The Sun.
London, England, 1857-07-13 00:00:00

MISS MADELEINE

Mail of Saturday
The North Daily
Glasgow
agent
s of
employed the
the
oc case
for
one
rsagye of h
getting
t:i—ngilitoiffee
circumstances
Miss Smith unmolested by the vast crowd waiting
in the Par'iament-square and neighbourhood for
her exit atter her trial were as follows :—He had
provided himself with the drafts worn on the previ-
ous days of her trial by Miss Smith, and on her
liberation from the bar he asked the sergeant of
police in attendance whether he could find him a
girl about the size of M'ss Smith to personate her
and go through the ordeal of driving in a cab to the
poi down the High-street. The sergeant imme-
diately recollected a girl who had for several days
importuned the police officers to get her a sight
of the pri,oner, saying she would give anything
for the privilege. This girl was got, and, being
tll that not only would she get a sight of
Miss Smith, but also her dress, and a douceur be-
sides if she would represent her in a cab in order
to disperse the mob from the square, she under-
took the job, and was dre-sad (by Miss Smith her-
self) accordingly. In the meantime a rumour was
c'rculated through the crowd that Miss Smith was
to drive to the gaol to change her dress before going
at large, and orders were given to clear a space about
the court-room doors. This being done, and the
anxiety of the crowd raised to the utmost pitch by
the perpetrators, up came the cab, and out came
the fabricated girl in nearly a fainting state, and,
being with some little difficulty got into the car-
riage along with the usual police, off drove the
vehicle at a breakneck pace, followed by the whole
rabble of expectants, and in a trice the R.rliatneut-
square and all the thoroughfaresa,bout it we: e com-
pletely cleared. Miss Smith then having been
taken round through the Advocates' Library, and
put on a different dress, with a coloured veil, quietly
walked away, accompanied by her brother and
another young gentleman, to the front of St. Giles's
Church, where a cab was in waiting, and, entering
it quietly, Jehu drove away to Slateford, where she
met the Caledonian train to Glasgow, and was. car-
ried by it tothat city. She proceeded, we believe,
straight on to Rowaleyn, her father's residence,
near Helensburgh. On dit, that on the day of the
Lord Advocate's address she was asked what she
thought of it ? She replied, •‘ When I hear the
Dean of Faculty I will tell you. I never like to
give an opinion till I have heard both sides." She
pronounced the Lord Justice Clerk " a t dious old
man" on the first evening of his summing up.
The impression produc©d on the minds of our
cifzens is, that Miss Smith has been more sinned
against than sinning; that she has rather been
greatly unfortunate than awfully criminal ; that
hers has been a warm confiding nature ; and that
L'Angelier, as -the Dean of Faculty graphically
affirmed, merely meant to employ her as a stepping
stone to fortune. She has scarcely received justice
at the bands of the public. They prejudged her
case at first, and without troubling themselves to
inquire into any evidence whatever, at once con-
demned her. Miss Smith's demeanour during the
trial can only be attributed to a proud consciousness
of innocence—for it were heartless to believe that
it was either assumed, or the result of a monstrous
brazen-facedness. Her age, her sex, her ap-
pearance, emphatically disprove the idea of her
guilt ; and whatever may be the verdict of the
jury, this at least will be found the opin on of the
public. With her intercourse with L'Angelier we
have nothing to do, and far be it from us to pen
one word against her ; let him that is without sin
cast the first stone. The publication of her letters
we most deeply regret (especially when none of tLe
deceased's almost could be found) ; but we cannct
refrain from referring to the impressively affec-
tionate tone of nearly the whole of them, which
read more like the outburst of some Italian passion
than anything else. Where, for example, will you
find a piece of more genuine eloquence than the
one when she implores L'Angelier for her own sake,
for her mother's sake, for Christ's sake, for God's
sake, never to return the correspondence to her
father ? The wretch that could read such a letter
without beiog moved to his utmost soul, is unworthy
to bear the name of man. We must conclude. The
day may come, and many of us may live to see it,
when, as the learned and eloquent Dean said, this
mysterious tragedy may be unveiled, and the in-
nocence of the fair accused be fully established.—
North Britain.

A rumour was current in Liverpool on Saturday
that Miss Smith would leave this country for the
United States and Canada. In consequence of this
rumour, a considerable number of the inhabitants
assembled on the landing-stage to witness the em-
barkation of the passengers. Alter the departure
of the Asia, it was atnounced in one of the public
rooms that she had taken her departure by that
steams Lip. Our Liverpool correspondent stales,
however, on the authority of the agents of these
steamers that Miss Madeleine Smith did not sail in
the Asia.

It may be well to state here that the verdict of
the jury is of a description peculiar to Scotch law.
In each finding the verdict was given by a majo-
rity, that majority being, we believe, 13 to 2 on all
the charges. The form of acquittal on the second and
third rges was "Sot Proven." A Scotch juryare not
limited to the findings of "Guilty" or "N ,t Guilty"
but may give a substantial acquittal by a finding of
"Not Proven"—a finding which is alopted in nine
cases out of ten in which a prisoner 1.3 acquitted of
a capital charge.
An opinion is entertained amongst men generally
well informed as well as by the public at large, that
the Scotch verdict of "Not Pleven" do s not free
the prisoner from future legal responsibility in re-
spect to the charge on which that verdict is returned;
and that Miss Smith, for instance, might be tried a
second time for the murder of L'Augelier, in case
any further evidence likely to bring the charge
11, me to her should boom() known. This opinion
is altogether erroneous ; no person charged in Scot-
land with a crimind offence, with regard to which
a verdict of " Not Proven" may be returned, is
more liable to be tried again on the same charge
than if the verdict of th jury had been "Not
Guilty."