The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-10 00:00:00

TRIAL FOR POISONING,

SPIRIT O.

THE PUZLIO JOURNALS.

Ninety-eight peers, exclaims the Times, dividing upon
A Scotch Education Bill in the afternoon of the 9th of
August 1 The fact is itself a portent. Whence came
these noble lords who arrived one after another in the
Palace of Westminster, between five and six on Monday,
Kenton a speedy division and a, departure as hurried as their
.Arrival? What was tl.e motive that touched their legie-
lai(7;al?eal so deeply? If report speaks true, there has
not been su,h a " whip"—sharp, sudden, and severe—all
the session. Raileeys and telegraphs make the very peers
" thralls" of their party managers. It is impossible to
get out of hearing, and it is impossible to plead an
inability to return to town. Men voted on Monday who
had been brought back from Scotland, where they had
been " prospecting" the moors ; others came across the
four seas, mostly—so mysterious are the ways of Fate—
indifferent sailors, and Saturday was a breezy day. Of
one it was said that he had been intercepted in a south-
western port, where he Lad put in with his yacht, a tele-
gram lying in wait for him there and elsewhere, vaguely
but sufficiently addressed. "To Lord , cruising in
the channel." And they came, all of them, obedient to the
call. It is not difficult to discover the main motive which
prompted the members of the Opposition to rally
together. It cannot be thought they were all pas
eionately opposed to the principles of the Scotch Edu-
cation Bid; it may be believed, without any grievous
Mack of charity, that many of the majority were even
ignorant what those principles were ; but they all felt
that the Lords, to use a common phrase, were being "put
upon," and that an unfair attempt was being made to
evade their influence at the end of the session. The oft-
repeated lesson is repeated once more that it is impossible
to introduce a bill of a distinctly Liberal character in the
House of Lords. But will it be comparatively easy to
pass the bill as it finally stood again through the
Commons ; the standing difficulty lies in a want of
harmony between the two branches of the Legislature.
The Lords have given the coup de grace to the Scotch
Education Bill, says the Standard. The hot haste in
which the bill has been rushed through the Commons for
the last few days, the frequent changes made in its pro-
visions to gain a friend here and to smooth down an op-
ponent there, the long-protracted sittings day and night
in committee, and all the expenditure of time and temper
that has been wasted on the measure, have come to this
result—that the Lords decline at this period to take into
consideration the amendments that the Commons have
made. And no one that has watched the progress of
this bill can be surprised at the result. 'We are
sure that her Majesty's Government must all along
have anticipated this conclusion. We can only ac-
count for their determination to push the bill forward
in the face of a rejection, which must have seemed
to them too probable, to one cause, and that was a
cause which the House of Lords must have felt as a
greater insult to them than the attempt to turn their
House into a mere instrument for registering their decrees.
The Government can only have proceeded upon the
assumption that all independent peers must have left
town, and that they would be able to carry the measure
by the votes of the official members. We do not wonder
that many peers shewed their indignation at this treatment
by returning to town at the last moment, and assisting in
the rejection of the bill. What her Majesty's Government
asked for was a mere blind unreflecting assent to whatever
was laid before them, and it was because the -peers of
England refused to submit to this insult on their under-
standings that the bill has fallen through.
The Telegraph, thinks that few persons have an ade-
quate idea of the amount of labour which Parliament per-
forms in a single session. Ordinary observers are apt to
measure the work done between February and August by
the length of the debates, and to overlook that vast amount
of severe toil which members undergo in the committee-
rooms, and in laborious and protracted sittings of
the House devoted to business which attracts a
small share of public attention. The private mem-
ber who may have a faculty for work but not for
speech, has much cause to complain of national
ingratitude. The big - wigs on the front benches
get a most unfair share of the renown for which politicians
sacrifice health, strength, and fortune. For them are
reserved the ample attention of the reporters, and the
honour of discussion in leading articles ; while the shy,
well-informed occupant of a back seat, who puts a large
amount of good sense into a few words, is merely recorded
to have offered some remarks which did not reach the
gallery, or to have made some observations upon the
'details of the bill. The life led by members of this class
for half the year is the life of galley-slaves, and it is diffi-
cult to understand how free Englishmen—men of rank
'and fortune—can submit to such ill-requited drudgery.
The industrious private member very often does
not leave the House until long after midnight ; by
eleven o'clock the next day he is down at a committee,
where he has the intense delight of hearing a number of
long-winded, loud-voiced counsel snapping and snarling at
'each other, or wrangling with the witnusses. lie must be
in the House soon after four, for then commcnc,, the
business cf interrogating various Ministers on all sorts of
topics; and a member who has any pretensions whatever
to industry and activity must be present during that part
of the sitting. The poor legislative drudge is unexcep-
tionably lucky if, by a " count-out," or other accident, the
.House is "up" before midnight. During the busiest part
,ef the year such a man spends by far the greater part of
the twenty-four hours either in that noisy crowded apart-
ment or its purlieus.

Two poisoning cases which have caused some interest
have ended very differently. Mrs. Mary Anne Langford
has been acquitted of poisoning her child at Lynn on the
2Gth of April last. She was tried at the Norwich Assizes
an Monday before Mr. Justice Byles. There were two
charges against her, that of poisoning her young child,
aged four months, and one of murdering her husband.
She was the wife of a chemist at Lynn. Her husband
had been in ill health for the last two years, ana
incapable of attending to business. For some time
previous to her last confinement the prisoner had
Leen in low spirits, and had expressed great anxiety
about the falling-off of the business. At about 8 o'clock
on the morning of the '27th April, Mrs. Langford, the
prisoner's mother-in-law, who resides in Lynn, received a
message from the prisoner, in consequence of which she
went to her house. When she got there she asked how Mr.
Langford was, when the prisoner exclaimed, " Oh, dear
Mrs. Langford, forgive me, I have poisoned myself and
them," alluding to her husband and the child. The
mother-in-law immediately sent for Dr. Lowe. When
he got there he found Mr. Langford in strong tetanic
convulsions ; he immediately came to the conclusion
that strychnia had been administered, and sent for a
stomach pump. He then went to see the child, who was
on a bed in another room, and found it also in convulsions.
The witness then asked the prisoner how long it was since
the convulsions came on, in reply t 6 which she said,
" Oh, doctor, I could not bear it any longer, and I
have poisoned myself." II e said, "And your husband?"
to which she answered " Yes." He then asked " With
strychnia ?" to which she also replied in the affirmative.
She then bent forward and placed her hand
upon his, and was herself seized with violent
convulsions. Dr. Archer, a physician, was then sent
for, and he and Dr. Lowe remained in the house all
the day. In spite of their exertions, the child died at
about six in the evening, but the husband lived until the
6th of May, when he also died. The prisoner resisted the
application of the stomach pump, but eventually the
medical men got it down, and she recovered. Loose in her
pocket was found a considerable quantity of pure strych-
nia, in the form of crystals. In cross-examination, Dr.
Lowe stated that about six months before Mr. Langton's
death he had prescribed nux vomica for nervous irritation
from which he was suffering, but there would only he a
third of a grain in the mixture, which would certainly not
account for the symptoms, but if taken in larger quantities
it might. Dr. Letheby said that Le received a packet
containing 5A grains of rure strychnia, which was found
an the prisoner's pocket. He also examined the pocket
and found about a third of a grain of strychnia. He after-
wards examined the child's stomach and contents. In the
stomach he found an ounce of a fluid substance, in which
he discovered distinct traces of strychnia. He then ex-
amined the liver, and from it he extracted some-
thing, which he knew to be strychnia from its bitter
taste and its action on a frog which he killed
with it. His opinion was that the child died from poison.
ing by strychnia. In cross-examination the witness said
that the longest period he knew of in the case of poison-
ing by strychnia was six hours. He was aware that since
the death of these persons a case had been reported in the
Lancet of a child who exhibited the tetanic symptoms of
poisoning by strychnia while the mother was
taking nux vomica, and that they ceased when
the mother gave up taking the nux vomica.
Dr. Taylor was then called, and said that, having heard
the evidence, be was of opinion that the child died from
the effects of strychnia. He could conceive no other reason
for the convulsions. Poison might find its way into the
mother's milk, but he should hardly expect it. He never
knew an instance of a child living nine hours after strych-
nine had been administered in sufficient quantities to cause
death. In that respect this was a case by itself, and he
could not account for it ; still he could see no other cause
for death. Strycbnia administered in crystals would not
be absorbed so soon. It is v ery insol utile, and would be slowly
dissolved, but strychnia in crystals might kill in two hours.
Mr. O'Malley, in addressing the jury for the prisoner, said
that if they convicted the prisoner they must convict her
on the evidence of the doctors, who said that they never
knew such a case. He also suggested a number of inge-
nious theories, which he contended were consistent with
the prisoner's innocence, and urged that, however impro-
bable they might be they raised such an amount of doubt
that the jury could not say that the case was proved
against the prisoner. The jury returned a verdict of Not
Guilty. No evidence was offered in the second indict-
ment.

The Post observes that, according to Mr. Lowe, the
'question of an international coinage, so far as France is
.concerned, is not so difficult of solution as has been sup-
posed. He has given the House of Commons his reasons
:for holding that opinion, and although he distinctly depre-
cated being taken to speak in other than a suggestive
manner, and to supply a topic for future reflection and
discussion, still his argnments seemed to establish the
feasibility as well as the desirableness of carrying the idea
into execution. It appears, too, that we may have this
improvement without paying for it. All we need do, we
are told, is to charge something instead of nothing
for coining, by putting twopence worth less of gold
into each sovereign, and to obtain the acquiescence
of the French to a few points on which they are
not, it is said, indisposed to yield, and the thing is done.
Everything seems, therefore, to point to the probability
of the eventual, and perhaps not very remote, establish.
ment of a greatly improved, if not an absolutely perfect,
international coinage. In fact, it has become a necessity.
The perplexities of foreign exchanges were bad enough
when they chiefly affected mercantile transactions, and
when the people of different countries mingled little with
each other. But in these days, when people rush to and
fro without regard to the boundaries of States, the com-
,plications of diverse monetary systems are simply as
unbearable as they are barbarous. Any serious effort,
then, to remedy the evil is deserving of every support and
,encouragement; and we trust that Mr. Lowe may
triumph over the difficulties that undoubtedly stand in
his Way. •

L7ITV 4121'D POLICE.

ACTION ACAIM,T LONDON GEN Ell A L

CO:ill-ANL—The London ecnei al On.nlus Company was
cast, and ordered to pay darn ages to the amount of -2300,
on IVlonday, at the Croydon Assizes. A lady named
Fennell brought an action against the company for
damai_xs sustained through the tarcler.snces of a servant
d the company. The plaintiff, wLo %%as lame, was
getting into the omnibus wl.ile it stipped at the
orner of Regent-circus, Piccadilly. A policeman
spoke to the driver and told him to move on, and the
driver, without looking behind or speaking to his con-
ductor to see if all was right, clid so, the result of which
was that the lady was suddenly thrown forward and sQs-
tamped a rather severe wrench to the muscles of the spine,
which caused a serious injury. These was, as usual, a
conflict in the medical evidence on one side and the other,
the medical attendant of the lady being cf opinion that
she could not recover in less than twelve or fifteen
months, while Mr. Skey, the eminent surgeon, who was
examined on the part of the company, thought she would
recover in less than half the time. The Lord Chief Baron,
before whom the case was tried, said the driver ought not
to have moved till he had asked the conductor if all was
right. The jury, therefore, found for the plaintiff for
Eno.

THE MOLD RIOTS.—The defence of the Mold rioters,
Whose trial was concluded at Chester on Monday, was
made by Mr. Floyd. For Gomer Jones, Richard
Tones, and William Hughes, ho set up an
alibi. For the other three prisoners he contended
that they were not guilty under the indictment, inasmuch
as the evidence proved them to have been in the County-
hall-yard, and upon the road to the station, while the
bodily harm was inflicted at the station by stones from an
embankment, at a distance from both places where those
wisoners were observed. At the conclusion of the speech
Mr. M'lntyre replied on the whole case, and his lordship
summed up strongly against the prisoners. All except
Richard Jones were found guilty, and sentenced to ten
'ears' penal servitude.
MURDER OUT AT LAST.—At the Southwark Police-
court, a hawker, named Kate Roe, alias C'‘..cl.lln, living
at Brentford, has been charged with a murder committed
year ago in the Borough. IL August 1868 there was a
row in Parson's-alley, an extremely low neighbourhood,
and an old man named Dennis engaged in a fight with a
man named Roe. While this was going on, Mis. Roe
fetched " a chopper," and struck Dennis two blo son the
head and one on the arm, from which he died. The
woman absconded, and has only just been apprehended.
She was committed for trial.

The Times laments the increasing frequency and des-
tructiveness of accidents in coal mines, both here and
abroad. At Dresden the slaughter is greater than in many
an engagement, and is even more distressing. In war
,death is anticipated, and public honour and gratitude
bring some consolation to survivors. But here, in the
midst of happiness and industry, a sudden destruction
falls upon a quiet village or district. Within a single hour
it is found " there is not a house where there is nut one
dead ;" children are rendered orphans, and women
made widows and childless at one stroke. Why
are such disasters constantly allowed to pass
with but cursory notice? The Times thinks that
our miners have some ground for complaint. At the time
the second reading of the Irish Church Bill was being
debated in the Lords the late explosion at the Ferndale
Colliery was reported, and a French journalist, comment-
ing on the news from England, observed that a tenth part
'of the skill, the energy, and the labour employed in that
debate would probably find some means of averting such
catastrophes. The lives of our colliers are at least as
important as those of our cattle, for whose protection an
elaborate measure has been carried this session, and the
Government are now forcing through the two Houses more
than one minor measure which would certainly be post-
poned if other lives than those of Miners were con-
cerned in a Mines Regulation Bill. No doubt
the men are apt to expect too much from the Government,
but we are also apt to expect too much from the men.
This fearful disaster in Saxony will, perhaps, rouse the
attention of scientific men, who are generally forward
enough to try- to mitigate the sufferings and dangers of
humanity. But we trust also that the memory of this
summer will be all that is necessary to induce Parliament
to give full attention to the subject next session. We du
not presume to say at present who are chiefly to blame,
but in the face of these frequent calamities wo all stand The Rev. Dr. hiller has contradicted a statement
condemned. Public money and public thought ought not ,
to be grudged in order to avert occurrences which are somewhat confidently made, that Mr. Gladstone had offered
equally distressing and discreditable to the country. him the Bishopric of Salisbury.
The Herald remarks that an unforeseen consequence has
ensued from the singular policy adopted by the present. VELOCIPEDES.—It may be useful for some of our
Government in reference to the presents made by the young readers to know that the law ofr:cers of the Crown
Duke of Edinburgh in Australia. When the cost of these 'n Ireland have given their opinion that it is an offence
gifts was made the subject of a vote in the House it seems within the meaning of the Dublin Police Acts to run
to have been forgotten that the colonists in Australia
would ultimately criticise the proceedings, whether theyvelocipedes on the public footways, and that the policehave
passed off quietly at home or not. The vote was said at been instructed accordiegly.—Frcemun,
the time to have been proposed as a " feeler ;" but how-
Socs EAL JIALITY WASHINGTON. —A despatch
ever this may have been, its authors evidently overlooked
the possibility that the colonists of Victoria might dislike from Washington to tLe New York papers says
to be made the
that the deepest subjects
nnoyance of thhas beis expenericreatedment. iat Mel Melbourne
by the manner in which the hill for the presents made by the Criminal Court here trying a murder case, seems to
the Duke has been sent into the House and haggled over I get along very well in the matter of social equality. They
in committee. Worse than this, the passionate loyalty are quartered at one of the third-class hotels, where they
of the Australians has been seriously wounded by that F occupy a suite of rooms and eat at the same table without
inconsiderate sten. The presents have been robbed of
any exhibitions such as disturbed the peace of Mayor
the charm which belonged to them. The value of these
to the recipients had nothing to do with their money ißowen and the committee of Radical councilmen at
Gettysburg on account of the presence of the irrepressible
value, but must have sprung entirely from the associa•
said,p s
Cons connected with them when they were supposed to . African Hatton. Flatton. The black and white jtittroirss
be absolutely and in all respects the gifts of the royal an their
sailor. Now all this delicate sentiment is swept away. evenings together playing euchre, and, they
They are no longer presents from a prince, but so many take a cocktail together without wincing. The Washing.
pins and rings grudgingly paid for by the House of Com- ,t ni who have had more of the nigger than any
mons, and merely distributed by the Duke. No wonder I ° al;
the Australians are anxious to return their value to the other portion of the American people, are evidently
British Exchequer, and be quit with an obligation whiel3 becoming accustomed to him socially as well as politi-
has been changed from a pleasure to a burden.

A PROFESSION STOPPED FOR A TIME.—The Lambeth
police were fortunate enough a day or two ago to stumble
fipon a professional robber, who had a most complete out-
fit of burglarious implements, and a large quantity of
• tolen property, in his bedroom. The prisoner, whose
name is Bentley, Las bten brought before the magis•
trate and remanded. It was stated that there were
sixty skeleton keys of " the most admirable make," and a
sort of knife, ingeniously contrived to unfasten window
catches. Owners are wanted for a variety of articles of
iewellery and other valuables.

THE ALLEGED POISONING AT NEWPOLT.—The boy
Charles Gritt, who confessed on Saturday to having
poisoned the late Miss Emily Collier, daughter of Mr.
Collier, oil merchant, Newport, Monmouthshire, was
brought before tbeboroughmagistrates charged with poison-
ing Miss Emily Collier, in April last. The boy does not deny
the charge, and expresses his sorrow for what has hap-
pened. He says he gave the young lady some poisoned
wheat which he got from the Caerleon schools, and when
he gave it to her he only did it to see what effect it would
have on a human being. Superintendent Huxtable asked
for a remand fur a week to take the necessary steps to
obtain additional evidence and get the body exhumed.
The application was granted.