The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-02-14
TRAGIC STORI OF
MRS. MAVERICKS LIFE
(Chicaeo Chroniele.l

TRAGIC sToBI OF
MRS MAYBRICK'S LIFE
Chicago Chroniele9
Under the reign of Queen Victoria
there was no hope for AIRS. Maybrlch.
If all the women of England ana
America had united to beg her mercy
the queen would not have needed. All
efforts to appeal to her for clemency,
and many such were made, were with
out avail. Very early in her life and
reign Queen Victoria took a rigid moral
stand and neither sentiment nor ap-
parent right ever led her to finch one
inch from her position. She would not
permit the presence of divorced women
at her court, and though many women,
good, brave and brilliant, demOnstrat-
ed their right to a social acknowledge
ment from their queen IL was never
Forthcoming. The queen was deter
mined in her puritanical determination,
and although England, and indeed the
world has benefited immeaSuraDly ana
has been proud Of it, there IS no DOUBT
that it caused much suffering ana many
injustices as well.
Mrs Florence Maybrick was in
sense one of its victims. Princesses
might plead for her, the wOmanhoOd
of nations might demand her right, the
queen showed no WOman's sympathy
for a wOman's suffering. The English
| people are stern in their demand Tor
justice, they are loud voiced in their
cry for fair play, but for once the pom
derance of their slow moving machine
of governmental justice was too much
for them. Mrs. Maybrick went to priS-
/ on in spite of the protest of the Eng
lish people. The judge who presided
at her trial and the jury which de-
clared her guilty were Missed through
out the court proceedings by an audi
ence of deliberate, clear headed Eng
| lishmen.
From the very first of the chain of
circumstances which led Mrs. Maybrick
to prison, English justice was outraged
Americans naturally sided with the WO-
man who declared her American birth
right. An organization of American
woman was formed to procure her re-
/ lease. The women of England pro-
claimed their stand by forming a sim
/ liar organization. 1t was not long be-
! fore men had Joined in the effort and
/ the continued interest and persistent
/ endeaVOT If these people through twelve
/ years of disbursement is one OF the
FemarlIab BILE features of a most remark
/ able case. The Medical and Legal Aid
society which announces a renewed
hope and effort with the advent OF the
new king, has been one of the most
! active OF these agencies.
Many times this society has employed
: powerful legal aid to decipher the mys-
terry and to relieve the public con-
/ science Of Mrs. Maybrick's suffering in
: nocence As many times the apparent
+ truth had been forced home, Mrs.
I Maybrick is not guilty. The power Of
/ the government has been brought TO
+ bear upon the case; the secretary of
state, the minister to Great Britain
and an army of underOfficers have en-
/ deaVOred to prove Mrs. MaybTiCk guilty
/ on oil ho- TDr1n no
j lief in the woman's innocence and de-
mand for justice have been so strong
! that President Mckinley has made per
/ sOnal appeal for a retrial Of the case,
with a fair and impartial verdict. Many
4 times the case has gone through the
diplomatic departments of England
, and America, the case has been re-
! viewed and discussed with each new
/ administration with either nation, with
/ but one resUlt-continUed delay.
= o
! DR.. Clark Bell, president of the Aid
: society and d New Yorker, long ago eX-
! pressed the opinion that SO long as the
queen lived the prison doors would not
open for Mrs. M3ybriek. There is no Sc
cret about the fact that the Prince of
I Wales and many members Of the royal
family long since 6spOused the cause of
the unfortunate woman. It practically
4 remains Tor the prince, now king, to
bring about new trial or to issue a
declaration Of Mrs. Maybricks innO-
cence. That this will be done Mr..
Bell, Mrs MaXbrick's counsel, feels
certain.
Mr.. Bell rests his cause on a letter
which was written to Mrs. Maybrick in
1895 by Baron Russell, who was her
original counsel and who was at the
time of the writing lord chief Justice of
/ England. The letter explains itself and
is no doubt familiar to the average
American or Englishman-
Royal Courts, June p. 1S95.-Mrs.
/ Maybrick: Madam, 1 have been absent
| on circuit, hence the delay il answer
ing your letter. l beg to assure you
that / have never relaxed my efforts,
when a suitable opportunity offered, to
urge that your release ought to be
granted. 1 feel strongly, as l have felt
from the first, that you ought never to
/ have been convicted. and this opinion I
very clearly expressed to Mr.. Asquith.
But / am very sorry to say, hitherto
without effect. Rest assured that
shall renew my representations to the
incoming home secretary, whoever he
may be, as soon as the government is
formed and the secretary is in posi-
ton to deal with such matters. Faith
fully,
RUSSELL OF KILLOWEN."
The Maybrick case need be reviewed
but briefly. In 1879 Miss Florence Eli
zabeth Chandler, the daughter of Will
3 liam e. Chandler, a prominent banker
of Mobile, Ala. was married to James
Maybrick. Mrs Maybrick was H. a
pretty. clever southern girl; Mr. May
brick was A, a dissipated well-to- do
Enslishman. They had met on an
+ England-bOUnd Atlantic liner and he
had been charmed with her girliSh
beauty, while she was fattered with
the attention of the well-bred, hand
some EngliShman.
Mr.. and Mrs. Maybrick lived in Liver
pool where their two children were
born-a boy, now 10, and a girl, now Is
years old. It was brought out in the
! evidence at the trial that Mr.. May
( brick was a confirmed arsenic eater,
+ although the secret had been carefully
kept from the young wife. Neverthe-
less, the two had become alienated and
Mrs. Maybrick had taken steps toward
procuring divorce. One day in spring
I Mr. Maybrick rode to the Wirral races,
near Liverpool. He went against the
/ advice of his physician and his wife,
was caught in the rain and drenched,
yet stayed out for lunch and a late din
ner. The indisCretiOn brought on a high
fever and the next day physicians pro-
nOunced the illness fatal 1t happened
toward the end Of his sickness that Mr..
Maybrick asked, uring the nurses alb
: sence, for some white powders which
| he kept in his dressing room. These
| were procured by Mrs. Maybrick and
under his direction one powder was