HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1909-11-11, Page 4ijt Xisustic, o , @
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To the jildltor of The Pose ;
Dena Sta.,--In order to vary the pro-
grein somewhat I purpose giving a
Sketch of a trial that took pleee in Scot•
lead over 5o ;years ego and probably
some of the readers of Inc POST nifty
rein elnt>er Seined/111g of it,
We refer to the case or Mies Madeline
Smith, one of the must memorable
criminal'eC The principal
trials record. 1 p l p l
actors are likely to have All passed Away,
but the interest of the story remains,
The trial began in Edinburgh on June
30th t857, out of Mete which oc0uIred
two years re.At the time Miss
en s b fo t
v e
Smith made : the acquaintance of
L'Angelier, a Britisb subject, born in
Jersey, sometimes called "The foreign-
' er," and had some of the opinions of
Frenchmen of the lower middle class.
When he made the aequaintance of Miss
Smith he was acting es clerk' in Gies.
gow, The Smiths were of a mueh high.
er position than L'Angelier and they
had three servants and lived in comfort
in Blythswood Square. As soon as the
father and mother discovered' the in.
timacy between their daughter and the
young man they did their best to stop it
but with only apparent success.- The
intimacy continued and in 1856 it had
assumed a criminal aspect. In 1857 the
girl had grown tired ot her lover and had
become engaged to a Mr. Minnoch, of the
same respectable position as her parents
whose entire approval was given to the
engagement. L'Angelier had a ted
ba
nothing of his passion and when Mad-
eline tried to break off their engagement
and obtain letters which she had written
to him, he angrily refused and threaten-
ed to show the correspondence to her
father. The letters she had written
were read at the trial and were docu-
ments of a very remarkable character.
Not merely did they contain expressions
theof passionateo be
most love,but f t
most outrageous passion, When Mad-
eline foundshe was unable to recover
those letters and saw herself threatened
with exposure she feigned a revival of
her early passion for her lover - and
denied the truth of the rumor as to ber
new engagement, Thas in March they
were apparently on the best of terms.
L'Angelier believed himself loved and
had initis possession letters which prov-
ed that and a great deal more while on
the other hanMiunooh believed him-
self loved and was engaged to the girl
with the consent of her parents. Thus
everything portended a catastrophe.
L'Angelier bad been away from home
but at half past two in the morning
March 23rd, his landlady roused by a
violent ringing at her bell, found him at
the door in great physical distress. He
was taken in and put to bed and died in
a few hours of, as was speedily discover-
ed, arsenic poisoning. Twice previous-
ly within amonth of his death be bad
been ill apparently of the same nom -
plaint and on both occasions he bad
recovered. It was proved at the trial
that on three occasions. Feb. 21st and
1Vlarch T6tband Falb Madeline bad pur
chased arsenic on statements which were
admittedly false. The purchases fitted
in with the second and third attacks of
illness, though not with the first. The
flaw in the case for the Crown was that
it could not show that Madeline had seen
her Lover within the few hours before his
arrival at his lodgings, yet the poison
must have been taken within that time.
This lent some plausibility to the theory
of suicide which was urged by her
counsel. It was.suggested by the
Crown that he bad visited her at Blytbs.
wood Square on that morning or on the
Sabbath evening before bis death and
that she had given him the arsenic in
coffee or cocoa. Such meetings had
taken place on previous occasions and it
was thought probable that be had seen
her on this last occasion. Many in-
genious arguments were put forth on
ot8e side or. the other such as having
bought the arsenic for her complexion,
g t P ,
&c.
The sudden lapse into immortality of
a young woman carefully brought up
and not having shown previously the
slightest deviation from right living and
at the date of the trial' Madeline was
but 21, She was pleasant looking and it
was said she belonged to a pertain type,
of Scotswoman who have shown to all
v historydeter-
.
ages of the country's a
courage and reso-
ntfnation, coolness,
lution more than masculine. The trial
from the first excited enormous interest.
M In the judiciary court at Edinburgh on,
the'morning of June 3oth, with the fair
young woman in the dock and all the
preliminary formalities in progress, the
excitement was intense. So far the
story of the tragedy, as yet but dimly
understood, was now to be told once
and for all by the very actors in it, The
Scottish Bar at that time was about 400
this
in all,, and the counsel employed on
famous trial were in the forefront of
their profession. Naturally the interest
increased in the case day by day, not
merely throughout Scotland but
throughout the civilized world. The
trial lasted nine days finishing on July
9th. It ended in a verdict of acquittal
though on the murder charge it was
ouly "not proven" and only by a
majority of the jury. Owing to certain
formalities of Scots' procedure the con-
clusion of a criminal trial ,is somewhat
spun out and makes a severe demand ou
the a0cused's strength of mind. Mad-
`elhne. Smith however bore herself with
the same fortitude to the end and the
bright but agitated smile with Which
she received the result was her nearest
approach to emotion, .At least she did
not thrust herself forward en the public
although site had many temptations to
do so. She lived through long years
afterwards and was prosperously mar-
ried, and as' far as can be judged enjoy-
ed a useful and pleasant existence, how-
ever commonplace it might seem after.
the tragic excitement of her youth.
ff s to the eminent lawyers who took.
part in the trial Monerieff, the prosecut-
ing counsel, and Inglis, the ;