Year: 1866

IL
of citizens are standing together in the mar
ket place of the old Belgian town of An
twerp. and around a large building which
appears to possess for them some extraordi-
nary attraction. The building is the town
hall, and the day is the day of the trial of
Leopold Winter and Charlotte Lutzen, for
the murder of Maria, Countess Estevan, by
poison.


1t will 90 hard with the miscreants, L
warrant me-" says a stout burgher, In the
centre of the group, by which he seems
reckoned a parsonage of vast importance (;
and rightly enough too, say, for we want
no poisoning conjurers in this fair city, neigh
bors."


Yo1 are in the right of it, Master Van
Noorden, replied another wiseacre, and the
mob, easily swayed, murmured their assent


81 would | had the basting of that old
witch, " shrily exclaimed stout rosy cheek
ed dame, with pair of large ear rings sau-
ely displayed g [ would not let them lack
basting l know"


A sally of laughter greeted this pretty
display of woman's spite, and loud hearty
voice cried out:


"Ay, trust woman to run woman
down if she be in trouble. They say wolves
viii eat a wounded comrade but, for my
own part, I think the spite of wild beasts is
nothing to the spite of woman against wo-
man"


The dame who had spoken turned angrily
towards the last bold speaker, and he would
mayhap have come off with a scratched face,
but for loud shout from that part of the
crowd nearest the hall, which signifed that
the trial was over.


The sentence! the sentence! Are they
guilty?' cried a thousand voices


Eyes, yes, guilty -


And the sentence p


The man to be burnt alive; the woman
to be confined for life. 4"


"Hurrah hurrahl' ~ and the air rang
with a cheer from the whole of the vast null
titude, which speedily turned to a storm of
Kisses and groans as the unfortunate CON
demned issued from the door of the iudg-
ment hall, strongly guarded


The trial had been short, but the evidence
was supposed conclusive


This is what had passed.


The respected Dr. Fruchen had testified
that he had been called in suddenly on the
last day of July to attend lady who was
taken III. and was at the house of the male
prisoner He had inquired for suitable
nurse for her, and was exceedingly struck by
the readiness with which the female prisoner
volunteered to fill that situation. He had
sent in two draughts, being simply ano-
dynes, but quite harmless after taking one
of which the unfortunate lady was found
dead. That she had taken the dose there
was no doubt, as the almost empty bottle
was found with but few drops left in it,
which when tested by himself, Herr Fruch-
en-, were found to contain aquafortis. The
| second bottle, with its contents untouched,
was also found to contain the same poison
From this it was inferred, that, had the first
not taken effect, the murderers intended to
administer a second Dose Perhaps, )"
added the doctor, as there could be little
doubt that the first draught would prove
fatal, the second might have been intended
for Don Estevan."


1t was distinctly proved that the sole in
habitants of the house where the alleged
murder took place, besides the luckless cou-
pie, were Leopold Winter and Charlotte
Lutzen; and the quantity of gold contained
in the valises Of both the unfortunate lady
and gentleman supplied ample motive for
their murder by q man so well known to be
avaricious and misery as Winter.


The latter was singular character, but
one common enough in the age in which
these events happened. He was half sci
entifc investigator and half an impostor.
He studied nature and imposed upon man,
fancying that his superior knowledge gave
him the right to deceive his fellow creatures.
By those who lived near him, or came in
contact with him, he was looked upon with
some respect and good deal of dread. He
was known everywhere as a necromancer-
as one who dealt with awful mysteries for
awful purposes. His manner, his dress, his
gloomy house, his laboratory, the curious
animals from far off countries with which
he surrounded himself, his cultivation of
strange plants, were, in the minds of the
vulgar, only so many proofs of his dealing
with the power of darkness.


On the night of the murder the necro-
mancer had, by his own admission, aqua
fortis in his possession. Further, he con-
fessed that, contrary to his usual habit, he
sat up all the night In the morning the
aquafortis was missing, and both the bottles
destined for the unfortunate lady were prov
en- to have contained it. Then the female
prisoner admitted that twice during the
night she went into the laboratory to her