Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-07-27
FURTHER FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.
BY the Asia at New York.


FURTHER FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.
BY the Asia NJ New York.
Our British fles, to the 18th inst, have been
| received and we extract from them some interest
| ing details Of foreign news.
THE EpINBuRe POISONING CASE
The trial of Madeleine Smith on a charge Of
numbering, at Glasgow, her lover one Pierre
| Emile L'Angelier, by administering to him ar
senic on three different occasions in order that
she might marry another man, has just concluded
at Edinburgh in verdict of " not guilty. on the
| first count, which charged her with administer
ing arsenic to the deceased prior to the 10th of
| February last, and 60 not proven" on the subse-
| crime on the 22d or Odd of February, and on the
22d or I'D of March. The interest which the
trial has excited throughout Great Britain is al
most without parallel In her criminal annals.
Upon the return of the jury, after an absence of
| twenty minutes the Lord Justice Clerk intimated
that II must be understood that there must be no
| the verdict.
The names Of the jury having been called, Mr..
| Motfat, Of the High School, was announced
| Chancellor, and read the verdict as follows:
| "In regard to the first count, the jury by a ma.
| jority, find verdict of not guilty
"1n regard to the second count the jury find,
| by majority, verdict Of not proven.
| Sin regard to the third count. the jury, by
majority, find verdict of not provenn
The Scotsman says: " Instantly, on the an
nouncement of these last words, a vehement burst
| Of cheering came from the audience, especially
from the galleries, which was again and again
| renewed with increasing loudness i'm spite of the
efforts Of the Judge and the officers of the court
The excitement produced outside the court
| when the verdict became known was immense.
Whilst the Chancellor was reading the verdict
the prisoner gazed at the jury steadily, but with
mot proven" on the third charge was pro-
nounced, her head slightly fell, her face broke
into bright but somewhat agitated smile, and
her hand was warmly grasped by her agent (Mr
Ranken) on one side, and the gaol matron on the
| other-expressions Of sympathy which seemed to
AFFECT her more deeply than any incident Of the
The Lord Justice Clerk, in thanking the Jury
for their services land intimatng that they would
be relieved from similar duties for five years. }
| stated that they would have perceived from what
| he had said to them that his own opinions quite
| arrived
The prisoner was then dismissed from the bar
The first count charged the prisoner with ad-
ministering arsenic to Emile L'Angelier on the
18th or both of February; the second and third
counts charged her with administering arsenic TO
him on the I'D or I'D of February, and on the
2!d or 23d of March. So far as these two last
charges are concerned, the verdic. of 90 Not
proven. Is not an acquital-not declaration on
the part Of the jury OF her innocence but of their
Dei1e1 that the evidence is not sufficient to war
rant conviction, Under this verdict (Which is
peculiar to Scottish law the prisoner is liable at
any Tune, IL fresh evidence against her can be pro-
| cured, to be again arrested and tried.
| interesting as were the proceedings the
| o"iici udS VI tne tldl OF MISS Madeleine smith,
| those on Saturday (says the Caledonian Mercury
| In this respect surpassed them all. On the pre-
| vious occasions the relatives, friends, and ac-
quaintances of the deceased were exami ned-per.
| sons who had been his confidential friends and
others who had beheld his face only once i'm their
lives on this occasion the dead man himself as
IL were, and the girl accused Of causing his death
! were placed in the witness box. Letters written
| In the silence of the night when no eve save One
beheld the hand that traced the words, were read
| in crowded hall of judgment, with a multitude
l tn hat in,
| tended for the eye and ear of one alone. Burning
| efusions in which, with the veriest extravaganza
ment was avished on the object of affection wild
| appeals, in which the mind appeared to be verg-
| ing on Distraction were read cOldly and unsyrm-
pathisngly by the aged clerk of the court for the
writer writer "a '''. "'eu do e''"e"'e against the
No wonder that Miss Smiths veil was down
when she entered the court that day; during the
reading of the letters she stopped forward, and
| leaning her elbow on the ratings appraised her
| hand so as partly to shield her face. But soon
she appeared comparatively relieved, for her
prosecutors were merciful, and in most instances
| the merest skeleton of the selected letters was
| given. Only those effusiOns were read i'm full
| which were absolutely necessary for the case of
| numbers only few sentences were read, and all
objectionable expressions, all gross and indeli-
cate illusions, were carefully and studiously
omitted In some instances, we understand, par
tlcular words were altered in the reading, in or
der that the feelings Of the prisoner might not be
| overwhelmed by such a terrible publicity. The
redoing OF these letters was battle field, upon
which every inch of ground was contested. Ev-
cry assumed doubt about the dates, every half
rubbed postmark, formed new ground on which
the counsel for the defence took up their position
and maintained the fight to the last. The audi
ence were in a painful state of excitement When
the letter was read which, after receiving Min
noch's first proposal, Miss Smith wrote to Ian
gelller breaking of their engagement, a general
stir took place in the court, which continued in
creasing till the time when the letter to Minnoch
was read, and the others, almost cotemporaneous
hpr nj III
apparently resumed.
1t is stated that during the proceedings on
Monday Miss Smith appeared in very good spir-
its, and frequently gave way to suppressed laugh
ter when L'Adgelier's great vanity was spoken
From the Ayrshire Express we extract the fol-
| lowing description of Miss Smiths appearance
during the trial:
In the midst Of all this excitement, passing
| through the eager crowd from and to the prison.
seated at the bar with hundreds of ewes fixed
| steadily upon her, Madeleine Smith is the only
uninoved, cool parsonage to be seen. From the
first moment to the last she has preserved that
undaunted, defiant attitude of perfect repose
| which has struck every spectator with astonish-
ment. She passes from the cab to the court ROOM
or rather to the cell beneath the dock, with the
air of belle entering a ball ROOM She ascends
| the narrow staircase leading into the dock with
cool, Jaunty air, an unveiled countenance the
same perpetual smile. slnirk rather for il lacks
all the elements of genuine smile; the same
healthy glow of color, and the same confident
ease. The female turnkey at her side looks much
more OF the prisoner; for. while she is still, and
scarce ever lifts her eyes, Miss Smith never ceases
surveying all that goes on around her. watching
every word of every Witness returning every stare
with compound interest, glancing every second
minute at the down-turned eyes i'm the side gal
iery, and even turning right round upon the re-
porters immediately behind her, to see how they
get along with the note taking which is carrying
her name and deeds into every British home
When judges and jurymen retire for lunch, she
refuses even so much as small packet of sand
wlches. Others may be thirsty amid the hot ex-
element. but when the female attendant offers
her glass of water she will not have it, There
she sits, refusing meat and drink, or a moments
retirement IN her cell, with her smelling bottle
In her dainty little hand, which she never uses
splendid specimen of physical power, and of
such endurance as only will Of terrible strength
could attain
GENERAL NEWS.
The seat for the City of Oxford declared
vacated on the ground of bribery and Mr. Thack- |
cray has been brought forward a candidate to