The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-01 00:00:00

HANDICAP STAKES.

2

Five ran.
QUEEN'S PLATE.

2

Five ran.

Mr. Knowles's yearly colt Damascus, by Lanercost,
out of Palmyra, died on the 25th ult.

RACING FIXTURES FOR 1853.
The figures within parenthesis denote the number of
day's racing.
SEPTEMBER.
Lincoln (2) 1 Folkestone, Hythe, and
Bridgnorth
Marlborough ... 2 Doncaster (4) 13
Cheadle (Staff.) (2)
Warwick (2) 6 Pontefract (2)
Totnes & Bridgetown (2) 7 Bedford (2)
Weymouth
Morpeth (2)
Western Meeting 8 Manchester Autumn (2).22
Rochester & Chatham (2) 8 Canterbury (2) 22
Western Zoyla,nd and I Newmarket F. 0. (3) 27
Bridgwater (1) l2 I Walsall (2) 28
Northallerton (2) 29
)BER.
Warwick Autumn (2) lB
Caledonian Hunt and
Kelso lB
Richmond (2) l9
Newmarket (H.) (6) 24
MEER.
Shiewsbury (2) 15
Neon Autumn (1) 24
Ab2ry.:;with (3) Last week

OCTI
Chester Autumn (2) 4
Monmouth
YorkshireUnionllunt(l) 6
Wrexham (2)
Newmarket S. 0. (5) _lO

NOVE
Worcester (2)
Epsom Autumn (2) 3
Cowbridge Hunt (2).... 9
Liverpool Autumn (2) 9

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF POISONING.

A shocking case has just occupied not fewer than five
days' sittings of the Court of Assizes of the Aude. A
young woman named Saint Martin, and a man,
still young, named Desprat, were indicted for hav-
ing poisoned the husband of the former and the wife
of the latter. The facts were these :—An adulter-
ous connexion existed between the two accused, and
it was no secret for their neighbours. On Ist March
last Francis Saint Martin, husband of the woman,
died suddenly, after vomiting a great deal. His
wife alone attended him, and she obtained no me-
dical advice. Towards the latter end of March Mme.
Desprat went to the house of the woman, and asked
for a glass of liquor, called in the country Carthagene.
The woman poured out something from two bottles, and
almost immediately after drinking it, Mine. Desprat was
seized with violent pains and sickness. She was con-
veyed home, and after lingering some days in great suf-
fering, expired on the Ist of April, crying "I burn, I
burn !" Her husband was frequently requested by his
neighbours to procure medical advice for her, but he re-
fused. These strange deaths, combined with the adul-
terous connexion of the man and woman, caused sus-
picions of foul play to be entertained. The two bodies
were dug up, and rather large quantities of arsenic
were found in the intestines of each. The woman
then told some absurd tale about her husband having
just before his death confessed to her that he had
taken poison, in order to place her in an embarassing
position ; but it was well known that the man, so far
from having any reason to contemplate suicide, was
contented with his little fortune, and had planted vines,
repaired his house, and negotiated for the purchase of a
horse, as if he had expecte to live a long time. With
respect to Mine. Desprat, the woman accounted
for her death in this way :—When her husband told
her that he had taken poison, she sought for a
packet of arsenic which had been purchased some
time before, and on finding that a portion of it had
been taken away, resolved to give him an additional
dose, so as to make sure of his death, and prevent him
from making any accusation against her. Whilst she
was completing this design Mine. Desprat came in. In
her confusion she had laid down the poison, and went
to another room, and Mme. Desprat, thinking it was
sugar, took some of it. But this story, iinprobable on
the face of it, was disproved by the fact that Mine.
Desprat continued in health until towards the end of the
month, when she took the glass of liquor. As to De-
sprat, the principal evidence against him was, Ist, that
his connection with the woman rendered it unlikely
that she could have committed such crimes without
his knowledge—especially as her only reason could be
to remove the obstacles to their union ; 2dly, his re-
fusal to call in medical attendance for his wife, not-
withstanding she suffered dreadful agony ; and, 3dly,
a declaration made by the woman in gaol, to the effect
that "If she were lost, and Desprat got off, she would
reveal all about the poisoning." Before the court, the
dd o abandonede s herpr
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perpetrated
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boldlyd
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murders. Be, on his part, accused the woman ; and,
for some time, the court was almost horrified to see the
cunning and the energy with which each tried to shift
the whole burden of the guilt to the other. The jury
declared the woman guilty of both poisonings, and
Desprat of being her accomplice ; but it said that there
were extenuating circumstances in favour of both. The
court condemned the woman to imprisonment with hard
labour for life, and the man to twenty years' imprison-
ment with hard labour.