The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-28 00:00:00

Palmer and Pritchard•

These men were both well-educated members of the
medical profession. The poisons which they made use of
were the same in many respects, inasmuch as antimony
was employed by both, followed up by vegetable poisons
of a more subtle nature—strychnine being used by Palmer,
and aconite by Pritchard. Both of these prisoners sacri-
ficed several victims. It has been pretty well ascertained
that about fourteen persons died by.the instrumentality of
Palmer. There is room to fear that the double murder of
which Pritchard was found guilty is not the whole cata-
logue of his fatal deeds. The murders by these two
wretches were chiefly near relations, and, curiously enough,
both destroyed their wives and wives' mothers; and
Palmer, besides, is believed to have been accessory to the
death of his brother, several illegitimate children, and at
least one miserable victim of his seduction.
The phsychological peculiarities of these miscreants also
admit a parallel. They had both good personnel and many
of the graces that mark a gentleman ; generous in civil and
social life, and amiable and even beloved in private.
Palmor's face and features indicated no ferocity, and nothing
abhorrent ever appeared until his direful deeds were dis-
closed. It is the same with Pritchard. He has a delicate
complexion, pleasant expression of face, and well chiselled
features, which, if denuded of his beard and whiskers,
would make him almost womanish in aspect. His manners
are gentle and polite. He seems to have been beloved at
home, confided in by his wife, and a witness said he was
the idol of his mother-in-law. These soft manners and
seeming virtue, of course, disarmed their victims of all
jealous fears ; so much so that, under the cover of a good
public and private reputation, Palmer and Pritchard for a
length of time practised their diabolical arts without being
suspected.
In these two villains we trace their entire subjugation
to a grand master-passion as the cause of their fall and
utter degradation. They were both gross sensualists. The
animal had run away with the better nature of the man.
The will was subjected and dragged at the mercy of the
dominant passion ; and so the imperial and all-absorbing
sensuality produced the wildest anarchy, under which
were committed acts of atrocity we shudder to contem
plate

The drama of the "Pritchard case" opened on tho 3rd
July, and lasted for five days, which ware like the five
great acts of a terrible tragedy. The disclosures of the
plot showed slow, secret, and skilful poisoning. The
articles were potent, but not dealt out in.

"Such strong speeding gear
As will disperse themselves through all the veins,
And that the trunk may be discharged of breath
As violently as hasty powder fir'd
With hurry from the hasty cannon's mouth."
No ; they were diluted and doled out in doses so as not to
be easily found in themselves, and so as to obscure the
symptoms they produced. But the ingenuity of law and
the science of chemistry have been proved quite adequate
to detect these poisons and prevent the escape of the hide-
ous poisoner. Such cases are a Ulysses-bow to try
.the
strength and skill of medico-legal inquirers ; and, happily,
the result has been most creditable to the medical profes-
sion and most satisfactory to the public.—" J. B. T.," in
the Glasgow Citizen.

MR. SECRETARY SEWA RD.—The Secretary of
State continues his dutios in almost perfect health. The
novel and extraordinary splint has been removed from his
face, and proves to have been a marvellous success. Very
few traces are to be seen of the original accident or the
subsequent attempt at assassination, with the exception of
a slight swelling on the side of the right cheek. Mr. Seward
dresses and shaves himself without assistance. He has en-
tirely recovered the use of his arms, one of which was fear-
fully maimed when he was thrown from his carriage. When
the wire frame was removed from the jaw two more pieces
of bone were extracted from the face, and this gave him
additional relief.—Nev, rick Timm