The Sun. — 1856-04-02 (London, England)

CURIOUS SPECULATION.  The Dublin Yation contains a currious article, in which the writer declares his deliberate conviction that there exist reason. of a reliable character for beli, ving that Mr John Sadleir has not committed suicide, but has simply leeti playing the trick, so well known both in hi.tory anal romance. of a pretended death and a suppogiti.us corpse. The follqwing may he cited as the grounds on which the writer bases his scepticism as to John Sadleir's suicide :  1. While the dates of the letters written by Mr. Sadleir to his friends Chow that he meditated suicide a full week before he is tipposerl to have effected it, he was -tti%ing all that week to net in money from every source, aid did receive large sums—some on the day of his death—not a farthirg of which has been traced or accounted for. At the very brink of the grave, it is urged, when money ought naturally to ceasa to be valuable in his ryes, he was as intent as ever on acquiring if. 2. In P-ris and Po- hi:pique's " Medical Jurispru• deuce " it is laid down as a general rule that the more sudden the death the longer is cadaverous stiffness from taking place ; and it is further stated, as to causes of sudden death, "If a body in such cases be cold and stiff we may be certain that more than 12 hours have elapsed since the fatal event." The evidence at the inquest showed that in any case Mr. Sadleir could not have reached Hampstead before 12 o'clock, at the earliest, and might not have reached it before half past 1, at the latest ; and, supposing him to have really committed suicide, that event would have taken place at the earliest at half-past 12 o'clock, and at the latest—say, 2 o'clock At a quarter before 9in the morning Police man S 323 found the body at Hampstead "quite cold and stiff." Mr. Nichol), surgeon, gave similar evidence. 3. Doubtful identification of deceased—John Sadleir's body was removed, says the article, to the Hampstead workhouse, without having been examined by any competent person. I•s sworn identification before the jury was, extraordinary to relate, not by any of the relatives, though they were in town, but by a person named Elwyn, who had been in Sadleir's employment but 18 months. The body was not identified by him by marks • • peculiarities of structure. One passage in the evidence of Mr. Norris, the solicitor, showed, moreover, of what extremely little value was Elwyn's evidence in this particular ; for while the latter states that "he had not observed any change in his master during the last month or two," and that his master's " manner on Saturday was the same as usual." the jury are, on the contrary,  _ informed by Mr. Norris that Mr. Sadleir " latterly appeared haggard," and that "he noticed an extraordinary change in his appearance during the last week," and especially on Saturday, &c. As to the identification of the body, it may, in addition, be not undeserving of remark that the reports in the public press speak of a change in the features of the deceased, and of his looking older than be really was. 4. In the work of Dr. Taylor, the toxicologist, which Sadleir, it is stated, had been perusing on the day of his death, is the discussion of a question as to whether dark hair can be artificially changed to light, and his account of sundry washes of recent invention which effectual), produce the result. Most important, it is remarked, in connexion with this fact, is the evidence of Elwyn, who deposed to the jury—" Mr. Sadleir had previous'y that evening asked him to clean two bottles, and place them on the sideboard, which he did. He (witness) did not know that it was poison he h.d to get at Mr. Maitland's. He thought it, was some.ingredient in a bairwash which his master was going to mix in the two bottles which had been placed on the sideboard." A man who had just po.ted letters etatingbis intention to commit suicide, who had sent out for poison, who was racked with the burden of frauds, forgeries, tottering banks and railways, was engaged as a prelude to his extraordinary end, in pre• paring a bairwash. 5. The place where the body was found.—Why should Sadleir, intending to make away with himself by poison instantaneous in its effects, trudge out to Hampstead heath, in the middle of the night, for the purpose, first putting into his pocket a piece of paper to tell his name ? A very intelligible purpose is suggested by the following head of inquiry, extracted from a long list of such from the second volume of "Paris and Fonblanque's Medical Jurisprudence" : " Whether the spot in question he of a description to explain the cause of the deceased having been found there, or bow far its retired situation excites the suspicion that the body bad been conveyed for concealment or some other purpose." The article concludes with a remark upon the excessive ease with which a body for the nonce could be procured -among the 2i millions oftlie populatitrid of Lon• don.