npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Sun. — 1844-12-20 (London, England)

MADRID, DEC. W.—There would still seem to be a hope that the lives of Col. Rengifo and his unfortunate companions, who were lately condemned to death by the court-martial of which General Cordova was the President, may be saved and, perhaps, the penalties to which the other prisoners were sentenced commuted or diminished.* A protest has been made on the part of the prisoners against the competency of the court-martial, as constituted, to try them. The first article of the 6th section of the ordenanzos has the following :—" In all that relates to military crimes, Sac., against the officers of my royal service, it is my will and pleasure that they should be submitted to a junta of officers of superior rank, and that the said junta should bear the denomination of a Council of War of General Officers.' " And by a subsequent royal order, of the 14th May, 1801, it was provided, that even in the causes submitted legitimately to thejudgment of ordinary courts-martial, if military officers shou! d be implicated, no penalty can beimposed on them by the said ordinary courts, but the charges must be referred to the Captain-General, in order to be examined by a council of General Officers. It is on the above regulation that the complaint of Rengifo and his companions is founded, inasmuch as the court that passed the various sentences already mentioned was not composed of officers equal to the rank of several of the accused. For instance, the President of the court himself is a Major-General, whilst Evaristo San Miguel is a Lieutenant-General ; and Rengifo himself, being a Colonel, was superior in rank to any of the other members. 1 The matter had been referred to the Supreme Tribunal of War and Marine; and that court has addressed a report to her Majesty on the subject, and in support of the ordenanza thus violated in the persons of the prisoners. Notwithstanding the belief that the sentence would be carried into execution on the approbation of the Captain-General of Madrid, it was yet thought impossible that so flagrant an injustice could be committed until at least the result of the report of the Supreme Tribunal could be known. The Baron de Meer is well-matched by his brother, Captain-General of Aragon, who, in a late Lando addressed to the Aragonese, threatens that if any new attempt be made at insurrection he will destroy the very towns, and not allow one stone to remain upon another, in what he calls the nests of robbers, contrabandists, and rebels. The following is the bando : " Saragossa, Dec. 4. " Inhabitants of the valleys of Hecht) and Anso ! You have beheld with what rapidity chastisement has been inflicted on your treason, your robberies, and your murders. If you have the audacity to repeat similar attempts against the Government of the Queen (whom God Almighty preserve) and the laws, be certain that your haunts of robbers, contrabandists, and malefactors will cease to exist. Respectable inhabitants of Arragon, assist the Government of her Maje,ty in annihilating those inalignants, and reckon with certainty on the co-opera• tion of your Captain-General,  "
The Sun. — 1844-08-22 (London, England)

POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MAI?YLEBONE. Yesterday Charles Williams, Esq., a gentleman of large property, residing at No. 23, Park-square, Regent's-park, attended before Mr. Rawlinson, by virtue of a warrant which had been placed in the hands of Hooker, the officer, to answer the charge of having coin • mitted a violent assault upon Sarah Jacobs, housemaid in his service.  Mr. Robinson appeared for complainant, and another solicitor, whose name did not transpire, for the defendant.  Complainant stated that on Saturday last, as she was in the lower part of the house, she heard her mistress cry out " Murder," and call upon her for assistance. She hastened up stairs into the bed-room, and on entering it beheld her mistress lying upon the floor struggling with the defendant, who was standing over and holding her down. He had his arms round her neck, and with one of his hands grasped her throat. My mistress, who is an elderly lady, prayed of me to stop and protect her, and my master then struck me a violent blow with his fist under the left breast, after which he called a policeman to see me out of the premises. I feel the effects of the blow at this moment. Mr. Robinson—Had vou done or said anything to your master to provoke him to strike you ? Complainant —All that I said to him was that he was exceedingly cruel to use my mistress in the way he did. Mr. Robinson—What became of Mrs. Williams ? Complainant—A soon as she was able she got out of the drawing room window, and passing along to another house, contrived to make her escape. Her niece was also forced out of the place by defendant, and she and Mrs. Williams are, I believe, both away still. By Defendant's Solicitor—l don't know where Mrs. Williams is gone to, neither have I seen her niece since Saturday. I heard my mistress say to my master when they were struggling together, "You'll break my heart,"  and he replied, " I don't care if I do." At one period of the occurrence he seemed to be trying to lift her from the floor on to the bed, but the greater part of the time he did all he could to keep her down. Mrs. Williams's niece was present when I entered the apartment ; she was forced out before I was. I have no doubt that the defendant received the bruise which he now has upon his eye in the course of the struggle between him and h's wife. I have not had medical advice for the hurt I received ' • my side is painful still. I certainly was ordered out by defendant, but seeing the manner in which my mistress was being treated I felt myself bound to stay and do all I could for her. as she had called to me so loudly to assist her. _  The answer made bydefendant's solicitor to the charge wa-, that a painful altercation had taken place between Mr. and Mrs. Williams, and that not wishing for any other person to be present during the quarrel, Mr. Williams ordered complainant out of the room. No more vio!ence was used than was necessary, and Mr. Williams positively denied having struck any blow. Mr.
The Sun. — 1844-03-18 (London, England)

THE MURDER AT BRIGHTON.—In consequence of the lamentable occurrence at Brighton, the superintendent of the E division of the metropolitan police has issued orders that no officer shall under ally pretence leave his charge until he is secured in safe custody in the cell. This will, •it is expected, lead to a new general order to the same effect from the head-qUarters at-Scotland-yard.  iitiir  JIAI 1:.,1225:x0  rOREIGN. •In the French Chamber of Deputies, on Friday, the Bill relative to the Greek loan was passed without discussion. • On Saturday a motion for voting in the Chamber of Deputies by division, as in England, was rejected by a majority of only 7, there being 174 fin- the motion, and 181 against it. The Commerce, the National, and some other papers, have for some days been urging on the Government the propriety of imitating the example of England and Belgium in the reduction of the interest on the national debt of France. The Journal des Debats is opposed to such a scheme, and affirms that, unlike England and Belgium, France has not the power to reimburse the holders of French Staek by paying them off at par. The Constitutionnel was on Friday put up at auction at the upset price of 150,000 f. It was adjudged to M. Yeron, one of the old shareholders, at 432,500 f. (17,0001.) An important measure has been recently adopted by the Hungarian Diet. Hitherto the nobles of llingary, who are very numerous, many even of the smallest farmers being noble, have been exempted from the payment of taxes. The Diet has resolved that this shall no longer be the case ; but the amount and mode of taxation remain to be decided. The grand demonstration of sympathy for Ireland, made at Covent-garden Theatre, is the subject of comment in most of the Paris papers.: Nearly all of them praise the eloquence, moderation, and justness of the views announced by Mr. O'Connell.  A man named Michel, the author of a book, entitled " Caducite des Religions pretendues lavelees," was tried by the Court of Assizes of Paris on Friday, and convicted of " outrage against religion and public and religious morality," and sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a tine of 2,000 f. The seized copies of the book were ordered to be destroyed. _ _ .  The annual exhibition of the works of art was opened at Paris on Friday. The catalogue comprises 2,423 articles, or 826 more than in 1843—namely, 1,808 paintings and pictures, 348 miniatures, water colours, paintings on porcelain, &c:; 24itiTifki of architecture, 133 of sculpture, 89 engravings, and 21 lithographs. A terrible hurricane burst on the 12th over the town of Douai and its vicinity, accompanied with hail, lightning, and loud claps of thunder. The electric fluid struck the steeple of the church of Fressain, and set fire to it. From the violence of the wind, it was feared that the whole village would catch fire. At last, some carpenters boldly ascended amidst the burning timbers, and cut down.the upper part of the steeple, which checked the downward progress of the fire. To the courage of these men the safety of the village is to be attributed.
The Sun. — 1844-08-27 (London, England)

TUNIS, JULY 18. It seems that fate will not desist from oppressing the poor Maltese, who have chosen Tunis for their asylum; since their Consul, on one hand, permits their dwellings to be searched so as to ascertain whether any smuggled tobacco is there concealed; and, on the other, the people and the Bey's public force avail of such permission to profit by the detection of such smuggling. Such, therefore, is the sad condition of the poor Maltese, who speculate in that article. Now for facts :  A few days ago, the tobacco contractor took eight quintals of tobacco from a Maltese resident at Tunis, besides many more quintals of that same article, from various other places in the same city. Moreover, on the night of the 22d of June a Mussulman of Nabel thought proper to surprise some Maltese, who were introducing into the city some tobacco from the shore. When the Maltese had nearly saved their tobacco, the impudent assailant advanced abreast of the leading escort, and ordered them to lay down their tobacco. The Maltese offered to transact in some way or other with the Mussulman, but the latter, instead of coming to the proposed terms (though he was not one of the contractor's emproTrs), more wantonly persisted in annoying the Maltese, who, having lost all hopes of carrying on his contraband, discharged a pistol at the Mussulman and killed him on the spot. Next day a report was circulated, that the killed Turk had, before his death, declared that his murderers were persons lodged at an inn kept by a certain Shellughi, whose real name is Giuseppe Muscat. The British consular agent of Nabel (Salvatore Borg), in consequence of Sheih Abdilla's report, arrested all the persons found in the said inn indiscriminately, without inquiring whether the innkeeper, or the other inmates, had any. hand-in -the business, whilst -Vincenzo uereb, who had murdered the Turks, had already embarked for Suva, and thence, God knows where. Sir Thomas Reade, on hearing the agent's report, detained in gaol for some time the pretended murderers, and afterwards sent them to Malta.  Acts of Parliament - 418 311 Dividends on stock, beim., the produce of sales of lands under the Land-tax Redemption Act, and of grants in fee, sales of rents, and enfranchisement of copyholds, under Acts of Parliament 927 9 2 Casual revenue, and all receipts not included as above Balance (including balance to Michaelmas, 1842, on the account of the Receiver-General)  £33,037 18 Oi  Queen Victoria has sent to this Bey a present consisting of jewels, worth nearly 8,0001. sterling. The Sardinian steamer is preparing to depart for Genoa, and the cause of so much disturbance has not yet come to light, it being still unknown how the Sardo-Tunisian difference was settled. The general opinion is, that all the manoeuvres of the Sardinian navy, in the seas of this regency, will only tend towards weakening the respect formerly shown by the Tunisians towards Europeans. The corn crop is plentiful. The olive trees and the vineyards are wonderfully loaded with fruit.  [
The Sun. — 1844-03-21 (London, England)

REDEEMER. Conceive the daring effrontery of a man who publicly in a court of justice could recommend his victim to peruse a work, scarce a line in which but tended to convince him of his own innocence, and the atrocious inhumanity of his judge ! What says our SAvloua, in one of the most impressive chapters in Holy Writ ? "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy !" And this is the volume which the man O'NEILL conjures his destined victim to study with attention, in order that he may store his mind with the wholesome precepts it contains ! Where—we think we hear our readers asking—where did this public burlesque on all reason, all justice, all humanity, take place ? Was it among the half-savage squatters of the backwoods of America, in some town just redeemed from tha forest, where Lynch-law is the only law known and respected ? Was it in an uncivilised locality like this that the trial and condemnation of JOHN BROWN occurred ? Far otherwise. It was in one of the most populous, flourishing, and intelligent cities in the United States—viz., New Orleans, whose wealthy inhabitants pique themselves on their superior refinement—their morality—their civilisation—and GOD knows how many valuable qualities besides !It was here—in broad daylight—in an open court of justice—and in the year 1843—that a man was publicly sentenced to be hanged for the commission of an act which,- iu Europe, would have won for him the esteem and admiration of his fellow-citizens ? How the jury who tried and the judge who condemned JOHN BROWN, can reconcile his murder —for murder it isi if not in a legal at least in a moral sense—to their consciences, we cannot for the life of us understand ; and still less can we understand how an enlightened community like that of New Orleans could have sanctioned such a deliberate atrocity by their approval. Shame on all parties concerned in this black deed—a deed which should brand their names with infamy, and fill their breasts with remorse to the last hour of their lives ! America has much—very much to answer for, outraging, as she is continually doing, the first principles of justice and humanity. Repudiator—or, to speak in plain English—swindler as she is, slave-owner too, and consequently murderer on a wholesale scale, she has done more injury to the democratic principle throughout Europe than she will be able to repair by centuries of enlightened legislation, It is to her that despots point exultingly in justification of the doctrines of Absolutism ; and from her mischievous example they derive their strongest arguments against the expediency of making any further political concessions to their subjects.  The Madrid journals of the 13th, those, of course, under the authority of the Government, for no others are published, applaud the zeal and vigour shown by the Government at Alicant and Lugo. They also contain official dispatches from General Pow SAMPER, dated Lugo, the- Bth instant, detailing the execution, on that lay, of CASTROVILAR, a priest, F. FERNANDEZ, and two brothers, named
The Sun. — 1844-06-10 (London, England)

THE NOTTINGHAM MURDER.  The valley of the Trent abounds in beautiful scenery, but we know of no part of it more interesting than that porti,in which lies about three miles from Nottingham, in the parish of Colwick. If the prisoner be the mut.• derer, he would have to take his family down one of the most rural of the "green lanes of Old England," having on his right a view of the Trent and its valley for many miles, the scenery of which is exquisite ; and on his left a continued line of high hills, covered with wood and evergreens ; altogether forming one of the prettiest walks in the neighbourhood. The place where the murder was committed is now shorn of a portion of its beauty. It is true, the scenery around is the same, but the recollection of the bloody deed will ever attach itself to the place, and mar the beauty of the spot. The immediate neighbourhood of the murder—the spinney—is now no more beautiful ; the brushwood, the herbage, and the trees, for several yards round have been cleared away by the thousands of visitors who have since been at the place, .and carried away with them some token to recal to their remembrance the circumstances of the tragical occurrence. The bloody grass, the bark of the trees, and the shrubbing first disappeared, but now even several of the trees have been wholly cleared off, by visitors carrying away with them large portions of both boughs and trunks. Numbers of persons, of all classes, constantly throng the road, and the scene of the Colwick tragedy seems likely for some time to come to be much visited. Since his committal the prisoner has lost none of that iron firmness which he so strongly evinced at the in quest. Reports were very rife that ho had confessed everything, for the purpose of unburthening his mind. This is not the tact. The only care the man seems to have is, lest his working implements and a bed, in the possession of a relation, should not be procurable by him when acquitted by a jury ! For the purpose of securing these, he has sent several messages to the parties who have them in possession. At the beginning of the week he also sent for a relation, and requested he would go round to the different lodges in the order of odd fellows to which he belonged, for the purpose of procuring the means for employing counsel to plead for him at the ensuing assize, saying that he thought, with able assistance, his innocence would readily be proved. On Wednesday four fresh witnesses were taken to the County Gaol, for the purpose of identifying him. • Three out of the four recognised him immediately, although placed in a yard along with thirteen others. One of them, who observed the prisoner as he was returning from Colwick, after the murder had been committed, stated that the prisoner had had a portion of each whisker shaved off since he saw him in Snenton. The prisoner coloured a little when he perceived himself thus identified by fresh witnesses; this was not of long continuance, however, and he quickly assumed his wonted carelessness.—Nottinghem Review.
The Sun. — 1844-06-10 (London, England)

THE NOTTINGHAM MURDER.  The valley of the Treat aliou,ds in betautifit, st-ewry, but we know of no part of it more interesting than that porti. n which lies about three miles from Nottingham, in the parish of Colwick. If the prisoner be the mnr• derer, he would have to take his family down one of the most rural of the "green lanes of Old England," having on his right a view of the Trent and its valley for many miles, the scenery or which is exquisite ; and on his left a continued line of high hills, covered with wood and evergreens ; altogether forming one of the prettiest walks in the neighbourhood. The place where the murder was committed is now shorn of a portion of its beauty. It Is true, the scenery around is the same, but the recollection of the bloody deed will ever attach itself to the place, and mar the beauty of the spot. The immediate neighbourhood of the murder—the spinney—is now no more beautiful ; the brushwood, the herbage, and the trees, for several yards round have been cleared away by the thousands of visitors who have since been at the place, and carried away with them some token to recal to their remembrance the circumstances of the tragical occurrence. The bloody grass, the bark of the trees, and the shrubbing first disappeared; but now even several of the trees have been wholly cleared off, by visitors carrying away with them large portions of both boughs and trunks. Numbers of persons, of all classes, constantly throng the road, and the scene of the Colwick tragedy seems likely for some time to come to be much visited. Since his committal the prisoner has lost none of that iron firmness which he so strongly evinced at the in quest. Reports were very rife that he had confessed everything,-for the purpose of unburthening his mind. This is not the fact. The only care the man seems to have is, lest his working implements and a bed, in the possession of a relation, should not be procurable by him when acquitted by a jury ! For the purpose of securing these, he has sent several messages to the parties who have them in possession. At the beginning of the week he also sent for a relation, and requested he would go round to the different lodges in the order of odd fellows to which he belonged, for the purpose of procuring the means for employing counsel to plead for him at the ensuing assize, saying that he thought, with able assistance, his innocence would readily be proved. On Wednesday four fresh witnesses were taken to the County Gaol, for the purpose of identifying him. Three out of the four recognised him immediately, although placed in a yard along with thirteen others. One of them, who observed the prisoner as he was returning from Colwick, after the murder had been committed, stated that the prisoaer had had a portion of each whisker shaved off since he saw him in Snenton. The prisoner coloured a little when he perceived himself thus identified by fresh witnesses; this was not of long continuance, however, and he quickly assumed his wonted carelessness.—Nottingkens Review.