The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-12-30 00:00:00

FOREIGN MISCELLANEA.

At Lirieux a considerable number of Roman Catholics
have abjured Romanism, and embraced the Protestant
faith. A chapel has been built, and a Wesleyan minister
placed over the new congregation.
Violent mad repeated shocks of earthquake, but happily
without serious consequences, occurred again on the sth,
at Melfi, Rapolla, Rionero, and Basile, in the kingdom of
Naples. The duration of one of these shocks, at Melfi,
was upwards of twelve seconds.
At Monmouth, Illinois, a new style for gentlemen's
dress has made its appearance. It is a sack coat reaching
to the hips, with pantaloons closely fitting to the body and
limbs, and fastened at the knees with long stockings.
Tassels are attached to each knee, and complete the suit.
A young Jew, nephew of one of the deputies, lately
married a Roman Catholic female. As neither the Ca-
tholic priest nor the Jewish Rabbi would consent, though
repeatedly asked to marry the parties, the ceremony was
Performed by M. A. Coquest, pastor of the Reformed
Church in Paris.

The police in Cologne have issued a notice to all street
musicians, street bands, and exhibitors of animals with
musical accompaniments, that " vilely sounding" instru-
ments, or instruments out of tune, are henceforth prohi-
bited. Foreigners who thus outrage the ears of the public
will be turned out of the city ; and natives will have their
licenses taken away.
THE AUSTRALIAN DIGGINGS.—The following is an
extract from a letter dated Meloourne, August 8 :—" All
thoughts are now turned towards the still greater and in-
creasing promises of endless wealth now opening before
us. Gold, gold, as you will see and hear, is now found
and proved to exist in abundance in many of our ranges,
and the Government has already taken steps to secure
this additional prospect of our growing wealth and im-
portance, by sending qualified persons and commissioners
to the different localities where the mines are known to
be, thus establishing its own rights, and affording pro-
tection and assistance to all who are disposed to try their
fortunes in our 'EI Dorado.' Commissioner W— is
one of the number so employed at the Pyrenees, near
his own station, and samples of their diggins' have al-
ready been received here. As yet they have not found
many ' waggon-loads,' but they have satisfied themselves
and the public beyond all doubt that the precious metal
does exist there. . . . But, alas ! no gold is without
alloy, and we poor squatters must suffer from all these
wonderful discoveries. Our men are already deserting us
in numbers, and off, off, to the diggings. Happily the
weather has been greatly against them, and will continue
so for a month or two longer; but when summer returns,
if the gold continue plentiful, the fever and thirst after
it must become greater and greater, and we poor squatters
shall not have a man left to look after our flocks and
herds. Already this year our losses have been fearful
from the long drought. Our approaching clip will be far
short of former years—first from the want of teed ; se-
condly, from our great decrease ; and now the almost
certainty of our men deserting may upset us altogether,
until the great news of our gold reaches England, when,
no doubt, we shall have an increase of emigration and
labour beyond our wants. Until then God help us ! I
forgot to mention many precious stones have been found."

A VERY EXTRAORDINARY CASE.—One of the most ex-
traordinary cases ever brought before a criminal court, has
just been tried by the Court of Assizes of the Ile-et-Vi-
laine. The prisoner was a female, named Helene Jegado,
who for several years past has been a servant in different
families of the department. She stood at the bar charged
with several e.efts committed since the year 1846, and
with seven murders by arsenic in 1850; but the evidence
sheaved that, although only seven cases had been selected
as more recent, and therefore more easy of proof, not less
than 43 persons had been poisoned by her with arsenic.
The victims were either her masters or mistresses, or fel-
low-servants, who had incurred her hatred. In some
cases no motive of interest or hatred could be assigned.
The prisoner appeared to have been actuated by a thirst
for destruction, and to have taken pleasure in witnessing
the agonies of her victims. The suddenness of the deaths
in the families where she was a servant excited great sen-
sation, but for a long time no suspicion as to the cause,
for the murderess appeared to be very religious ; she at-
tended in many instances with apparent solicitude on the
persons whom she poisoned, and so successful was her hy-
pocrisy that even the deaths of the mother and another
relative of a physician in whose family she lived raised no
suspicion of poison in his mind. The frequency of
deaths, however, in the families by whom she was success-
sively engaged, excited a suspicion among the peasantry
that there was something in her nature fatal to those who
were near her, and it was customary with them to
say that her liver was white, it being believed in that
part of France that persons who are dangerous have
white livers. The prisoner herself frequently exclaimed
after the death of a victim, " How unhappy I am ;
wherever Igo death follows me." The cases on which
she was brought to trial were established by the evidence
beyond the possibility of doubt. The prisoner through-
out the trial, which lasted ten days, constantly declared
that she was innocent, and seemed to anticipate an acquit-
tal on account of there being no proof of her having had
arsenic in her possession. It was proved, however, that
in one of the families in which she was a servant some
years ago, there was a large quantity of arsenic, which
was not locked up, and that it had suddenly disappeared.
This arsenic had, without doubt, been t aken by the pri-
soner, and had served for the commission of the succes-
sive murders. The only defence set up for her was
founded on phrenological principles. It was contended
that the organs of hypocrisy and destructiveness were
developed to a degree which overpowered the moral facul-
ties, and that although it would be unsafe to leave her at
large, she ought not to be condemned to capital punish-
ment ; the peculiarity of her organisation rendering her
rather an object of pity. This defence failed entirely, and
the jury having delivered a verdict, without extenuating
circumstances, the court condemned her to death.—Ga-
lignani's Messenger.