New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-02-14
An American sappho In Trouble New Medf.
cal College.
Core. pon5epce OF The n. Y. Trba.e

I v
MuseT-the Grecian ssppho-was charged with the
larceny OF gold watch valued ct $780, the property Of
hIs Elliott, with whom she lived In the capacity Of
seanstress. Her name IL Annie r. Cooper 1t not
tie fhorness Of her stature the swarhness Of her
plexor, the Of beauty in her features alone for
che possessed al these) that reminded Of SsppAo;
but the intensity Of the fire which glosed within her,
ss reflected through the windows Of the so1-her Jet
black piercing eyesznd the extraordinary ability she
was shown to possess both in poetry and prose writing
IN the exhibition Of her productions From her warm
and passionate che too Ike the grea, lyric
poetess Of Greece lent her 10 The description of
the hopes and fears inpred by Love and many OF her
pOetical ehusions are characterized by much beauty,
feeling and fire. The sprighty and meauous style OF
her verse would scarcely have deIscted from the merit
OF Anacreon. The veheuenee OF her feelings had i'm
PEELED her. ike Ssppho, 10 mediate suicde-not frona
pronon.oTy ike Leucste, for anodern Prison. bu.
In ladys chamber 20 avoid the stigma which would az
/ tach TO her name from n exposure Of the theft
Several Of her productions were handed 20 Judge
Al,sOn and the District Attorney, who read them win
evident qualification. Twowere OF religious character,
written 70 both peaseand instruct young persons They
appeared IN the Presbyterian newspaper Of recent
date and while they displayed classic elegance and SIN
pcity style, they also betOken vigorous and highly
cultivated intellect. We read them with lively sa.sfsc
ton intermin gled with melancholy neutrality-suspicious.
with the productions Themselves rnarred with sadness
BIZ the thought that gifted should be weak enough
10 commit the ignOble crime Of theft. Whlle reading
them we inyoluntaTlly compared them with the best
stories Of Peter Farley and they lost nothing. in
mind by the comparison.
The title of the two prose articles that we read was
Aunt Sophies Bible Stories They give brief Jries
of the lives and characters Of Abraham and Isaac Esau
ard Jacob interpreted with religious. reflections which
would do credit 10 the head and heart ofthe sbe divine
In our land and were written IN style calculated 10 i'm.
part the greatest of Christian and historical in
struction 10 the youthful mind letter which she has
written 70 o gentleman ia whose family she had formerly
lived of threatening character, also shown. The
pennmsnshp admirable and ts matter ably indicted
butits morality was at low ebb
Notwithstanding she Is Of Indian or Negro extraction.
tbp VIII humble
position of needle-~oman, sparkling ia her intellect
that her society courted by every family with whom
she lived and she upon terms Of equality with them
Yet strong ard oyeTpoweIing was her Peacant for
stealing, that nothing could allay IL. The evidence
a.anst her was Of crcumstantia character. il ap-
pears that she In Mrs. EiOtts room. ar the
bureau in which the watch kept She had the bu-
draw open and the watch in her hand examining
it ntenty. When of the female domestics opened
the chamber door and her in this position the dc
fendant seemed at first very much disconcerte1 but
rallied in moment and inquired " II it time V
gage in religious deyotOns." After the watch
missed che denied having Il; but when
minded by Mrs Elliott that she herself had shown 10
her she acknowledged that che mad faint recollection
Of the circumstance The defendant advised Of the
domescs to 20 astrooger IAN imp0stor Of course
who should be indicted,) whom she had visited, and get
him to present the likeness Of the thief The dones;
did 30, and under oath declared that the asrologer
showed her the exact likeness Of the defendant
glass She then desired Mrs Eliot TO have all the do
mesiics arrested together with the defendant TO dis
the thief This Mrs Elliott declined doing The
domestic then told Mrs. h. what took place at the
trologers end was reprirnanded for going 20 such
person. This circumstance, however with Others had
sufficient effect upon the mind Of Mrs Elliott as to in
duce her 10 charge the defendant with the larceny
The latter replied thst she had the watch and would
bring Il back; but failed TO do SO. The defendant LEFT
the employ of Mrs Elliott, but came to the house one
evening and as began to rain very hard, she stnd all
night thought appeared that portion OF the family
afr aid TO TO sleep, while she In ths house.
she had threatened to take the life Of the person
who charged her with the theft If she underwent an
81 Co., ig fpae told
stairs TO her chamber but she declined, and threw
hersolfupon sofa in the chamber Of Mrs. Elliot
marking that she would lay there butt uncertain
whether she Uhe deft) would be alive In the morning"
Mrs desired her If she contemplated suicide, to go
some where else and commit II, without effect. Mira
f. after remaining up long az Nature would warrant
went TO bed determined that che would remain awake
She saw the doit get up and lower the gas light that
was burning, until IL became quite dim Mrs H. direct
ed her 10 increase the light 10 It's full brightness Sub
sequenty Mrs f. fell Hsleep, but on swaking before
daylight che discovered the def leaning her at
tie bed side with her vivid black eyes peerng nts her
face aud the gas light reduced TO the smallest quantity
Of light Hernerves greatly affected at the sight
Of def in that position, but che assumed courage aud
asked her what che was doing there tie which det
asked, "are you afraid of met Mrs. +. replied no.
and told her TO increase the light again. and 60 lie down.
The twolittle OF Mrs l.. refused 10 60 To bed.
They chung TO their mother and said, If they went 70
bed they would moi see their mother alive In the m)rn
ing. They all remained awake the remainder OF the
night and and In the morning the def left the house.
She had the reputation among the domestcs OF Mrs Is
house of being an Indian sorceress and was supposed
to posses the power Of applying something 70 small
pRit OF the check which would gradually destroy life
without beng detected
short time after the defendanlct the house OF Mrs
T. an officer was sent for lie traced the deten ant 90
the residence Of her mother obtained admission into the
house. and after stating the object Of his visit was
Quesled BY defendants mother TO search defendants
trunk and any other place he desired 70 discover wheh
a. the watch was there secreted He made the search
but found nothing that could lead him 10 suspect the
cles be saw had been stolen He however, arrested
the defendant and she was bound over 10 take her ta
for tue larceny OF the watch and several other article.
belonging 20 oser parties with whom she lived. With
all her natural and acquired abilities she seems to 90
governed by an uncomfortable desire to piier. ms
feeling amounts to a mOnomania, and perhaps Is "a
much 20 be pitied as condemned. Numerous small ar
tcles which she had stolen from those with whom sue
lived but delivered up when accused OF the theii were
exhibited in Court They were Of trlting value, aat
could not have been taken for gain. The watch, which
has never beenaccd, is the only article OF value alleged
10 have been taken Her Is hard one, and cannot
fail TO excite sympathy The Jury found her guilty.
The testimony in the above case being entirely OF
crcumstanal character the District Attorney felt Il 70
be his duty 10 try her upon second bl to remove all
doubt Of her guilt She again arra gned for the lar
couv of Dasuerreoiype likeness Of Miss Lyons which
she distracted from the house of Mr. Lyons and sent
to an authOress of some celebrity as the portrait OF
lady in the South with whom she was IN constant cor
respondence. The defendant was also IN correspond
enee Of a youminous character with the au,horess
above alluded to- upon religious subjects. The defend
ant wrote under the name OF Anne GrsSSon, and tAs
fact led to her identity and the knowledge 81 her
frequent larcenies
Her counsel VIM. f. Lehman, declined defending her
in tie second case She assumed her de.ease aud
though the testimony was direct against her, she made
most ingenious and able Her address 70 the jury
was marked by great command OF language, intensity
Of feeling and depth OF thought The effect OF her elo
ouencc and chaseness OF language was visible IN the
counierance of her jurors and Mr. Mann found neces
cary to make a second speech against her She ex-
plsned her apparent guilt by saying that she took the
bscucrreoype and the other small ARTICLES tor the pur
pose Of my siiiyps her correspondence by presenting
them 10 her correspondents. She conteniei that the
artOs story OF the young witness whose mind had been
impressed with her mysucsms should not be permitted
10 weigh heavily against her and concluded with i'm
passionsd appeal 70 their better feelings.
Theiury after being out some time returned aver
dict OF guilty in this case also.