The Express.
London, England, 1866-11-02 00:00:00

BRITANNIA.

TIM EvIMWO, TOE OLD CHERRY TREE. Mrs. Lane.—Miss
Z. Mowbray ; iii,dge Perks ; Mr. " Kind Old
Duddy " Paul Dewitt —And EDWARD THE I.L.M.E. PRINCE.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE

TM DAY —Morning, 10h. :tm lnk 40m.
T.O-1104.4LUR —Morning, 11h. 17m alternuou, lib. 40m.

LONDON, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2.

A ,rnetALLy constituted criminal court at
Brussels has been occupied for more than a week

past with an inquiry into a very remarkable case.
lta chief interest turns on the (itiestion whether a
death was suicide or murder, but it is not the less
interesting to us from the fact that, though the
tragedy was enacted at Antwerp, the actors were
both sul]ects of this country. The (1. ceased was
a bon! Englishman, of the name of the
son of a lAAIy who was thrice married, and who died
a few years ago, leaving property of the value of
25,000;. The accused was her husband, and to

Lim she had by will left, the whole of her estate.
By her marriage settlement, however, she had
previously given a sum of 5,00(m'. to READILY, in
the event of his attaining majority, but it was to

revert to the Itushand in case he should die under

age. This Imskind was a native of the Lebanon,
by name liEOKI;E HABKEB RISK ALLAH, who had
in England studied for the medical profession,
became naturalised, duly graduated as surgeon,

served for some time in the Turkish medical ser-
vice in tlF.t Crimea, was afterwards attached to the
Ottoman embassy in London, and received several
decorations and the title of Iley. After the death
of his wife, Riss At.tan, as trostee of the 5,000/.
settled on his stepsn, was authorised by the
Court of Chancery to draw 130/. a year of the
interest for the young man's education and main-
tenance. They travelled much together, and were
on exceihmt terms. but it seemed that the youth
incurred expenses beyond the amount ..f his allow-
ance, and lttsx ALLAH, advancing him money, in-

cured his life for a considerable sum. His

jority would have arrived on the 29th of July.
1865. But in the spring of that year he fell in
love with a young English lady at Spa, and
though at first accepted he was ultimately rejected
by her family, on the ground of being subject to
epileptic fits. Refusing to accept his fate from
any one Lunt the lady herself, ho received in the
middle of March, while staying with his step-
father at an hotel in Antwerp, a letter from her
confirming the decision of her family. This greatly
affected him, and in his reply he said, " There are
" many honourable ways of speedy death." Soon
after he fell ill, and was attended by RISK ALLAH.
On the night of the 29th of March he was se-
riously unwell, and a commissionaire was hired
to sit up with him. In the morning this man was
dimissed by Rica ALLAH, who then went out for
a walk. On his return, READLY not having appeared,
his door was forced, and he was found dead in
bed. The question was, had he committed sui-
cide, or been murdered. There were, as has been
seen, motives to support either alternative, and,
therefore, the inquiry came to turn ou the simple
comparison of probabilities with reference to the
circumstances of the act itself.
The body was found in bed, covered by the bed-
clothes. The right arm was extended down the
body, the left arm was crossed upon the breast. It
layonthe back, but the head was turned to :he right.
There was no derangement of the pillow, mattress,
or bedclothes, but there were grains of lead shot
and blood on the pillow. Under the left ear was
a wound of above an inch in diameter ; and on
the right temple one of above an inch and a half
in diameter. Four or five yards from the bed a
gun lay on the Hoer, a chair was overturned near
the bed, and on the table was a piece of paper with
the words, in RSADLIeS handwriting, " I have done
" it." The case for the prosecution rested mainly
on the relative position of the body and of the gun.
There was a single medical witness examined, who
declared that the weapon could not have been fired
with the hands under the bedclothes, and that
these being so found was proof that some one
bad adjusted the body after death ; since no doubt
the wound must have been instantly mortal.
Some gunsmiths deposed that the gun must have
been fired with the muzzle at a distance of a foot
and a half from the pillow, else the pillow would
have shown marks of burning. They also de-
clared that though the gun might have been fired
at that distance by means of the ramrod pressed
against the trigger, yst to do so it was necessary
that the arms should be outside the clothes.