The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-04 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY CASE.

For the last few clays the public of Glasgow have
been deeply moved by the report that a gentleman
had been poisoned by his sweetheart, the daughter
of a highly respectable family whials -moves in the
b.-Ater classes of spc'ety. These immouss obtained
embodiment and confirmation when it became
known that the young lady bad actually been ap-
prehended at the instance of the Public Prosecutor,
and that she is at this moment in the prison of
Glasgow on the charge of suspected poisoning. As
there is no, public coroner's inquest in Scotland,
the real facts connected with a case of this kind are
difficult to be had ; but it is believed that the fol-
lowing recital is authentic so far as it goes :—lt
appears that on Monday, the 23d of March last, a
young French Protestant gentleman, named M.
PierreEmileL'Angelier, who is connected with the
house of Messrs. W. B. Huggins, extensive foreign
merchants in Glasgow, died suddenly in his lodg-
ings in the city. From circumstances which came
to their knowledge, the 'firm we have named, on
their own responsibility, requested Dr. Steven,
who had been in attendance upon deceased before
his death, and Dr. Thompson, to make a post
mortem examination. This was done; but nothing
palpably extraordinary was discovered. The
stomach, and its contents, however, were secured
and retained by the medical gentlemen. The case
having been reported to the sheriffs' fiscals, after
inquiring into the circumstances of the case,
. they transmitted the stomach and its contents to
one of our most eminent local chemists for chemical
analysis. The result of the analysis was the dis-
covery in the stomach and viscera of a considerable
quantity of irritant poison. As there was nothing
to lead to the inference that M. L'Angelier had
himself thus violently terminated his existence, an
inquiry of a searching character was instituted.
It appears that the deceased had been on a short
visit to the Bridge of Allan (a fashionable
watering place, about 35 miles from Glasgow),
from which he returned rather unexpectedly
on the night of Sunday, the 22d ult., and,
leaving his lodgings about 8 o'clock, he took the
key with him, stating be would be somewhat later
than usual. He did return about 2 o'clock on
Monday morning, and was then suffering great
pain, in consequence of which a medical gentleman
(Dr. Steven) was called in, who prescribed for him
without having the most distant notion that be was
suffering from the effects of acrid poison. During
the night we learn the young man was from time toa
time attended by his landlady, and was often con-
vulsed with agony. He became more quiet to-
wards the morning, and was left undisturbed; but
when the doctor again called on the forenoon of
Monday it was found that his patient was no more.
That he was proved to have died from the effects of
poison has been already stated. In the course of
the investigation which followed it came out, from
oral testimony as well as from the presence of a
vast number of letters, that L'Angelier was on
terms of close intimacy with Miss Madeleine Smith,
the daughter of a highly respectable architect re-
siding in Blythwood-square, and there is reason to
believe that he left the Bridge of Allan in conse-
quence of a letter addressed to him by the lady ex-
pressing a very strong desire to meet him. Whether
or not the parties really did or did not meet on
that Sunday Light is not yet publicly known ; but
in resorting to the extreme step of apprehending
Miss Smith, the authorities no doubt acted on the
fact, which is not disputed, that on more than one
occasion the lady, who is only 21 years of age, pro-
cured arsenic during the month of March at the
shops of more than one of the Glasgow West-end
chemists. The possession of this poison, however,
is compatible with entire innocence, for it is known
that arsenic is occasionally used by young ladies as
a cosmetic. The thought that a highly and virtu-
ously bred young lady could destroy her lover is
too appalling for belief ; but the public voice sup-
plies a reason in the circumstance that a gentleman
in a much more promising and prominent position in

life than that occupied by L'Algalier had:become a
suitor for the young lady's hand, and that he had
been accepted by her and her parents. This we set
down as the rumour of the day. Meanwhile, though
the young lady is in the hands of justice, there is
-nothing in her proceedings, so far as known, incom-
patible with innocence. She was judicially ex-
amined at great length on Tuesday last, before com-
mittal to prison, and comported herself throughout
with perfect calmness. The prisoner is grand-
daughter of the late Mr. David Hamilton, the
celebrated architect of Glasgow Exchange and
Hamilton Palace.