The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-08-02


Scotch lady who was accused of numbering her
lover b. poiscl Our readers will probably find
Il the most thrilling narrative cf criue, passion
sne Judicial inquiry that has ever fallen under
their notice. No case, in any volume of cele
bfatec CAUSES, can compare with it fer vividnes
Of interest, intense passion, and dramatic effect.
The chief figure in the case, Madeleine Smith,
is the daughter Of Scotch architect, man of
fortune, sod admitted to good society. Madeleine
YVES tesseaf q wrll-knowr Glasgow belle; though
not positively beautiful, her features we're good
enough to be remarked, her complexion was very
iEe, saa her manner elegant and flushed There
has been come talk about the neglect Of her pa
rents; about her fordness for novel reading, and
the wait Of control over her possessed by her
parents. These statements rest upon no well
established basis, and are the mere guesses of
newspaper writer's There is nothing to show
that she enjoyed more liberty than is claimed and
enjoyed by at least half the young ladies of her
age IN Scotland, aud all il this country; nor is
there cry ground for the hypothesis that Hovei
reading hsd to do with her fail This Last is
pioos fraud Of tire Presb, terian clergy. She was
TO fas as we ear nudge, a young lady Of average
mental and moral condition. but with enormous
psssicns. capacity AT the time ehe met with
L'Anseiier.
he was yoang Frsnohnan. q very fair ave-
rage OF his nation and his class. He was amisble,
With something chiyalroas about hin, in the
French way; laxative. vain, and bosstfui aud
duly impressed with the essentially French dog
ma that all wcmen are loose If they are assailed
in the proper way. Ee assailed Miss Smith; was
received by her III her bedroom after her sister
had gone to bed; having no scrnple Of principle
to overcome he interpreted this liberty as every
FIencbman, and most young men OF other ma
tions, would, and achieved her ruin.
He wss BOT however, thoroughly hesrtless
and bad man. There is reason 10 believe that he
vas sincere in his desire to marry Miss Snith;
though salary of only one hundred and
fifty dollars q year opposed for the present
rather awkward obstacle, he seems to have
entertained various projects for b5ttering
bis condition and uniting his fortunes with hers
Ard when the merchant Mr.. Minnoch began to
pay bis addresses to Madeleine aud that highly
practical young lady testified q marked pre-
ference for him over her old lover, the
Young Frepchmau opposed ii ia the most strenu-
Gus and effectual way. Had he been mere
common seducer, he would have thrown no
impediment in the way Of the ardent but some
VIA. veldant Minnoch whose timely proposals
might have conveniently closked the unho!y
love But he not only refused 10 couutenaace
Minnoch, but used the most effective threat he
coud-a threat to enclose Madeleine'G letters to
her fsther-to deter bis faithiess mistress from
her aim. This appears TO be the most honorable
indeed the only honorable-fsature in the case.
Madeeine's hopes were completely frustrated
| by her lovers obstinacy. Her letters, on which
we shall have remark to make presently, 80
palpably disclosed the fact Of her unhoy love,
that to make them public was not only to ruin
the Minuoch affair but most likely to produce an
irreparable breach between her and her father
She tesought L'Angelier with eloquence which
reminds one Of Rousseaus Helose to spare her.
lie persisting che alters her tone; having assured
! him before that her love for him had faded away,
che nov protests that it has revived and beseeches
AL interview The interview is granted; several,
seemingly; on one or more Of these occasions her
lover takes chocolate or other food from her;
fails i'll directly afterSaid, ard dies The symp.
tons Of he dying man indicate that be has
been poirpned by arsenic; arsenic is found in his
stomach; /. l. proyel; that Madeleine Smith had
bought arsenic.
One is not surprised 10 lean Than On this plain
chain of oircunstapssl evidence the .iufy we're
five for verdict Of guilty and ten for the. Pc
culisr Scotch verdict which while II amounts
practically to ecquittal yet implies strong sus-
picion Of guilt mot Proven" Men have in.
deed been hanged on far more slender evidence
/ The only theory which exonerates Madeleine
! Smith from the murder--whch supposes that
young L'Angciier, without any cause to speak
/ Of. desired to terminate his existence, kept the
fact secret, tooi poison, allowed himself 10 he
doeiortd, and desired to get wells too absurd
10 need refutstioD.
The Chief ground, us IL seems on which the
ten jury men considei I'd the charge not proven
was the extraordinary pathos and sentiment of
the lady's letters. Her counsel the Dean OF Ia
Gully put il to them whether wona1 could pos
sibly seek TO murder mau TO whom she had
written in terms Of iuci frantic affection only IA
few weeks before. ant he iurymen seemed to
think che could not We apprcbcnd that they
! gave The lady credit ior 100 much sincerity. IL
is very doubtful whether my young lady in this
country or in Scotland. however deeply she may
he ia love, would write TO her lover in such an
ccs,alic style as this. There is palplblc afccta-
ton Of unorous pbrtnzy 10 every letter. Had
Madeleine Smith been a native Of Italy or
| Spain, and had the been a widow Of thirty. onc
might believe that she wrote these letters in the
candid outpcurinss Of her warm heart Bot no
Scotch girl Of twenty-five, freshly initiated to sin,
would be likely TO utter such illusions. Our i'm
preston IL that the letters are successful iiera-
~ effort: that they indicate no particular depth