The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-28 00:00:00

pasties should come to any kina of agreemeit,
fact was patent, and it was ono upon _whiell
Englishman should reflect—that for-The ttnit
tieea
in history we should find across the Atlantic a great
naval and military power, and it wrs impossible to
say what might be the effect of those altered circum-
s t ances upon our establishments and oar future career.
The hon, member concluded by claiming credit for
the House of Commons in the last Session of
having effected a redaction of tatation to the cx'
tent of £3,278,000, making with previous reduc-
tions during the existence of the present Parliament
a total of ten millions.

In answer to questions, the hon. member said he
was anxious to see more free bridges anj wider
roads in this metropolis, and he took the opporte.
nity of stating that the Common Council had that
day agreed to open Southwark-bridge toil free for
six or twelve months. With respect to Mr Law-
son's Permissive Bill, he was not aware that he had
voted against it; but, as it appeared that he had
done EO, his reason was that a great improvement
had taken place in the habits of the richer classes,
and be had no doubt that, with improved education,
the working classes would follow the example, and
thus put down drunkenness without the necessity
for any coercive measure. (Hear, hear.)
A resolution approving the statement of the hon.
member and expressive of continued confidence in
him was then proposed and carried unanimously.

Another La Pommerais Case.

A trial is now going on before the Assize Court
of Berne, in Switzerland, which has some points of
resemblance to the La Pommerais case, which made
so much noise in Paris somo Pannitta Isselee-elisoseese
are accused parties is Charles Hermann Demme,
Doctor of Medicine, practising at Berne, and the
author of several treatises on military surgery. The
other, Sophia Elizabeth Trumpi, the widow of
Gaspard Trumpi, of Glaris, merchant and banker,
also of Berne, is charged with being the accomplice
of Dr. Demme in the murder of her husband.
It appears that on the night of the 15th of Fe•
bruary last Gaspard Trumpi died at his country
house at Vabren, in the neighbourhood of Berne.
The day following his death rumour got abroad that
be died by his own hand, and in consequence of this
and of another report, that Trumpi had met with
foul play, the Prefect—a functionary named by the
Grand Council or the election of the people and Coun-
cil of State, and whose duties are to inquire into all
the crimes and offences that may be brought to his
knowledge—opened an inquest, and called upon
Doctor Demme, as the family physician of the de-
cease, for a report of the circumstances relating to
Trumpi's death. The report was sent in by Demme
who deckred that the circumstances which he had
observed in the case showed that the death was not
owing to any extraordinary cause, but that Trumpi
had died from
.an apoplectic stroke. The Pro-
cureur-General of Berne ordered a post mortem
examination by two experts—namely, Dr. Cherie.
Emmert, professor of legal medicine, and Dr.
Kupper, both of Berne. The experts were unable
to find any outward signs of a violent death. As
the head of the deceased had been previously
opened by Demme, it Was not possible to detect
marks of violence on that part ; the experts accord-
ingly proceeded to search for traces of poison in the
organs that remained intact. The intestines were
removed and put into vessels which were sealed, and
handed over to two chemists, MM. Fluchiger and
Schwalback. The result of their experiments was
the discovery of the presence of over ten grains of
strychnine, a quantity more than sufficient to cause
death, and the physicians who made the post mortem
examination concluded in their report that the death
of Trumpi was the result of that poison. The Pre..
feet transmitted the report to the College of Health,
or Medical Commission, whose duty is to exemine
the reports of experts, and who in criminal cases
like the present have superior jurisdiction, and re.
paired them to see whether from all the circum-
stances death had been occasioned by others, or was
the act of the deceased himself. Th© College of
Health, before coming to a decision, transmitted in
turn the report to the`experts employed by the Pre-
fect for their opinion. The experts !ejected tho
notion of accidental death; neither wculd thy
admit the supposition of self under, end they
JP clan d that there was every probability of a crime
baring been committed by others. As it was ascer-
tained Doctor D.mene had been alone in the heuee
f the deceased the night he died, end moreover
that a criminal intimacy had existed between him
"and Methane Trumpi, the au!horitiessconsidcrcel
themselves justified in issuing their warrants for the
apprehension of both parties. In consequence of the
suspicion that the poison may have been adminisa
rered during the operation for an abscess two days
before death, the body was disinterred, and the
abscess and other parts extracted and submitted to
chemical experiments. The experts found in them
no trace of poison. The medical questions were
again discussed before the College of Health, who
came to the conclusion that the poisoning was not
rccidental, that there were, however, some grounds
for believing in suicide, and that as to whether death
was the result of a crime committed by others, they
declined giving an opinion, it not being within their
competence, but that of the judicial authorities. It
was finally resolved, on the sth of last month, that
the case should be sent before the Assize Court, and
left to the jury to pronounce on the guilt or inn°.
cenco of the parties.

The attention of the Court was particularly di-
rected to certain points set forth in the bill of in's
dictment by the Procureur. Demme had been the
family physician of the deceased. He was on the
nights of the 14th, 15th, and 16th by the bedside
of the sick man, who was suffering frem a tumour
in the groic. Demme opened the tumour on the
14th, and he remained alone with Trumpi up to the
moment of his death. The causes assigned by
Demme for the death were not the same in the re.
port he sent iu to the Prefect of Berne as in that
which he drew up for the Procureur. In the one
apoplexy was stated to be the cause ; in the other
he attributed it to strychnine ; and besides this
serious discrepancy he suggested certain causes
which neither the experts nor the College of Health
could accept. Several allegations on the part of the
accused, bearing upon the essential points of the
affair, were equally inadmissible. Moreover, his
manner of acting as physician during the illness of
Trumpi laid him open to the gravest suspicions.
Madame Trnmpi confessed that improper intimacy
had subsisted between her and Demme both before
and after the death of her husband ; that Demme
had many times urged her to leave her husband
and accompany him to some foreign country ; that
she and her husband had lived on very bad terms ;
and that on one occasion Trumpi had thrown a
lamp at her which occasioned the loss of an eye.
fa the preliminary examination she made certain.
statements which she afterwards retracted. In her
depositions she tried to dissipate the suspicions
which rested on Dename. While in prison her
manner was that of a person whose conscience was
ill at ease, and she attempted more than once to lay
violent hands on herself. In addition to these cir-
cumstances was the fact of the marriage contract
between Demme and the daughter of Madame
Trumpi, which took place after the death of the
father, doubtless with the view of removing from
the public mind the suspicions which the intimacy
between the accused had raised.

Nevertheless the Procureur could not but admit
that there were some circumstances in the case in-
dicating suicide. Several witnesses deposed that
they had heard Trumpi declare his conviction that
his death was at hand. lie was also known to
have uttered menaces of suicide; and the depression
to which he was of late subject, in consequence og
losses in business which had nearly ruined him,
lent probability to this view of the cse. Tbe,
cureur also admitted that the indictment he had
framed was neither substantial nor precise ; end
he quite agreed with the Criminal Court that it
was expedient to add nothing rnciT, bnt to rest the
wl.ole ease on tho document:lly and Oral f yid' nee
that would be laid before it. It w St ate cl, besiaes,
that the accused had in other respeets borne a good
character, and that this was the first time either of
them had appeared in a court of justice.
The examination of Witnesses was then proceeded
with.

Demme is about 30 years old, of fair complexion,
above the middle height, and of an agreeable and
distinguished exterior. Madame Trumpi is fiGnie•
what under the ordinary
height; her features are
deheate cat; agreeably rather than handsome, not•
withstanding the loss of her cye by the bre,tal 1:04
feats et ht..t. husband.