The Sun. — 1857-07-10 (London, England)

ELHIR D'AMORE. electric wires throughout the length and breadth diva, Piccolomisi (first time ); Nemorino, Signor of the land !It was a positive relief when the Relart ; Beloore, Belletti ; and Dr. Duleamara, Signor Rossi (first appearance this season). case was brought to a conclusion, and the load of To conclude with the admired Ballet, MARCO SPADA, anxiety, which had been accumulating for nine For particulars, see bills. successive days, was at last removed from the A limited number of Boxes in the Half-circle Tier have been specially reserved for the public, and mu. be had on applies- public mind. tion at the Box-office at the Theatre Colonnade, Haymarket. We cannot feel surprised at that anxiety. A Pricia One Guinea and One Guinea and a half each, young girl, well educated, and evincing marvellous courage and self-possession, stood charged with the most atrocious offence provided for by law, and, if convicted, she must have suffered a painful and ignominious death. She was charged with having treacherously administered poison to one to whom but the preceding day she had written in the most endearing terms, whom she had once loved and admitted to all the privileges of a husband. The mystery in which the affair was involved, the doubts that were entertained on every side, worked up the excitement to fever heat, so that the case, which was contested by the ablest members of the profession, promises to remain one of the most prominent among the causes celebres of all civilised nations. The facts lay in a narrow compass. PIERRE EMILS L'Aerommt, a Frenchman employed as clerk or packer in a very respectable house in Glasgow, was fund about 2 o'clock in the morning of Monday the 23d of March, suffering under all the symptoms that might attend a violent attack of cholera, or the administration of a large dose of irritant poison. He was so prostrated as to be unable to open the door of his lodgings, although he had obtained the pass key to admit himself without: disturbing the other residents. For some time he refused medical assistance, but eventually consented to see a medical practitioner. A few hours, however, terminated his career, and subsequent investigations proved, beyond the possibility of doubt, that he died from the effects of an enormous dose of arsenic sufficient to have destroyed twenty lives. The important question then arose, by whom had that poison been administered—was it a case of suicide, or of wilful and deliberate murder. It could scarcely have been an accident ; the quantity taken, some 180 or 200 grains-4 of which would have been sufficient to destroy life, excluding that supposition. Every clue was, of course, eagerly sought after, and it was discovered that he had been carrying on a correspondence with a young lady, who might have had a motive for removing him. A letter was found in his pocket making an appointment with him for the Saturday evening. This, according to his own statements, had induced him to come back from the Bridge of Allan, where he had been staying for his health, and he had also been seen going in the direction of the residence of the young lady. These were strong circumstances, and, in addition, a voluminous correspondenee was discovered, which proved that the deceased bad seduced this unfortunate young lady, and, in the most heartless and cruel manner, had used the letters she had written, as instruments of coercion, t 3 compel her to continue the illicit intercourse, and to refuse the honourable engagement which had been proffered by a gentleman and a man of honour. No punishment could be too great for the vainglorious and dastardly scoundrel who made such atrocious use of the power he had obtained over one far beyond himself in rank and position. But this, although a matter to excite sympathy in her behalf, could not have justified her conduct if she had really caused his death. Her dreadful fate might have excited commiseration, but the poisoner should be brought to justice, and the majesty of the law fully and completely vindicated. But was she guilty 7 Had she become the executioner of her infamous seducer? There were strong grounds of suspicion, but not the proofs that would remove every reasonable doubt, and leave no alternative to conscientious men. It is true that she had purchased poison, but she did so openly, and without disguise, gave her name, and had the fatal drug charged to her father's account ! That did not look like guilt. One who, if guilty, exhibited such extraordinary cunning, would not have been betrayed into so great an oversight. Besides, she had not obtained the poison before the day alluded to in the first count of the indictment, and ou which a verdict of Not Guilty was therefore very properly returned. She also accounted for her purchase, and it was shown that publications of the highest character— " Blackwood" and " Chambers," had stated that arsenic was used as a cosmetic, and even taken internally. Nay, more, L'ANGELIER himself was proved to have spoken of its use, and to have declared that he could take it with impunity. It was also shown that she could scarcely have seen him on the Sunday night. She had remained in company with her young and innocent sister up to half•past 10 o'clock, and then undressed and gone to bed. It was difficult to sup. pose that she could subaequeittly have met him, prepared, and administered the fatal dose ! It would require an extraordinary degree of credal lity to believe it even possible. He, too, had spoken of suicide, and the right which, as he declared, a man possessed over his own life. It was by no means impossible that having failed to see her, he might in a moment of remorse have taken the drug of which he could easily have obtained possession. His vanity, the paramount feeling of his mind, was injured, and he might have taken the dose, which was far too large to suppose it could have been given by another, without immediate detection. We yesterday gave the earliest, and, we believe an exclusive account of the result, which was appropriated by many of our contemporaries, without the slightest acknowledgement. We this day give the exact verdict. It will be seen that the Lord Justice Cierk fully concurred in the decision at which the Jury arrived. They could not have come to any other conclusion. But, as it is, the prospects of the unfortunate young woman's life are blighted, and it might have been happier for her had she been removed from a world that will always look coldly on one who had committed a serious error at the very commencement of her career, and who was suspected of the greatest crime of which a human being can be guilty. GOD help her Whatever might be the real facts of the case, she will require a sustaining power to enable her to endure the terrible consequences of the charges which the Jury truly declared to be "not proven."