The Press.
London, England, 1856-03-15 00:00:00

'kW ant( Volta.

THE INQUEST UPON THE LATE MR.
SADLEIR, M.P.

THE adjourned inquiry into the circumstances con-
nected with the death of Mr. Sadleir was concluded
on Tuesday. Mr. Manning, who appeared on behalf
of the family, addressed the jury at some length, and
attempted to clear the memory of the deceased from
many crimes laid to his charge. Mr. Manning also
pointed out that, from the depression of mind the
deceased was suffering under ust previous to his
death, he coull not be considered responsible for his
acts. The coroner then proceeded to sum up with
great care. Reviewing the case at length, Mr. Wakley
pointed out the immediate cause of death—viz., the
self- administration of a large quantity of essential oil of
Llmonds—as a concluded pcint, and called the atten-
tion of the jury more particularly to the circum-
stances immediately preceding that event. With
reference to the letters written by Mr. Sadleir a few
hours before his death, Mr. Wakley observed:—

Mr. Manning had suggested that the jury should attach
little importance to the statements in those letters, but the
jury must remember that they were presented to them in
the character of dying declarations. He urged that Mr.
Sadleir was in a state of mental depression, and that might
havti accounted for his exaggerated statements and ulti-
matMy for his violent death. It was his (the coroner's)
duty to tell the jury that insanity was not depression or
agony of mind, neither was it remorse. He was sorry to
say that there was not a single sentence recorded that
gave a correct idea of what insanity was in law, and he was
afraid it never would be done. What the jury in the pre-
sent case had to decide upon was, whether they believed
that when Mr. Sadleir committed suicide he was a respon-
sible agent,—whether lie was in such a condition of mind
as made him morally and legally responsible for his actions.
The jury had it in evidence that Mr. Sa3leir had had great
losses, and in his own letters he stated that he had com-
mitted great crimes. Now, could they judge of the state of
his mind, except by looking at the facts which had been
stated in evidence, and by the letters he had written just
previous to his death ?

The coroner here read the various letters which have
been published, and proceeded :
There was no confusion of ideas,--apparently no dis-
turbance of mind. Those letters were not in any way
inconsistent with a perfect retention of his reasoning and
reflective powers, or with the maintenance of an accurate
memory. At the same time it was impossible not to know
and feel, from the manner in which the letters were ex-
pressed, that the writer must have been suffering from
intense mental agony ; indeed the circumstances of the
suicide itself must prove the mental suffering which drove
him to such an act of desperation. But then again rose
the question—was he in such a state of mind that made
him irresponsible—was he driven to the act by an unoon-
troliable impulse that weighed down his reasoning sad

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reflective powers, or was he aware of what he was doing,
and had he the power of controlling his actions to such an
extent as to make him responsible? If the jury bad any
doubt upon the miner, he recommended them to give Mr.
Sadleir's memory the benefit of the doubt, but at the same
time it was his duty to tell them that they must not Mr a
moment take into consideration the consequences of their

The jury then retired, and after an absence of
twenty-five minutes returned into court.

The FOREMAN said : The opinion of the jury is, that
John Sadleir died by his own hand when in a perfectly
sane state of mind. That is the unanimous opinion of
the jury.
The CORONER : That amounts to a verdict of self-

murder.

The FOREMAN : Yes, it does.

The CORONER: My own conviction is, that, after de
most mature deliberation, and the most patient investiga-
tion, you could not have come to any other conclusion.

The proceedings then terminated.
It may be mentioned with respect to the legal re-
marks made by Mr. Manning,that they had reference
to the consequences that must ensue from a verdict
such as the jury eventually returned. He urged that
the result of such a verdict would entitle the lord of
the manor on which the self-murder was committed
to the whole of the property of the deceased ;
whereas a verdict of insanity would give it to the
creditors. He produced the charter under which this
arrangement was provided for, but in reply to the
coroner said he was not aware that it had ever been
acted upon.

A MEMBER OF THE PADDINGTON GAROTTE GANG,
a ruffian, one Henry Thomas, was captured last
Saturday night in the very act of garotting a solici-
tor's clerk, Mr. William Partridge, while a com-
panion robbed him. The affair happened in Portsea-
place, a by•street near Connaught-square, Edgware-
road. A neighbour happening to hear a scuffle in
the street opened his street door, and there saw Mr.
Partridge lying in the road with two men over him,
one grasping his throat, and the other kneeling on
his stomach and emptying his pockets. Mr. Cham-
bers gallantly attacked the ruffians and put them to
flight. Following them down a neighbouring mews,
one was captured by a policeman, while the other
escaped. The prisoner was remanded for a week.
THE BOA DISPUTE CASE, in which Mrs. Cammack,
of Islington, charged Mrs. and Miss Butt, wife and
daughter of a stockbroker, with stealing a boa at the
Princess's Theatre, was decided in favour of the
complainant by Mr. Bingham on Monday. Mr:
Butt proved the identity of the boa to his own satis-
faction by showing an account of 14s. paid in Decem-
ber, 1854, whereupon Mr. Bingham immediately ob-
tained a furrier's opinion upon the value of the boa,
which was declared to be worth 30s. or 40s. Mr.
Bingham then decided against Mrs. Butt's claim.
WILLIAM WEST, a follower in the steps of Joseph
Ady, has this week been apprehended at Shoreditch.
West is described as a man of venerable aspect, above
sixty years of age, and of a respectable appearance;
His peculiar role seems to have been represent=!
ing himself as an officer of the Coutt of Chancery,
and beguiling humble tradesmen's wives to part with
petty sums of five shillings at a time, with a view of
enabling him to restore them to property, now in
Chancery, but to which they were entitled. Several
cases were proved against him, and the prisoner was
remanded for a week.

THE INQUIRY INTO THE PERJURY CASE OF BROOKE
AND NOLDWRITT has this week been continued before
Mr. Norton at Lambeth. The charge is preferred
by Mr. Brooke, a wholesale poulterer, against Mr.
Noldwritt, a Custom-house agent, both persons of
high respectability, and arises simply from the
denial by Mr. Noldwritt, in an action brought against
him in August last by the London and County Bank
on a bill of exchange for 5001., that the endorsement
on the said bill was in his handwriting. On the
same trial Mr. George Brooke swore that Mr.
Noldwritt, in his presence, wrote that endorsement to
the bill which be now repudiates. The swearing
was equally hard on both sides, and after the ex-
amination of some witnesses, the case was adjourned
till a future day.
A PRISONER IN THE HASTINGS GAOL, One Murdoch,
on Monday morning, strangled his gaoler as he was
leaving the prisoner's cell. Murdoch then made his
escape, but was hunted down in the neighbourhood
before night. An inquest was held on the body of
the gaoler, and a verdict of Wilful Murder returned
against Murdoch.
MESSRS. STRAHAN, PAUL, AND BATES passed their
last examination at the Bankruptcy Court on Tues-
day. The prisoners' appearance is said to have been
extremely careworn.
CAPTAIN BOUCHIER, commanding the Mangertots
steamer at the time of the collision with the Jose-
phine Willis, was tried this week, at Maidstone, on
the charge of manslaughter in reference to that acci-
dent. In the course of the trial Mr. Justice Coleridge
interposed, as the facts obviously acquitted the
prisoner. The jury immediately returned a vordiej
of Not Guilty,