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Leader (1850-1860), 24th May 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 8

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      Trial Of William Palmer. »—The First "Wi...

      Medicine , « nd Medical Officer of Health to the City of London . . Cooke's symptoms , he said , were not those resulting from poisoning by strychnine ; the reasons ne gave for this opinion were the same as those put forward by the preceding witnesses- He had no hesitation in asserting that strychnine is of all poisons the most easy to detect In cross-examination , he said : — " I am not a member of the College of Physicians or of Surgeons . 1 am not now in practice . I have been in general practice for two or three years . I gave evidence in the last case of this sort , tried in this court in 1851 . I gave evidence of the presence of arsenic . The woman . was convicted . administered within four hours

      I stated that it had been of death . I was the cause of her being respited , and the sentence was not carried into effect , in consequence of a letter 1 wrote to the Home-office . Other scientific gentlemen interfered , and challenged the soundness of my conclusions before I wrote that letter . I have not since been employed by the Crown . " The Attorney-General having asked what he attributed Cooke ' s death to , Ur . Letheby replied , " It is irreconcilable with everything with which I am acquainted . " To the further question , " Is it reconcilable with any known disease you have ever seen or heard of ?" Dr . Letheby answered , " No . Mr . R . E . Gay , member of the Royal College of Surgeons , gave the particulars of the death of a patient of his ( an omnibns driver ) from idiopathic tetanus , produced by sore-throat and catarrh , and not resulting from wounds . The symptoms were similar to those attending the death of Cooke . He had never had such another case . After this evidence had been received , the court adjourned to the following day .

      488 The Leader. [No. 322, Satubjday ^ ¦ ...

      488 THE LEADER . [ No . 322 , Satubjday ^ ¦ " ' _ .. * * —_^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^™**^^^»

      Mr. Henry Mayhew Has Written To The Dail...

      Mr . Henry Mayhew has written to the daily papers to contradict the assertions of Dr . Taylor in connexion with himself . He says that , at the close of his first interview with that gentleman , he asked for , and obtained , permission to publish the results of the conversation ; that not a line of the matter struck out by Dr . Taylor from the proof was published ; and that , by a letter from that gentleman , dated January 30 th , 1856 , further authority for the publication of the substance of the conversation is given . A letter confirming these statements , and written by Mr . Sutherland Edwards , who was present at the interview , is appended by Mr . Mayhew . Mr . Edwards asserts that Dr . Taylor not merely sanctioned the publication of the details in question , but even requested that they should be put forth , for the sake oj correcting aome mis-stateraents which had been made .

      Metropolitan Protests Against Puritanism...

      METROPOLITAN PROTESTS AGAINST PURITANISM . Loitdon is beginning to stir against the tyrannical suppression of the Sunday bands in the parks . A meeting of the inhabitants of St . Pancras was held on Monday in the Vestry Hall , when Mr . W . D . Cooper having been voted to the chair , a letter from Mr . Dickens , declining to attend , was read . It ran thus : — " Gentlemen , —I have received a letter signed by you ( which I assume to be written mainly on behalf of what are called woikuig men and their families ) inviting me to attend a meeting in our parish Vestry Hall this evening , on the stoppage of the Sunday bands in the parks . I thoroughly agree with you that those bands have afforded an innocent and healthful enjoyment on the Sunday afternoon to which the people have a right . But

      I think it essential that the working people should of themselves , and by themselves , assert that right . They have been informed on the high authority of their first minister ( lately rather in want of House of Commons votes , I am told ) that they are almost indifferent to it . The correction of that mistake—if official omniscience can be mistaken—lies with themselves . In case it should be considered by the meeting ( which I prefer for this reason not to attend ) expedient to unite with other metropolitan parishes in forming a fund for the payment of ouch expenses as may be incurred in peaceably and numerously representing to the governing powers that the harmless recreation they have taken away is very much wanted , I beg 3-011 to put my name down as a subscriber often pounds , and I am your faithful servant , " " Charles Dickkns . "

      Sir Benjamin Hall , having entered the room , was received with loud cheers . Addressing the meeting at Bomo length , lie said ho was informed that the decision which had been come to was in consequence of memorials addressed to the House of Commons , and petitions to the Crown . He did not wish to find fault with the manner in 'which petitions were got up , but he did feel justified in stating what some of these petitions and memorials contained . ( Ilear , hear . " ) The prayer of the memorialists was not only that museums and other such

      places should remain closed , but t hey desired also that all Btaam-boats should cease to ply on the Sunday . ( " JVb , " and " Hear , hear" ) He would say and prove that such was the fact ; and not only this , but all trains were Ut ceafte to issue from the stations—nay , more , the gates of the parks were to bo closed on the Sunday . C * Shame T' and " JVb . " ) Some persona might say no , because they did not like to hear * uch things ; but in a fow dtayrf , by an order of the House , these petitions would be printed . ( Tife & r , hear . ) But -would the dissentients

      believe that some went so far as -to pray that instructions should be sent to all foreign ministers to use their exertions to get the Sabbath , in the countries where they resided , similarly observed . The only conclusion that he ( Sir Benjamin Hall ) could come to was , that the petitioners were not aware of the absurdities they were signing . Some time ago , a deputation had waited upon him , and stated that no carriages should enter the parks . More , one gentleman , a City Missionary , considered skating in the parks as most improper . ( "Z / ear , " and laughter . ) The whole number of persons whose labour was required for the amusement of the vast multitude in the parks on Sunday week was only twenty-five . Why did not Mr . Baines write down the Sunday trains which issued from Leeds ? Simply because he dare not . ( Cheers . )

      As we were told what we should not do , he should like some one to issue a pamphlet written by Lord Robert Grosvenor , Lord Blandford , and Arthur Kinnaird , and entitled , " How to keep the Sabbath . " ( Cheers . ) But what ¦ would the people say when he told them that a compromise was proposed—that he had been actually told that , had he been contented with Kensington Gardens , he would not have been interfered with ? What would his constituents have said had he been so hypocritical as to affirm that that was right in Kensington Gardens which was wrong in Victoria and Regent ' s Parks ? ( Hear , hear . ) Those who went to Kensington Gardens had music in their own homes . ( Hear , hear . ) It was bis duty , as a representative of the people , and as a minister of the Crown , to see that all classes were equally

      dealt with . Resolutions expressing accordance with the objects of the meeting , appointing a deputation to wait 011 Lord Palmerston , and thanking Sir Benjamin Hall for his " enlightened and straightforward conduct , " were unanimously agreed to , and the meeting separated . A meeting of the inhabitants of Westminster took place on Tuesday evening , under the presidency of Sir J . V . Shelley , M . P ., in the Great Hall , Broadway , when , after some feeble opposition from a small minority , resolutions , condemnatory of the late suppression , and in favour of organization to assert the people ' s rights , were carried .

      Another very successful meeting took place in Marylebone on Wednesday evening . Sir Benjamin Hall was present , and addressed the auditory . He was loudly cheered .

      Continental Notes. . France. Skrious Rep...

      CONTINENTAL NOTES . . FRANCE . Skrious reports are in circulation in Paris , to the effect that the Empress is in very bad health , and has by no means recovered from her confinement . It is also said that the Prince Imperial shows signs of blindness ; but this is doubtful . Prince Oscar of Sweden arrived at Paris on Monday evening . Baron de Brunow has presented to the Emperor a letter from the Emperor of Russia , which accredits him on an extraordinary mission to his Imperial Majesty . Great inundations have occurred in France , owing to an unusual rise of the waters of the Seine , the Rhone , and the Saone . It is feared that the young crops will be greatly injured . I A proposition , originating with M . Charles Dupin , is before the French Senate , providing for the erection in Paris of an immense column , surmounted by a statue of the Emperor , as a memorial to the army of the East . Excursion trips to St , Petersburg , at 125 francs per head , are being organized at Paris . A suggestion has been made for uniting the forests of Versailles and St . Germain , with a view to making one enormous wood for hunting . A new political editor has lately been appointed to the Constitutionnel , the foreign policy of which , with respect to Italy , has become more in accordance with that of the Government .

      AUSTRIA . The promotion of Baron de Htibner to the rank of Austrian Ambassador at Paris , and the bestowal of the same honour upon Baron de Bourqueney , the French representative at Vienna , is looked upou as a sign of extraordinary good-will between the respective courts . An Ambassador is supposed to represent the person of the sovereign himself , rather than of hia government , and may therefore communicate immediately with the monarch to whom lie is accredited , instead of with the Minister for Foreign Affairs , as in the case of inferior diplomatic representatives . Since 1848 , Austria has resolved to send no more Ambassadors in full to any court ; but she has made an exception in favour of Franco .

      The Ecclesiastical Courts of the Austrian Empire have just issued various instructions with respect to the matrimoniul law , by which it is made still more apparent that tliu Church is fully privileged to override the temporal power whenever it pleases . These are some of the rules : — " Paragraph 22 . —If non-Catholic Christiana are of opinion that the matrimonial tie can bo severed , the Church may pity them , but she cannot permit their erroneous belief to contaminate the ennctity of her law

      ( at error legin sum * anctitatem contaminet ) . No matrimonial tie can be formed between a Catholic and a non-Catholic Christian whose husband or wife is alive , even though the Court ¦ which has to decide in matters connected with the marriages of non-Catholics shall have pronounced the dissolution of the matrimonial tie . " Paragraph 66 . —The Church abhors ( Eccleria detetr tatur ) marriages between Christians and those who have renounced Christianity , and she disapproves ( improbat ) of marriages between Catholic and non-Catholic Christians , and dissuades ( dehortatur ) her children from eatering into them . _

      " Paragraph 67 . —If there be reason to suspect that there is any impediment in the way of persons - wishing to . marry , or if there be reason to fear that their marriage would lead to great disputes or give public offence ( nuptias magnis litibus vel scandalis ) , or be the cause of mischief to others , the Bishops have the right , and are even under the obligation , to prohibit the celebration of the marriage . Until the prohibition has been removed the celebration of the marriage is illegal ( illicitum ) J ' Persons within the fourth , or a still nearer , degree of relationship , " whether in a direct or in a side line , " are to be debarred from intermarriage ; but it seems the Pope has power to set aside this rule when it suits hia Infallibility , for he has just given his consent to the marriage of an uucle with his niece .

      A new police ordinance against swearing is about to make its appearance . The tariff is fixed at fifty scudi for swearing by the Virgin , and twenty-five scudi for irreverently using the name of " any other saint . " The promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception has had its natural and legitimate result in a great increase—not of graces , but—of blasphemous and revolting conversation among the lower orders of Vienna . The statement that the Archduke Ferdinand Max has received instructions from the Emperor , his brother , to inform Louis Napoleon that he consents to the removal of the remains of the Duke de Reichstadt to Paris , is denied .

      ITALY . It is stated that a Congress of Italian Princes is to assemble at Rome to concert on the measures most suitable to be adopted in order to permit in the States of the peninsula a freer political development , while at the same time repressing all revolutionary elements . The Government of Naples , according to a report from Berlin , Las sent a protest to the Great Powers against the initiative taken by Count Cavour in mooting the Italian question in the Congress of Paris . The health of the Pope is very bad . Symptoms of dropsy become every day more and more apparent .

      The smouldering anarchy which military despotism but partially stifles through the greater part of the Italian peninsula , 6 hows no sign of extinction , but seems rather to burn with the greater fierceness , for lack of opportunity to burst forth . Assassination is rife in Parma , being in no degree checked by the state of siege , or by the presence of " orderly" Austrian ba 3 'oneta ; and Lombardy has been thrown into a state of ferment by the brave and energetic words of the Sardinian Plenipotentiaries in their protest presented to the Paris Congress . Nevertheless , it is said that Marshal Radetzky and his Generals do not apprehend any disturbances in the Austro-Italian provinces . Time will show . The Times correspondent at Parnaa says that

      the Austrians have complete command in the capital of that little duchy . The Austrian General , Count . dc Crenneville , has allowed the Duchess to institute a Council of War , composed of Parmesan oflicers , for the trial of the " offenders ; " but the auditor of the Council is an Austrian , who alone is entrusted with the prosecution , the visiting of the prisons , and the questioning of the prisoners . " The persons arrested belong chiefly to the working classes . When one of them is arrested , the shop in which he works is also immediately shut up , and thus whole families are punished on a simp le ground of suspicion against an individual member , and should immediatel

      any kind-hearted friend offer relief , he is y arrested and thrown into prison for having shown kyhipathy for a suspected person . The arrest of fifty young men who have been sent off under an escort to Mantua has aroused public indignation to an extraordinary pitch . The Austrian authorities themselves own that the only cause of their arrest was that they wore known to entertain political principles not fully conformable to those entertained by the Government of Purmn . Ah ° Austriun General said that they would not be brougut to trial , but simply bo locked up in the fortress ot Mantua until they had given evident proofs of a return to hetter sentimenta towards their legitimate

      Government . Some of these unfortunate young men were arrested by mistake , and , on a representation to this clloct being made , the Austrian General replied that ho wis sorry for it , but ho could not release them , as it wouiu bo dangerous to admit that the authorities could comnui an error . " . . Side by side with thoae malignant tyrannioa , v « «« " »* of Austria in the new character of a refonnor— and ni Italian reformer . "It is credibly atatcd , nays «> ° Times Vienna correspondent , " that the Ironcli ana Austrian Governments have agreed to prolong tho occupation of the Papal dominions , but it ia an undoainj w fact that tho two great Catholjc Powers h » vo franUiy

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 24, 1856, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24051856/page/8/