New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-06-13
TIE FASCINATION or NOTORIETY.

The tendency of certain sort OF people to be
fascinated by nOtOrety, and especially by
criminal notorety, is a curious study. recent
dispatch says that Mrs. Bartlett, the woman
lately tried IN England on a charge of poisoning
her husband, has, since her acquittal, received
several advantageous offers OF marriage.
Parallel cases may be found in plenty. Some
twenty years ago Scotch girl named Made
lene Smith was tried ut Glasgow for poisoning
her lover. The evidence was strong against
her. but it was shown that the lover was a dis
reputable adventurer who had driven the girl
to desperation by threatening her with the ey-
posure of certain letters she had written to him,
and the jury returned the Scotch verdict Not
Proven" No sooner vas the prisoner free than
offers of marriage poured in upon her, and this
notwithstanding the general belief that she had
killed the man. There appears to be sort OF
acrank" theory of ethics, ncOmprehensible by
the world at large. which governs such cases,
for on ordinary lines of reasoning it is I'M
possible to understand the desire OF any man
to link his life with a woman even suspected OF
a procli,ity toward the use Of toxic agents at
critical domestic junctures.
Nevertheless it is certain that female poison
ers from Lucrczia Borgia to the Marchioness OF
Brinviliers, and thence to the present day,
have exercised this strange fascination upon
class of weak mir DIS and not only prisoners or
suspected prisoners, but criminals OF all kinds,
have had the same peculiar homage paid to
them. Laura Fair who shot down Crittenden,
the California lawyer, could have married any
one of a dozen prosperous idiots after her ac-
ouittal Mrs. Dudley, who tried to kill O'DOnO-
van Rosa, was offered several hands and hearts
on the strength of her hOmicidal enterprise.
The young woman who played the part of
female burglar in Brooklyn last year captured
the affections of a stalwart farmer by her
felonious capacity. Perhaps the dominant in
fluence in these cases is that which attracted
Fitz- James,
"And path but dangerous known,
The dangers self were lure alone
II is we'll knOwn that when Bluebeard -four
ished the most fearful rumors were III circula-
ton about the fate of his wives, but feminine
curiosity, or enterprise, or whatever the in
fuence, mastered apprehension, and the wicked
man had no difficulty in replenishing his secret
chamber from the best families Of the neigh
borhoOd.
The women are indeed not whit behind the
men In Welding to the fascination of nOtoriety,
az witness the strange exhibitions of sentiment
tally which take place from time to time in the
straitencd habitations of the place called
Mnr,leIers' Row. What is it about red
handed assassin that exercises queer an at
traction upon tender women, that impels
them to shower attentions upon him, to fill
his cell with flowers, to lavish upon him
marks of their kindness, to single him
out from all the world for consolation
and approval? Why too are such mani
festatiops so often specially reserved for the
male criminals whose victims have been
womenY We speak of mysteries the elucida-
ton of which seems hopeless. The ways OF
acranks,r be they male or female, are past
finding out.