The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-07-19 00:00:00

sistent with sanity. He told this man that his wife was
very ill; that he did not think she would live over the
month, and that when she died he would have ‘• a general
jollification." Whv, the very fact of his telling this man
that he could not live without a woman, and that if he
knew a woman who would suit him, to bring her to his
honse, disposed of the whole ta ory f the prosecution, that
the prisoner's object in getting rid of his wife, was to marry
his neighbour, airs Witham. To show that his mind was
running on Mrs. Wham, evidence had been given that he
told a charwoman, whom he never saw before, that he was
going to marry that lady, who had never given him the least
encoursgement, or afforded him in any way the slightest
ground for supposing that his addresses would be acceptahln
The time and place in which, according to the theory of
the prosecution, the last fatal dose was administered, were
both irreconcilable with guilt. If the prisoner had wished
to escape detection, he would have given his wife the poison
in the medicine administered at four o'clock on the Saturday,
when he was quite alone with her, and not have waited
until eight o'clock, when Mrs. Witham and Mrs. Wood
were present. If he, in his senses, had caused the spasms,
from which his wife suffered, was it not unaccountable that
he should summon his victim's mother and friends to
witness her textures, and should go to a clergyman
for to administer the last consolations of religion ?
All this conduct was far more consistent with
innocence than guilt. He repeated that the case for the
crown rested wholly upon the supposition that the prisoner
administered noison to his wife in the medicine handed to
her at eight o'clock on the Saturday evening. To convict
the prisoner of the crime of murder it must be proved that
his was the hand which administered the fatal potion.
There were two witnesses present at the time, witnesses
fetched by the prisoner himself, and not accomplices, and
they had both sworn that they did not see the prisoner put
,nyihires into the glass. If the case rested there, and Mrs.
Witham and Mrs. Wood had been called for the defence,
the p ironer would be at once entitled to his acquittal. He
(the learned counsel) denied that any murder whatever had
been committed. Might not the death of the deceased
have been accidental? Had not prussic acid and strychnia
been administered in hospitals by mistake, and adminis-
tered by persons accustomed so the preparation of drugs, and
naturally careful in the manipulation of them. Had it not
been shown that poison had been lying about in the
most careless manner—put upon meat— thrown out into
the yard—put upon cheese—left on the floor of the wife's
bed room—left on the sink in the kitchen--put on a candle-
s'ick—left on the mantlepiece--left in the bed room of the
deceased, and in fact lying about in all parts of the house.
It was proved that jelly, potted besf, puddings and other
things were left in the bed room of the deceased, and it
was quite possible that a portion of this dusty powder (for
such was strychnia) might have got mixed by accident with
the food of which the deceased had partaken. His supposi-
tion was rendered the more probable by the fact that a little
dog who accompanied the woman into the house,
some days after the death of the deceased, picked
up something on the floor of the bed room which killed
it. Mr. Morley, who analysed the contents of the
dog's stomach, proved that strychnia was present, but
he also gave his opinion that even if the dog had licked
the clot of blood on the floor, the clot of blood was too
minute to contain sufficient strychnia to have killed the
animal. The circumstance went far to warrant the con-
elusion that the dog had licked up some particles of the
poison on the floor of the bed-room, and that other particles
might have found their way into the food or medicine of
the deceased. The learned counsel then referred to the
symptoms which accompanied the paroxysms, contending
that there was nothing to show that the earlier attacks
ft om which the deceased had suffered were not to be attri-
buted to hysteria, a disease to which it was known Mrs.
Dove was subject. He submitted that the cause of death
was to be traced to the administration of strychnia on the
Saturday, and that there was no evidence to prove
that any poison had been taken into the system
before that day. It was necessary that the
jury should know what was the spirit and meaning of the
law with respect to insanity and mental delusions, as the
principle element in the defence of the prisoner, that he was
in a state of mind which made him irresponsible for his
actions, and that he had not the power of distinguishing
between right and wrong. The insanity of the prisoner,
as bearing on the probability of accidental poisoning, was
most important ; for if it could be shown that there was a
sick wife, and change of servants, and a drunken and insane
husband, the chances of accidental poison were Brea ly
increased. But -he believed he could show that putting
aside accidental poisoning, there was abundant ground for
believing that the prisoner was not an accountable being.
The learned counsel was about to read the opinions of Dr.
Dr. Elliston on mental aberations, whorl
Mr. Baron BRAMWELL reminded the learned gentleman,
that he could not be allowed to read to the jury the
opinion of individual men on insanity. The case was to be
decided by the evidence laid before the jury, and that

Mr. Bliss said he only wished to inrornoro F. eh. nri-;"--
of medical jurists into his arguments, and that he did not
intend to present it to the jury as evidence. He would now
proceed to give a ske•ch of the prisoner's life, and he would
shew them that from the nu•sery to manhood, he was only
fit for a lunatic asylum, and it was a deplorable circumstance
that the kindness of friends had not consigned him to one
of those institutions. The learned counsel then traced the
prisoner's career from the time of his being a boy at school,
during his apprenticeship and subsequent manhood, with
the view of proving the wildness and eccentricity of his
conduct, and his whole character being inconsistent w'th
that of a sensible and intelligent being. He narrated a
great number of his strange pranks, such as rubbing cows
with phoapherou3, patting out the eyes of cats, threatening
to shoot his father, and other persons; and having enu-
merated several instances in suppart of the prisoner's
insanity, he said he should be able to substantiate all these
by witnesses whom lie should call, arld,
ang done so, he felt confident that the jury would
Aurn a verdict of acquittal. The learned counsel con-
cluded his address at half•past two o'clock, having spoken
nearly five hours and a half.

statetnent

The learned c unsel read a number of letters written by
the prisoner since his committal to York Castle, amongst
them being a letter addressed to the devil, to whom the
prisoner sail he had sold himself. It was found in the
lining of the prisoner's waistcoat, and was as follows :
" Dear Devil,—lf you will get me clear at the assizes
and let me have the enjoyment of life, health, wealth,
tobacco, beer, more food and better, and my wishes granted,
and let me live 'till I am sixty, come to me to night and
tell me.—Your faithful servant, Wm. DOVE."
He asked whether the author of such a communication
ought to be in York Castle for murder ?
Witnesses were then called for the defence.
The Rev. J. H. Jenkins, brother of the prisoner's wife,
residing in the presidency of Madras, and who had come
home in consequence of this trial. He said from the pri-
soner's general unaccountable conduct towards his sister he
had long considered him to be of unsound mind, and not an
accountable being.
Mr. Charles Hawnes, a schoolmaster at Leeds to whom
the prisoner went as a pupil, in 1839, also stated that he
considered him insane. He once got possession of a pistol,
and said he was going to shoot his fathtr with it.
Witnesses giving similar evidence were under examina-
tion when our parcel was despatched.

MR. JAMES SADLTEII, M.P.—On Monday, the Master of
the Rolls in Ireland granted an injunction until further
order to restrain the agents of James Sadleir, M.P., from
receiving the rents or profits of his estates in Ireland.
THE INFANT MAGNET. —" There are more things in
Heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy."
Amongst the inhabitants of the latter, the most wonder-
ful being we have ever looked upon is an interesting
girl, eleven years of age, most aptly called the " Infant
Magnet," now performing in Bold-street. This child,
in physical appearance, possesses no more power than
other children of her age ; but it seems that about
twelve months ago her parents and others discovered
some extraordinary powers which she possessed, without
being conscious of it. This strange discovery led to
investigation, and the result, after a year's experience,
is the present appearance of the child in public ; and it
is no exaggeration to say that she is one of the wonders
of the present age of wonders. We never believed in
table tr.rning nor spirit rapping, because we are con-
vinced that such are pure humbugs; but here we have
a child who does not profess to anything like the latter,
but who can turn and twist, and make dance a table
about the room, despite the power of half a dozen strong
men to hold it. There is no mistake in this ; we saw
it ; we held the table hard and fast, along with several
others, and yet this tiny girl whirled it out of our hands
by one touch of her fingers. We all held on with might
and main, yet could not resist the power; and the best
of it is, the child herself is totally ignorant of the power
she possesses. All she knows is, that her touch com-
pletes what three or four men would fail to accomplish.
She can lift (and cannot be resisted) half a dozen men
sitting on a chair in each other's lap—she whirls them
about like straws We tried to resist this, but in vain:
The most wonderful portion—even more mysterious
than the above, which seem very little short of miracles
—of her performance is the astounding manner with
which she plays with irons of some twenty-four
pounds weight. These, by a touch, and without any
muscular exertion, she rolls and tumbles about with
mote ease than we could a feather. We saw several
strong persons trying to raise the irons into the same
position which the child puts them in, t ut, with all
their strength, failed. Her powers of magnetism over
other persons, both juvenile and adult, are just as great
and remarkable as over inanimate matter, and the little
prodigy laughs as heartily as the audience at the pranks
she is enabled to make other people play, despite them-
selves, but why or wherefore neither she nor any one
else can tell. Several medical and scientific gentlemen
have visited this child, and they have pronounced her
the most wonderful natural phenomenon in human
nature that has, perhaps, ever appeared. A visit to this
most inexplicable prodigy will more than ten times
compensate. We were truly lust in astonishment at her
powers ; and beyond conveying a faint outline of what
she can accomplish, we can only say, " Go and judge
for yourself."