and extension to institutions which are abhorrent to
them ? Will they not, as their fathers did in 1814, were erected, as the crowd is expected to be greater
WAR OR PEACE WITH AMERICA?
than on any similar occasion. insist on peace, even if a disruption of the Union,
The magistrates on Thursday issued a notice to TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS." and their severance from the Southern States, is to be
the effect that no person under fourteen would be Sir,—Are we to have war with America, is the the price they are to pay for it?
allowed to mix in the crowd, advising women not to question which every one is now asking of his But the South is probably as little anxious for a
be among the spectators, and requesting the autho- neighbour, and which few venture to answer with war which is to ruin its trade as the North can be.
cities rniaht have. rittn nntira of all nlatfnrma intended mulch nositiveness of assertion. There are_ indeed Tharp remains only the restless West and the reck-

less deeply implanted
nglish freemen. Mr.
but a high priest of
rn togioston from the
iciations of slavery are
odors Parker's infidel
set platforms. Fanettil-
the Bostonians proudly
tions, and will, perhaps,
committed to its keep-
t of the State will come
s and nursing mothers
y—which is even now
iste and colour, whose
e the first charter of
solemnly enunciating
American affairs, but
id its bearing upon the
',leer and evident. Will
is of the free States of
he insults and degrade-
) suffer from the South,
civil peace within their
sr to be declared against
stroyed and their cities
rithout one single mate-
!iple of their own being
opularity to a P. and an
letest, and permanence
which are abhorrent to
eir fathers did in 1814,
ruption of the Union,
southern States, is to be
it?
as little anxious for a
as the North can be.
less West and the reek-
net. Fearful that tle
war which they wish to
purposes, will Messrs.
nt to their naval officers
T at Greytown, to bring
rt act of wrong or in-
people of the United
struggle which is none
tat I fear. But that the
deliberately sanction a
ainst Great Britain on
ment squabble, or even
laced upon the Clayton-
t at Washington, I bold
ility.—l am, sir, your
FJUCIN Tuviu44lp.