St. Mary's beacon., 1862-01-30
CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.

tn: ext. Mt to wh Oh circumsta ntial evi.
dence should hc accredited has never been
properly defined BY any If the uumerou.
writers upon law and jurisprudence, and
Thousands of instances upon record prov.
the improperly. il not the absolute wick.
edness. Of judging BY evidence which cer-
ta,niy may appear to conduct opinion to
one point. bu, which still may be based
upon wrong foundation. The following
anecdotes will prove interesting to our
rcad.rs:-
About FIVE o'clock one morning. the
head of a man was found under an arch
OF the Houchctte bridge in Paris. The
trunk OF the body was afterwards dGcover.
ed in sink in the Rue dc In Houchette.
and the two lower extremitics near the
Pont Neuf- Subsequent Inquiries led to
the knowledge that the deceased was {.
man by the name of Ramus, and that he
lad been soldier. lately employed a. /.
messenger in the Office 0f receiver uf the
taxes. The head and body being depvsi.
f''d al the M"rgue. or the Dead House.
the medical examinations commenced, snd
at the very greatest length was the sub
jecs investigated. Il win Be inspos.ible &"
enter dsePly into this scrutiny. Suffice i.
." say, thst frosn the the careful and Judi.
cious mode Of procedure. the medical men
IN this country would derive great sdvan-
tase from its perusal. The exterior ap-
l"eai anre showed the declared to be thirty,
Or thereabouts The ."untenal,ce exhibited
not tho slightest mark uf suffering. There
was slight wound upon the f.,rchcad. and
the e were two or three sight bruises upon
the face. but no OH indication whatever
OF violence 10 any p .rt of the billy
Tie II edical men. on cxsminating the
manner in which capitati..u and smpu-
t''i"n had he,n pcrf"rmed. came to the
CO 'cIusi"n that Ramus was killed during
ccP. AMI that sleep must have been pro-
"uecd by ar fetal ns~sns; that il was eth
er the result of drunkenness. or the effect
at some marco b.; that the throat must have
been cut. aid an immense quantity Of
! lood lost ; that the ircapitasion and til.
'ulting off of the limbs must have been
immediately performed by q person ac-
custOmei to such operations either ON uan
ar on animals ths, the instrument aust
have been sharply-cdged aud long. either
such n is as, d for aiuputaiion or the kitch-
en that he must have boon . vigorous
person. anil that the murderer became ner.
vous rs he concluded his horrii act. The
surgeons tlen proceeded to the exau,ina-
fion 1t the iuterral parts Of ths body,
which led them 70 pronounce that the un-
i"rtunate man had labor. d under NO dis.
.'ase which had tendency to terminate
II "a, l~ sh
uceJ by the cutting Of the throat; that
the Commissions on the face were the results !
# the end avnrs made. during the an,pu-
sa''on. to perf'rm it quickly and that
desth must have taken place sbout three
ours af the deceased had had meal
The contents Of the stomach were subiect-
sd to analysis. and pronounced to contain
small quantity Of alcohol and Of HYDRO
cyauic Ur prussic acid, but iss precise
quantity could not Ls determined About
three weeks afterwards the murderer was
srrestad-ar Fnsher. he delivered himself
mp to jusiaee f1, lesrning that his sos.
VINO had beau jast sfprenticed to an
spethecary at Paris. had been taken up
On suspicion. be returned to Paris. having
prcxi"uEly left that cisy fss seme distant
pace. He caRfr..rd ~ the Prefsee Of Po-
Hce. after some hesisasion. his esiane and
Il is most sasisfactory to al those who
were interested in the subject, to 6nd hsw
e"mpletely the opisioaa given hy n.edicnl
wen we're borne asi hy the narr.sivc Of the
person rho cOmmittsd The deed. .Dust
previous to the death al Ramus. bs had
given him Mixsars ii brandy and prus-
81 a'ii. atd hsd murdered his yjatim cs-
acfly in the manHer 10 which the decu-
msHts delivered in by the modest eEap,i-
aers Of the body bad lsd the public to eH.
p',ct. [
Ambrose Gwi"ett wss hanged At Deal .
{or the murder Of . man ~ho merely dis
app seed. and whose body Was not foppd.
Circumssantisl evidence certainly painsrd
strongly To GNise't 10 the murderrr: but .
.till II was not proved in the 6Fst insssucs I
hat murder bad been really committed. /,
q N tfasff .st A an.,tkar ~f L. ~....~ ~n' =