npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Press. — 1857-10-31 (London, England)

THE PRESS, OCTOBER 31, 1857.  He was not by any means one of those mawkish senti-mentalists who said there should be no punishment by death, for he contended most strenuously that every man should lose his life that had committed a murder. He thought we should punish those who were at the head of the mutiny, but not have any of that indiscriminate vengeance that had been advocated. Still he said that every leader of the mutiny should be shot. He did approve of Lord Canning 's proclamation, for he did not think it right to burn down villages and their inhabitants indis criinivately.  Lord BROUGHAM, who was entertained at a grand banquet at Penrith on Wednesday last, remarked, with regard to India, that it was a saying of Pox, and characterised by the wonted sagacity of that great man, when some one said to him, "Why, this is a war only on a point of national honour." " I should like t..) know," said he, " any war that could be defended on any other ground but that of national honour. Unless you wage it on that point, you had better not wage it at all ":  On this great Indian question my noble friend Lord Ellenbotough—of whose great and brilliant success as Governor of India no one can entertain a doubt—has re• cently stated that if we are driven out of India we are safe nowhere, and therefore he calls upon the Government to strain every nerve to retain it. He has also stated that after this great struggle is over—which I hope is only a struggle with an armed body of mutineers, and that the naives ns a body are not with them—two things will re• main to be done to prevent the recurrence of the mischief and to recover what has been lost. To lose it or give it up is impossible. To divide it with another is equally impossible, for we aro habituated to dominion and inured to empire. A third point that will have to be determined will, it is urged, be the limit of retribution and the penalties to be exacted. lint I believe that that question will long and long have been disposed of before Parliament will be called upon to decide it. Far be it from me to recommend needless severity to any one or to any place : still further from me to wish every possible means not to be taken whereby the innocent can be separated from the guilty ; but that severe punishment is needed—that retribution is almost a matter of course—that justice, according to that banner ( pointing to a banner on the wall on which were inscribed the words '' Justice and Mercy,") must be placed above mercy. The other banners which I see be• fore me—" Peace and Harmony," " Honour and Loyalty," —may allow them to be placed on the same level, but justice and mercy must follow in the sequence which that banner bears—justice must precede mercy.
The Press. — 1857-02-07 (London, England)

BLACKBURNE. Detectives failed to discover the perpetrators of the murder. Lord NORBURY was shot in the noonday in his owns demesne. He was not a harsh landlord, nor was he personally obnoxious. Again the detectives failed. Lord NORBURY was a Protestant and Tory ; while, on the other hand, Mr. JAMES SCULLY was a Roman Catholic and a Liberal. The latter gentleman was noticed that he shoul I be murdered. He took precautions. Towards the dusk of a winter after • noon, one of his own domestics cajoled him, with diabolical artifice, out of his house. " The wild fowl, sir, are now down in the pond, " and you can have a shot at them, sir." Mr. SCULLY went to the end of his lawn, and just as he was approaching within range of the wilds fowl, he fell a corpse, shot at. by two men in ambush. He was a gentleman of fortune, the son of DENIS SCULLY, author of the " Statement of the Penal Laws," which was a text-book of Catholic grievances. Again, in that case, the detectives failed. So, also, in the recent case of Mr. CALLAHAN, a Dublin attorney (and a Roman Catholic), who went to take possession of his land. He was killed in broad daylight on the Queen's highway. Mrs. KELLY was treated in a similar way, butchered in broad daylight on a summer evening, within sight of several men and women. In both those instances the detectives failed.  And now that the detectives have again failed in Mr. LtrrLE's terrible case, it seems desirable that the increase of secret murder in Ireland should be discussed with more attention. The subject is a most important one, and several grave issues are raised. Why, in the first place, should there be an increase of secret murders, when the detective force was never so numerous or so highly organised ? The justice of the law is oftener now•a-days frustrated in Ireland than in former times. Is it that the Executive is weaker, or that criminals are more numerous ? Or is there connivance at criminality amongst a class which ought to be the foremost to give up the criminal? Aro there other '• harbourers " of murderers besides persons of their own rank?  These are questions which open up a variety of views, both social and religious. We have not space to discuss them at present, but on a future occasion they shall receive the attention due to them. What we here desire to fix notice upon, is the fact that "secret'' murders have fearfully increased in Ireland ; that the detectives often egregiously fail, and that there must be some peculiar influences, of a most remarkable kind, which aid a murderer in Ireland.  In the meanwhile, it is impossible for Government to avoid giving some account of what has been done in the ease of Mr. lArruz. The subject is well deserving of Parliamentary explanation.  104 ...111,  4  ■  if  124  Hy Lords and Gentlemen,  Arlract6ings zn Varliamcnt.
The Press. — 1857-01-24 (London, England)

FRANCE. THE MURDER OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS. The trial of Verges took place on Saturday last at the Cours d'Assisse. After the reading of the " acte d'accusation " the prisoner rose, and in a fluent address protested against his witnesses being denied him. The court overruled his objections, and several witnesses were examined for the prosecution and letters of the prisoner read, during which he conducted himself with the greatest violence, at times becoming so furious in his abuse and gestures against judge and jury that the gendarmes were compelled to hold him down, and he was twice removed from the court. In his reply, Verges calmly, slowly, and circumstantially narrated each detail of the murder. For two months he had determined upon it. He declared that he knew perfectly well what lie was doing. He went to the church early in the afternoon. He had first consulted the list of the ceremonies of the day ; lie then placed himself near a bench with the intention of striking the archbishop when he should enter to hear the sermon, but after wards, when he reflected that many of the priests had been his fellow-students, and might on recognising him prevent the execution of his plan, he quitted the bench and placed himself in the nave. He was there when the archbishop arrived, and remained there during the entire ceremony. At length he opened the knife, biding it from every eye until his victim approached. " I did not strike twice," said the prisoner, " for I was certain the first blow had taken effect." Upon the reply of the AttorneyGeneral, Verges became again so violent that he was removed from the court, and the trial continued and concluded in his absence. After twenty minutes' deliberation the jury pronounced a verdict of " Guilty " against the assassin Verges on the three points of accusation—namely, wilful murder, premeditation, and lying in wait. The verdict did not admit extenuating circumstances, and the court, Alta a short deliberation, passed sentence of death upon the prisoner. The prisoner has appealed to the Court of Cassation against the verdict, and has also petitioned the Emperor for pardon. Cardinal Merlot, Archbishop of Toots, will, in all probability, be the new Archbishop of Paris: The cardinal it described as tolerant to religious opinions, and otherwise liberal. no is nighty spoken of, and, in every respect, the Emperor's choice is unexceptionable.  The Emperor presided at a Council of Ministers on Wednesday. Farouk Khan's arrival in Paris has created a great sensation.  Baron Brunnow has left Paris for his post at Berlin, and charged, it is said, with •special mission from the Emperor of the French to the Court of Prussia.  Count Kisseleff leaves Paris shortly for Nice. A grand dinner was given last week t) the Crimean generals by Prince Napoleon at the Palais Royal. The speeches on the occasion were remarkable for their complimentary tone, and for the utter absence of all mention of the services of the allies of France  The immense advantage of this war (said the Trinee) is that yon have proved that France has still het great army !
The Press. — 1857-08-08 (London, England)

LONDON, UN SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 1857. MPED . .SIXPENCE. TAMPE.D...FIV EPENCE.  holding out. At Sattara, we see by a letter in yesterday's Times, there has been a plot to massacre all the Europeans and place the alopted son of the late Rajah on the throne. The name of the station is not given, but the details as to its position leave no doubt as to the spot to which the writer refers. At Jhansi, one of the latest of our annexations, the people have risen and murdered every European, man, woman, and child, with circumstances of aggravated atrocity that make the blood run cold. The Nizarn's country too, the Sattara letter tells us, is in a very unsettled state ; while the proceedings of the Resident show that he anticipates an outbreak, and thinks that if there should be one, it will be joined in by the regular cavalry stationed there. One regiment of the Hyderabad contingent has already mutinied, and it appears that they are in constant expectation of a rising on the part of the Nawab of ARCOT at Madras, for he is one of the victims of our late policy, the policy which Mr DISRAELI so well denounced.  Considering that the revolt only commenced about the middle of May, and that our advices only reach to the end of June--considering, also, that all the stations alluded to are many hundred miles apart—we do not see that Mr. VERNON SMITH has much to congratulate us on in respect to the attitude which the native princes have, so far, assumed ; and we have no doubt that he will be in possession by the time the next mail comes in, if he be not so already, of despatches which will teach him how little reliance is to be placed on those who have not yet thrown off the mask. Then, as to the people whose loyalty he dwells on, we do not know really what he means. We read of the whole of the bazaar people and camp followers rising together with the Sepoys, and of even the servants of the officers proving false. In other words, the entire non-military, as well as military, population have revolted in all our chief military stations in Bengal. The same course has been followed by the populace of the cities—the men who in every country furnish to rebellion its most active recruits. Many of the post-runners are said to have joined the rebels also, and most of the boatman on the Ganges, while the cargoes are plundered by bands of armed men. Numberless villages, moreover, appear to have taken advantage of the general confusion, and we read of plunderings, and burnings, and shootings—now by the people and now by the European soldiery, in retaliation—on every side. From Lahore to Calcutta there appears to be nothing but robbing and murdering, or hanging, as the rebels or the soldiers happen to have the upper hand. Such is the loyalty of princes and people contended for in his speech by Mr.
The Press. — 1857-02-28 (London, England)

THE PRESS.  believed to bo untrue. The losses which would result to this country and India from this war of Dr. Bowing it was almost impossible to estimate. All our influences in China would be overturned—our efforts towards the conversion of the people entirely neutralised. How, indeed, could we attempt to teach them a religion of benevolence and humanity when our Minister was breaking the commandments—committing murder in an unjust war—not telling the truth of his neighbour, and gratifying his covetousness at the expense of the sufferings of mankind? He hoped the decision of their lordships' house would protect them from an act like this, an act which was at once a folly and a crime.  -------Earl GnaNvn.LE, earnestly deprecating the tone adopted by the last speaker as most unjust to a useful public servant, and unworthy the dignity of a grave and most serious discussion, on the part of the Government accepted the entire responsibility of Dr. Bowring's proceedings : The Government, not hastily, but after due consideration—after weighing the facts of the case—after having consulted as to the legality of the acts and the future consequences of disowning whet has taken place, have come to the resolution of entirely supporting their subordinate abroad, and in so doing they take upon themselves the whole responsibility of t he acts of the three English representatives of the Government at Canton.  Lord Granville then proceeded to review the whole question of the seizure of the Arrow, with the circumstances attending it, maintaining that the English flag was flying at the time she was taken and was hauled flown by the Chinese, and that the conduct of Sir John Bowring had been guided throughout by the strict law of the Colonial Ordinance and the supplementary treaty of 1h43. Had he acted otherwise, or by other rules, what would then have been said ? Would not the Government have been charged with following the principles of the Manchester school, and preferring the paltry interests of comme►ce to the honour of the British flag ? The Bishop of OXFORD condemned the conduct of Sir John Bowring in the strongest terms, and reprobated the conduct of a great Christian nation like England spreading the horrors of war among a weak and unoffendi,ig people. He entreated the house to pause ere it gave the weight of its great authority to support an act so unjust and wrong as this. It' they did so let them recollect that they were going against a Power which took its own time for vindicating eternal justice, and which never allowed a wrong to pass uuavenged, and a Power which could find, if need were, in the very weakness of China sufficient elements to abase and rebuke the lawless oppression of this country. Their lordships then divided, when there appeared for the motion—  Content—Present .. .. .. 53 Proxies .. .. .. 57  -110 Not Content—Present .. .. 71  Proxies  Majo►ity against the motion Their lordships then adjourned.  75 -140
The Press. — 1857-08-15 (London, England)

JOLLIFFE, &C. Notwithstanding this, by the votes and exertions and the influence of the whippers-in, were six members of her Majesty's Government placed in a minority, and a blot upon English legislation continued in existence by a majority of one. It is curious to examine the votes secured on this occasion by Lord MULGRAVE and Mr. HATTER against the members of their own Government. Out of the .15 votes, of which the majority consisted, there were 2 new members, scarcely half a dozen of whom had heard the discussion on the second reading. Parliament legislated in respect to Sir 'l'. M. WILSON'S land by compelling him to give up part of it for the Finchley-road, which passes through the estate from north to south, and part of it for the Hampstead Junction Railway, which crosses it from east to west. Yet they now refuse him permission to turn the property to the best account by devoting it to purposes which we are assured would never interfere with Hampsteadheath in the slightest degree. The farms are his own freehold, but the heath is common, and he can no more pretend to build upon it, says Mr. WIIITESIDE, than "on the top of St. Paul's." Under these circumstances Mr. HATTER'S manoeuvre certainly seems both discreditable and unaccountable. No explanation, however, will, we suppose, be vouchsafed, though we doubt if public sympathy will not be thereby turned more in favour of Sir T. M. WILSON than it hitherto has been.  We cannot compliment the authorities at Dublin on the skill shown in trying to detect the murderer of Mr. Ltrri.v.. On the verdict of the jury we have nothing to say, but that we take for granted no other finding could be expected in the evidence laid before them. Even on the facts as stated by the Attorney-General, supposing that they all had been proved, it would have been difficult to have expected a verdict of " Guilty ;" but when Mrs. STOLLEN informed the police that part of the money was hid in a certain place (which she correctly indicated) we think that means should have been taken to allow the accused man to commit himself. Instead of that, SPOLLEN was prematurely denounced ; and it was only to be inferred that, whoever may have been the murderer, all connecting links would have been removed with the exception of the bloody booty. There was an over whelming case of suspicion of the gravest kind, but still only suspicion, against STOLLEN ; but the circumstantial links failed in many places: and we think that the Attorney-General overstated his case, which was weak in several points. The padlock, sa much relied on by the Attorney-General, might have belonged to any one, and the evidence of the prisoner's children was not reliable. STOLLEN'S character is not cleared by the verdict; and it is an extraordinary cirzurnstance that a wife should have accused her husband of such a crime, and furnished remarkable evidence, and yet that the case should have failed. A certain amount of indirect feeling was shown at Dublin for
The Press. — 1857-01-10 (London, England)

COOPERATIVE COTTON-MILT. was opened at Rippenden on Saturday last. The mill, a spacious six-storeyed building, is the property of 170 share• holders (chiefly operatives), holding 300 shares, at 10/. per share. It is intended to run it on the cooperative principle. The engine and boiler are already set up, and the remainder of the machinery will be added in the course of this and next month.  LocAL BOARDS OF HEALTH have proved quite a plague to some provincial towns. At Rotherham and Worksop, for instance, the boards, in their zeal to drain and water the towns, largely exceeded their borrowing powers, trusting to obtain from Parliament increased powers. In this they were disappointed, and so the Rotherham board, after boirowing and expending 40,0001. on the works of the town, has been sold up, and all the water and drainage works of the town are now held by indignant creditors. At Worksop the board have suffered a seizure of their offices and furniture. A MYSTERIOUS MURDER was committed last week at Merthyr, in the house of the coroner, Mr. Morgan, who, on his return home, one evening last week, found his housekeeper cruelly murdered lying in the kitchen. The woman's husband has been arrested on suspicion.  THE Tomas OF WALLER .iND &awl: being in the church at Beacoir-field, will probably prove an efficient aid to the Rev. John Gould, the rector, who has made an appeal in behalf of the sacred edifice, now in a most dilapidated condition. A committee has been formed for the purpose of collecting funds to restore the church and preserve the tombs of the illustrious dead.  A MANCHESTER CATTLE DEALER, one Mr. Sutcliffe, last week lost a bag containing upwards of 3,0001. in bills and money. The bag was picked up by a young woman, who gave it to her lover to take car 6 of. lie found out the right owner and returned it to him. Mr. Sutcliffe, it is reported, " rewarded " tl.e young man with three sovereigns, and the young wo man with 10s.  SIXTY TONS OF PIG IRON were recently used at single casting of engine bottoms, by Mr. Neilson, of Glasgow. The Glasgow Herald, commenting on this great feat, observes :  Let our readers imagine this mass of iron thrown into the mould, sixty tons in all, pouring in a torrent which is exhausted in one minute furty-tive seconds, and they will have sielie idea of a work which all the ironworkers in England refused, the like of which none of the ironmasters in England ever saw, aul which was accomplished under the superintendence of Mr. John Neilson, ou Tuesday, December 30, 1810.  Messrs. Grissell has since written to the Times denying this statement, and adding : The Glavow Herald knows nothing of English ironworkers of English ironinasters. We could easily had him fifty workers and masters who would make but a light question of the task Mr. Neilson has no doubt so ably performed; and that, among many others, it was not refused by, because not offered to, Yours very respectfully, H.
The Press. — 1854-06-03 (London, England)

CHARLES 11. Mr. LATHOII BROWNE, a barrister, has addressed a letter on this subject to the Lunn CHANCELLOR, containing several suggestions which are welt deserving of consideration. Mr. BROWNE states emphatically, " If we would do justice truly, our anise and set " sions courts must be held more frequently. But " before we arrive at this step can we not do some" thing to mitigate the present difficulties?" Mr. BROWNE does not propose violently to revolutionise our system of administering criminal justice, or even to introduce new judicial machinery, but he simply suggests that we should more fully avail ourselves of the means at our disposal. About a third of the prisoners who are committed for trial plead guilty at the sessions and the assizes, and often receive merely a nominal punishment, because, in the opinion of the judge, the imprisonment they have already undergone meets the requisitions of public justice. When the formal punishment thus follows the offence at a long interval the connection between cause and effect is lost, and the judge, instead of being regarded with awe and terror, is hailed by the criminal as a wished-for friend, releasing a wronged and injured man from unjust imprisonment. And he may be correct in his view ; the imprisonment may have been substantially unjust. To remedy this Mr. BROWNE proposes to allow prisoners to plead guilty before magistrates ; then to remit the depositions to the chairman of quarter sessions, or, in assize cases, to the judge who last acted in the county, who may pronounce a sentence, the operation of which will at once commence. With some qualification, we do not. see any prinwl facie objection to this plan, but we would scarcely allow a plea of guilty to be taken unless the prisoner had previously enjoyed the benefit of legal advice. No warrant of attorney is valid unless before its execution it has been read over and explained to the person whom it will affect by an attorney acting on his behalf, and in criminal cases a similar precaution should be taken. It is quite possible that a man charged with an offence may think himself guilty when he really is not. Thus there are many cases in which it would not be easy to distinguish between burglary and robbery, stealing and embezzling, justifiable homicide, manslaughter, and murder. Nay, more, a man may plead guilty and yet utter a wilful falsehood. On the northern circuit a prisoner was arraigned on a charge of murder, and he pleaded guilty. Notwithstanding his plea the prisoner was tried. There was nothing improbable in the hypothesis of his guilt. It was proved that he was near the place where the body was found about the time when death occurred, and his confession was coherent in all Particulars ; yet the jury, with the approbation of the judge, acquitted the prisoner, on the express ground that they did not believe him. The man was probably insane, but, if he was, his insanity was not apparent on a cursory examination. But, although he does not say so, Mr. BROWNE probably means to exclude from his proposal all cases where the law may be difficult or the punishment grave. Again,