The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-28 00:00:00

A POISONING STO.A:-

A SKETCH OF KING THEODORE.

The following account of an interview with King Theo.
dore -is taken from a volume of "Travels in Abyssinia,"
published by Herr von Henglin, who saw him in April,
1862, on a second visit to Magdala :
" It was from a long distance, on the slope of a hill,
covered with a few clumps of trees, that we beheld the
camp of his Majesty the Negus—'Negus Negest
/Ethiepia, Theodore IL' The King was sitting in the
midst of a circle of priests and officers, while in all direc.
Cone spread long rows of tents arranged in groups ; the
lanes between were thronged with a many-coloured
crowd of soldiers, cattle, horses, and mules. A large open
space separated the ground on which stood the royal tents
and stables from the rest of the camp. Having gene
through the necessary toilette in a great hurry, :wee.
started on our way, surrounded by torch-bearers, thieugh
a long line of Life Guards. We found his Majesty in a
large tent, divided into two parts by a curtain of light
cotton sheets. lie was dressed in a simple white
red-bordered scharnma,) or cloak, and reclining
M a •low divan, with • carpets spread out in
; to his right stood his 'Etschege, or confessor, and
..is left several officers, together with princes of the
royal house. After - greeting us in a kindly though
somewhat ceremonious manner, the Negus invited us to
be seated on the carpets to his right, and then entered
into conversation by means of an interpreter in the
Antherian dialect. It has been the custom from the
oldest times at the Abyssinian Court that the sovereign
should not exchange words directly with strangers, but
only through a confidential person called the AP. or
Month of the Negus ;' such visitors must, moreover, be
sdetl by a I3altradar,' or master of the ceremonies,
looks to their corporeal wants. We began by tasting
. delicious mead and honey-brandy, served out in
eificently cut-glass tankards, in doses sufficient
a) upset a giant,- and then, it being supper time, 'Our
Baltredar' inquired whe,her' eve . deSired meat, Which
we might have, although it was in the season of the
strict Easter fast. On our reply that we preferred to
live ••tecording to the custom of time country, there
appeared instantly before us a capacious meieb,! or
basket, covered with red cloth, and filled with fine
wheaten bread, fruit, -and pepper sauce ; a similar
basket, of like contents, was p befere the King's suite.
The latter fell to at once, and • sitated their example,
sitting cross-legged around on reeeele,' -and answering
all the while- questions put, to us Wide, Majesty.
After finishing our frugal repast, which brow stye
into the eyes of our poori doctor, the pepper &Klee....
being too strong fee him, the conversation .begemss mbre
and more lively, till at last the Nereus threw o 8 eal
restraint, and began to converse with us directly in
Arabic, which lie spoke very fluently.' His Majesty had
greatly altered since my last visit, in the year 1853. It
seemed to me that his face had got darker ; however, the
fire of his shrewd and cunning eyes was still the same.
He showed an excellent memory, reminding me of things
I had long forgotten ; among others, that we had once
exchanged the vows of brotherhood, and that I had told
him on that occasion he was the man to save Ethiopia
from ruin, and restore it to its ancient glory. In
the end, I congratulated his Majesty upon the victories
he had achieved since I had last been on a visit to his
Court, with which the audience came to an end, the King
telling us not to forget to ask for anything we might
lesire, as all that he owned was at the disposition of his
We had scarcely returned to cur tent, when a
number of royal servants arrived with presents—one bring.
ing a fine ` marg,ef,' or woollen cloak embroidered with
silk ; a second some beautiful crystal goblets, richly
; a third, several vessels with mead ; and a fourth,
a cow's horn, three_ feet long, filled with honey-brandy.
The next morning, and every morning after, a royal mes.
senseer e inquired after ur health, in reply to which we
- . c
despatched Rumba to wish his Majesty `geed morning,'
after the custom of the country."

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The following names of the principal persons who were
held in Captivity by King Theodore is taken from the blue-
book which was presented to Parliament a short time

Mr. 11. llassam (Syrian), agent of the British Govern-

2. Mr. C. D. Cameron (English), British Consul at

a,ssowah.

3. Mr. L. Kerans (Ir:sh), secretary to Consul Cameron.
4. Dr. Blanc ((Jerman).
5. Lieutenant Prideaux, officer in the British army.
6. 11. 11Plielvey (Irish), servant to Mr. Cameron.
7. J. Makerer (French), ditto.
8. M. A. Bardel (French), painter and teacher of lan-

9. Rev. H. A. Stern (German), missionary.
10. Rev. H. Rosenthal (German), missionary
11. Mrs. Rosmthal (English).
12. Rev. J. M. Flad (German), misz>iopary.
13. Mrs. Fl ad (German), and her three children.
14. Rev. W. Staiger (German), missionary.
15. Rev. F. Brandeis (dermal!), missionary.
10. 11. Schiller (German), natural history collector.
17. T. Essler (German), ditto.

It will be seen from one of the telegrams that sixty
prisoners in all were released, and are now on their way tc
Zoulla. Those not enumerated in the above list consist of
European workmen tempted to Abyssinia by Theodore.
and detained as captives.

A sad accident occurred at Chicago on Good
Friday. The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Mary
was filled with worshippers, and the weight of the multi•
tude caused a portion of the floor to give way, which,
raising a great dust, led some one to cry " Fire !" A
terrible panic ensued, and in the rush that was made for
the doors four women were crushed to death, and twenty
or more persons were seriously injured, three of their
having since died.
FIVE MEN DROWNED IN THE SOLWAY. —A fatal
accident of a very disastrous kind occurred in the Solway
Firth on Sunday afternoon. Five young men, employed
at Annan, set out from that port in a small boat, rigged
ounp
tii%liet lei sail,nbe riaas(l
isl,l crossedahoron the:ftelr Solwayiillo7lre:,otheo(iilitti riift(:,,itrrt(kh; ontiesnvais
liNte,iioti
thhieer'bfebt3tr'idael.'d in the
They ba,l not proceeded halfway across
when it wai 'observed from the shore that theh
mast had got wrong and the sail swayed over
the side. Shortly afterwards the boat capsfzed, ani
all the five men were thrown into the sea. Three of then
sank almost immediately, being quite unable to resist the
powerful force of the ebbing tide, and were drowned
but the other two clung to the overturned boat, whicl
drifted down to the railway bridge whicl,othnetcloyrbooitsatlsv,teomsfivisitaii;
Firth below Bowness. There, conjectured, the ancho
ut
it the
dragged against the piles of the viaduct, for the boat st •
a‘rvoidxtteinlsdiw;eartaTetrehaeenfft
dNovrsotamnt
ioec
,ns,acaNN,v,rehroytiiiivlegemr eNsle,silttvhi
bh
rivers of the pleasure party, and thus
number of deathi to five, ..11S.r_!t11:4.18

The new Vienna story of poisoning seems more like this
concoction of a romance-maker than the narrative of a
real event Count Gustavus Chorinsky, an officer in this',
Austrian army, married an actress, Mathilda Rueff ; but
.after four years of wedded life they separated—apparentli;
from. no :seriouS fault on her part, since her husband's
father immediately gave her a home. Shortly after.,
wards the count was wounded in battle, and was
invited to come home to be nursed ; but he refused
to enter his father's house until his discarded wife
was turned out of doors. The poor lady left for
Munith, and there she lived in retirement. Mrck
now find a new character in the story—Julia do Eber.
crenyi, a canoness. That title indicates one who, though
- s ill remaining; in the world, professes to devote herself to
religion and good works under the sanction of the Church;
lalt in this ease Julia became the femme dc liaison of the
Count Chorinsky, and she probably bolted to become his
wife. The first wife. however—the discarded alress—
was still alive. Who plotted the subsequent actions will
:ewer, las-haps, he clearly known ; but a lady from Viehna visited the wife, obtained au interview with her,
end in some: way seems to have won her temporary confi-
dence, as they had apparently arransed to go together to
the thestre. But when the carriage arrived, the two
ladies had disappeared, and the wife's door was locked.
The next day it was brsken open by the police, and e
poor %roman was found dead—poisoned by cyanidet h
of
potassium. There was nothing to indicate suicides-
. nothing to suggest robbery ; and of course suspicion fell
'on the strange lady, . The husband was arrested, and oss
him was discovered a photographic likeness of the sus.'',
pected visitor ; and it eventually proved to be the Count's
mistress, Julia de Ebergenyi, who had visited the Count's
wife—this time Rosamond tracing Queen Eleanor to
her bower. It was also ascertained that the husband had
enntemslated marrying the canoness, and thus a motive
for the murder was suggested. Julia has been senteneeds
to twenty years' strict imprisonment, with a week of
solitary confinement once a.year. It is not stated whether
the husband is also to be tried for the offence. Few.story.
tellers of the day would dare to heap up incidents so Sug.
gestive of mere romance—the young officer of noble birth
marrying an actress for love, then discarding her ; his
father adopting-her ; the wsrrior brought home wounded,
but his wife to be expelled ; her retirement to
a quiet home; his liaison with a canoness; her guilty hopes
her bold stroke for a husband by killing off the wife ; her
discovery by means of a photograph. It is real life ae-ainst
Miss Bradden, and real life an easy winner.