The Express.
London, England, 1859-08-19 00:00:00

THROWING VITRIOL IN WIGAN.

Mary Norrid, 40, was arraigned on the charge of throw-
ing • quantity of vitriol, so as intentionally to MAN Wm
Taylor on the 16th of Kay last.
It al:pared that a woman, suspecting that her bookend
we to the priemser's boom an the sight In question, ws.
=the prosecutor to look through the window, over •
, to ascertain If bee lumbeatwas in the hones. To
enable him to do so he had to step urn a kdp,
about half • yard above the street, and while he wee fe die
set of looltirp through the window, the prisoner, who was
in the chamber story, threw dm vitriol upon him, by whisk
be was injured in several idiom The prosecutor and all his
witnesses were colliers. _ _

TM •jars re urad a terdid of Guilty.
entexce dderna.

Mama Linton, 41, was arraigned for the roantleughter
at Joseph Fellows, to Liverpool, In At ril last. The prisoner
wan la chugs of • brume.' dray, and baying to pow a coal-
awe, the (if wheel cants into eallnion with aginger-beer cart,
whoa the driver was thrown froto his seat and the cart itself
overturned.

The defence eat Up was that the whole thing wu as-
cid.etel

Tae jar! returned a verdict of Not Guet 2, the prisoner was
therefore discharged.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.

THE ALLEGED MURDER AT RICHKOND.-TILIAL
OP DR. SMETHURST.
FOURTH DAT.

(Continued from yesterdey's I:press.)
Dr. W. Tyler Smith deviled that he bed devoted greet
attention Mews of m.dwitery, and was the author of a work
upon the &abject. Excesrive vomiting Wel very often a
symptom to the early states of pregnancy. and he had
known instatoes in which it bad caused &nth, Lidding all
medical treatment. In the caw" of & patient who was rutin-
itig from purling and vomihnz be should consider
it very important to nee/stun eh. thee tte patient
was preezant or not, and this, in big opinion,
should nwsys be done in such rase,. He also said
that in cases of pregnancy accompanied by purging and
vomiting it was very notomnn for the patient to Jed
hatpin; sensation in the 'Potluck and the mouth would
become wee, end be had seen ME/ where the symptoms bad
been so similu to those that would here mamn a! from the
. .

adnitni•trat ilia of poison. that the evacuations of the patient
was submitted to elanitsuition by a chemist. In aces of
exceesive vomiting In pregnancy pruiric acid was a moat
ealuat4e medicine. It wee a eery calllololl thing in each
oases Wooly before death that the patient should cease
vomiting, and eves be able to take food. sad that was the
are with the celebrated Charlotte Brunie, who died of
"weight% in pregnancy. The death, in point of fact, was the
wadi of starvation. and in each aims the countenance of the
letiost always presented a most peculiar appearance, which
wr well underwood by !medical rues.
The jury expreawd a wish to know from Dr. Ssulth whe-
ther dywntary could be kept up by any medicine?
Mr. Smith said that any irritating wediciae would hare the
elect of keeping up the dysentery.

r. Paley,s dentist, in Genrgr-street, Ranaver-eqnsre,
depo-ed that in February Jaw Dr. Sdewhotet applied to him
to give hint somethieg for 101.1111 V., of breath, and he men-
tioned chlorale rf patens mi isgredtent that might be used
with good effect.
Bsement Party said that this was ii.. rasa foe the p:isceee.
&dead Balitatias then made • ',mita reply opts

the whole case. He said that whatever might be the
result of the trial, no one could doubt the great ability and
talent with which the defence of the prisoner had been ma-
ducted by his learned friend. He then end that on the part
of the public he moat protest against such a question as this
being made • merely medical question, or to allow the fact of
a swarm of medical men Wag called with a view to
create a doubt on the minds of the jury, and inane them to
retwn • verdict that was not warranted by the real facts and
circumstances that were before them. Hs asked them to
look at this case as rani of experience and common sense.
In all than charges of secret murder, the evidence was circu-
lated from one end of the country to the other, and nothing
was nuns easy than for medical men to come forward,
and by a little alteration of the feet., make it ap-
pear that certain cased in which they were con-
cerned resembled the one that was under discussion, and
this sometimes heel an effect in opposition to positive facts.
The duty of the jury was not to be led away by evidence of '
this character, but to look at all thefacts that were laid before
them, and to say as men of common sense and acquainted
with the ways of the werld, whether the conduct of the pri-
soner could be fairly mediated with the supposition of his
innocence of the crime alleged against him. He had said,
in the first instance, that he charged the prisoner with hevthg
inveigled this unhappy lady away from her friends and
induced her to marry him, when he well ILIUM that the con-
anion could notcontinne, and that he never intended It should
do SO. What was the inevitable ocoseguente of this pre-
enable y Either his own wife was • party to the
trannadou—which had never yet been suggested—or
if she was not, and the Osseo, had butted the demoted, bar
fiends would certainly have interbred, end the names
must have been very unpleasant to the Felspar. W tut the
real motive of the marriage was, would probably never be
known, but It appeared pretty dear that • permanent con-
nexion with the demand lady never could have been intended
by the primmer, end her death alone could have relieved
him from the pouton in which he had placed himself by
marrying the deceased. What was the conduct of the pri-
soner at the moment when this unhappy lady was at the
point rf death ? Why on the 2nd of May he wrote to his
wife, stating that he should soon be with her edam he was
prevented by some inference circumstance. It had been
said that the prisoner bad been actuated by passion and
affection ; but what a mockery and how shocking it
was to say that • Eau who could act in this
manner could have entertained the slightest affec-
tion towards this unhappy woman. He alluded to
this the more particularly, with a view to chow that it was
quite Clair that the prisoner never intended hie connexion
with the deceased to be • pennant one, and that her death
alone could afford him any relief from the position in which
he had placed himself. The learned serjeent then referred to
the feet of the prisoner having in the first place falsely stated
to the medical men that the cleaned lady was not in the
family way, when It wanks: that she was, and that this fact
rendered it still more important that the deceased ahould be
got out of the way. It was true that the prisoner had em-
u normnibtleer.metinveth aardndheupon k
Tth.eydgeoc,neced , b
are ut he
to leave the patient, and his conduct was most extraordinary
and suspicema. Every medicine that was supplied, whe-
ther vegetable or animal, appealed to produce ex-
actly the same results. vomiting and diarrhea, and
nothing seemed to alleviate thew symptoms. He sub-
mitted to the jury that the evidence of Dr. Julioa, who saw
the patient constantly, and who watched her day after
was worth the evidence of twenty scientific men who merely
came to state remarks and cases which they had reed in
books, or had heard of from others. As to the deceased
having died of dyanitry, end that there were dyeentrie
symptoms, that probably was true • but the question was
whether the condition of the decried was not aggravated,
and her death eventually occasioned, by something being
administered to her which aggravated and kept up the
malady. Dr. Julius and Dr. Bird ware both men of ex-
perience. Dr. Bird in particular had had very great ex-
perience In cases of bowel complaint, and it was evident
that they were both completely staggered by the
symptoms of this complaint, and they both came
to the conclusion that virulent poisons of some kind
or other was the cause of those symptoms. Dr. Todd
also, who had no warning or notice whatever upon the
subject, the moment In saw the patient, sod heard the
history of the wee, at once declared hie opinion that this
lady was dying from irritant potion. It was not pretended
to say positively that the death waa occasioned either by anti-
mony or by arsenic, but all they said was that death was
occasioned by some poison or other, but they were unable to
say when or in what manner the ponce was administered
If paean was administered at all, it =Whine been &denials-
tend by the prisoner, no one else could have administered it,
and therefore it was unn to fay any more upon that
point. The prewar was a medical man ; be appeared to be
perfectly well acquainted with the nature of }miaow, and
if this had been • natural diseme the winner, who most
have known that an inquiry would take place, would have
taken very good care to have ps%le about he deceased
who could have proved that to be the case. If the
prisoner really intended to do what It was sug-
gested he had done, could be have taken a more effectual
mode than he did to carry out that object ? He
excluded every one from the bedside of the unfor-
tunate wornao, and did not even allow her sister to NO
her until she Ina sinking and almost at the point of
death. Then with regard to the will, he would ask them
why the poisoner should have induced this unhappy
lady to make • will by which she bequeathed him all the
property she presented in the world, when supposing she wee
only suffering from a bowel complaint, than was no mein to
suppose that her death was imminent : and whether the
ending could be reconciled with any other aappaltlam
than that the prisoner knew perfectly well that the re-
sult would be fatal ? Could they go Into the details of that
sick chamber—could they reflect that the prisoner had per-
formed all the principal offices that month required during••
period of three weeke.when be had plenty of money to employ
nurses and proper persons to attend upon the deceased, with-
out asking themselves at the same time, could the prienier
have acted in this manner if he had not some extraordinary
object in view ? And what that object could be it was for the
jury to decide. Was it not also a curious fact that the pr-
emier had prevented the demand', sister from making her
some arrowroot and tapioca, and that the moment the pri-
soner ceased to supply the deceased with any food or medi-
cine, the vomiting and purging ceased. If it had been
proved that wholesome food when administered to the de-
ceased did not cause either vomiting Or purging, it would at
once have caused suspicion, and would have been a moat in-
convenient proceeding for the penman. Again, when the
niter brought the soup which she knew to be wholesome and
innocent, why 'honk] the prisoner take It out of the room if
he did not [steed to do something that would have the effect
of keeping up the symptoms that had all along existed P
The foreman of the jury here interposed, and said that this
was only surmise.. .

Seejeint BaHemline proceeded—True, it was only a sur-
mise, but the jury would pardon him foe observing that in
cases of secret puisoning they
,could never expect to get
positive testimony. end they could only come to a Domin-
ates urea all the facts that were laid before them, and the
fair end reasonable inferences that wets to be drawn from
than beets. He then observed upon the medical evidence,
and said tbsjury would recollect that oases of Mow poisoning
ware very rare, that there were a great many difilculties to
contend with in making out snob casts, and It could only
be done by circumstantial evidence. If they ehould
consider the evidence insufficient, the prisoner, of
course, ought to be acquitted; but if it were to
be required that positive evidence should be given
of the commission of the offence, this terrible crime of secret
poisoning would, In almost every came, go unpunished.
With reference to the mistake that bad bees committed by
Dr. Taylor, he said be told them in his opening that this
mistake had been committed, but they would at the lame
time recollect that it had been proved by competent weans
that the test he roads use of was a perfect test under ordinary
circumstencee, and it was only defeated by the presence of
the cblerate of passe. He then called the attention of the
jury to the fact of a certain quantity of arsenic being found
in one of the evacuations of the declassed, sad he said that
OM of the medical men who had been examined on behalf of
the prisoner had admitted that under each circumstances
be should have expected that a large quantity of arsenic had
been in the body. A good many tanceful theories had been
suggested on the part of the defence, and en endeavour
was made to account for the presence of the poison
by sayiug that it was contained in the bismuth that was pre-
scribed by Dr. Julius ; but what was the fact P Why, that
the bismuth which cams from the surgery of Dr. Julies was
proved to be entirely free from arsenic, mad in that which
bed been analysed by the witnesses for the prisoner the
quantity was quite infinitesimal and could hardly be appre-
ciated. The leaned etrjeent then commeeted upon the
medical evidecce that bed been adduced on behalf of the pri-
sonar, and said that if the jury entertained a fair and reason-
able conviction, upon all the facts that were laid before them,
that the prisoner was guilty of the clime of which he was
accused, their duty to the country and to the le own eon-
*ejecta's required that they should say so by their verdict.
The Lord Chief Baron then commenced summing up, but
he mid an It would be impossible for him to conduce and go
through the mesa of evidence that had I ems given within
coy reasonable time, he should only make some general
oh...reedits' upon the case, and should go through the
evidence on the following morning. The case was un-
doubtedly one of the greeted impormace, not only to the pri-
mer, at the bar but oleo to the public, and the prisoner was
entitled to the benefit not only of she fact that no poison wee
found in the body of the deceased, but to any other doubt
such se would operate en the mines of reasonable and con-
@ejections nun, and unless the jury were satisfied of his
guilt in such • manner se they would be satisfied in reference
to any important event in their own live', that a certain state
of things existed, the prisoner undoubtedly ought to be ac-
quitted. The cam 'Naomi of the tooet remarkable In all its eir-
commences that he ever remembered ha hie now longexper ience.
end the evidence that had been brought forward in support
et the charge of murder against the prisoner undoubtedly
deserved their moat serious and grave conelderation. The
first material question they would have to consider was
whether it was made out to their satisfaction that the de-
mised lady cams to her death by poison ; and then came the
more important quest ono, so far as the prisoner was con-
cerned, was it proved by reasoasble evidence that it was by
• hand that lenient was adruinietered. He then entered
into a narrative of the facts, and said the jury would remem-
ber that the prisoner was first taken into custody on the 2nd
of May, the lay at this time being alive. He was then
only charged with administulug poison, and at this time of
comae everyone concerned was ignorant of the fact that he
had a wife living, and that the deceased was not hie
legal wife. His own counsel felt it doe to himself to elate
that no justification could be offered foe the primmer so for es
Ilia metier was concerned, and it was clear that he Mei not
only violated his moral duty, but that by going through the
ceremony of marriage with the doomed he had cam-

e milted • breach of the law and a felony. The circumstances
under which that marriage took place, and under which the
primmer deserted hie lawful wife, would probably fur ever
remain a secret, but, however bed the conduct of the pri-
mer might have been so far ss these matters were cou-
rsed, he was not to he punished at this time for those acts,
and the jury ought not to allow the circumstances to which
he bad alluded to have any weight, excepting so
fez as they were associated with the other facts in
the case, upon the question whether the prisoner was guilty
or Mama of the more serious crime hid to his charge. It
aelgto him that it was a most important 'alder for
olitidertion—the position of the demised at the time
the fatal event occurred, and also what she believed to be
her own position with regard to the prisoner in the letter she
WPM to her eider atm stated that she was happy, and she
also told her sister, when she first saw bee dunng her illness,
that when she got well It would be all right. What did she
mean by that expression, and what would have become of the
virreif sue had got well, he having a wife
rg
P In the will that bad been made by the
deceased, she appeared to have been studiously called
" spine ter," and she signed it in her maiden name of Isabella
Banker; and how she could have done this, knowing that she
had gone through the ceremony of marriage with the -
mem, and might therefore naturally have summed herself pri
en-
titled to the name of Smethurst, was mrtarly a very myrei.
or end extraordinary dreamstanoe. He could not rip also
observing upon the crunetanose: under which that wi Mr
made. The primer had certainly told a falsehood to
Sealer, the attorney, and he did not appear to scruple to state
what mud have tended to degrade most seriously this unhappy
lady for the purpose of having the will prepared in the
form he required. If he had told the attorney the treat, and
mid that he bed gone through the ceremony of marriage
with the lady, be would new have drawn up the will in
the form in which it appeared. Another portion of the pri-
soner's conduct at this time wee certainly matter for very
eteMIM consideration. At the very period when this unhappy
women was lying in agony and misery on her deathbed, and
when, according to the prissneee own statement, she was in
such a condition as not to be able to bear the excitement of
seeing her own sister, be took into her bedroom on a Suadsy
en entire stranger, an attorney, and there a will, prepared by
himself, wairead over to the unhappy woman, who executed
it under the circumstances of degradation to which he had
alluded. He could not oontemplate this scene of suffering and
privation, when this poor dying creature had all her relatives
excluded from her, and an attorney was thrust into her pre-
mace, and she was allowed to pass into the other world with-
out one word of religious consolation, se If she had bees a
beggar and en unbeliever in a heathen land. (The leased
judge *speared to be a good deal affected while makingtmae
last observatioss.) He then proceeded to my that the freed
conned tor the prie...ner had endeavoured to show that herd
no pecuniary motive for the death of the deceased, inasmuch
ea
he would be entitled to terve the Interest on the 5,0001.-
1501. a-year during bar lifetime; but, on the other
hand, it should not be footten, that if the will
of the deceased was acted upon. he would at
once come into possession of 1,7001. or 1,8001.,
which would have al minted to twelve years purchase of the
dividend. It had been said that Dr. Julius ought to have
interfered sooner than he did, but It appeared to him that he
bad lured very properly. The prisoner and the deceased
were supposed to be persons of respectability, and it was a
very serious thing to make a charge of poisoning ender suck
circumstances, when there was so positive evidence to sup-
port it at that time.
The homed judge then referred to some other portions of
the case, and at twenty minutes to eta o'clock the court
adjourned.