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    been grossly incorrect . The following are its leading conditions : — " 1 . The pacification of Holstein by Austrian troops will not take place . A Prussian and an Austrian commissioner will meet two commissioners appointed respectively by Denmark and Holstein for the purpose of effecting a peace between Denmark and the Duchies . The first principles of this peace are—that the authority of the Sovereign shall be restored ; that Holstein shall remain part of the Germanic Confederation ; and that Schleswig shall not be incorporated with Denmark , but on the contrary , it shall remain in its former union with Holstein . All other disputable points are left to the * Free Conferences . ' If the Stadtholders should refuse to make peace on these terms , Holstein will be occupied by a corps of Austrian troops , acting in the name , not of the Frankfort Diet , but of Austria and Prussia .

    " 2 . The Hessian question will be settled by the evacuation of Hesse , by both the Austrian and Prussian troops It will be left to the Elector to come to terms with the Assembly of Estates , and thus to restore the legal state of his country . If an . understanding cannot be effected in this way , the country will be occupied by Austrian troops acting as the Elector ' s auxiliaries ( that is to say , not as Federal troops ) , in the same manner as Prussian forces at one time acted for the Grand Duke of Baden ; and in this case the mediation will be undertaken by a Prussian and an Austrian commissioner .

    " 3 . In the question of the German Constitution it has been agreed that Austria and Prussia shall act on a footing of perfect equality . The Free Conferences will create a central organ , which is to be composed of the former votes of the lesser Confederation ; and the federal pact shall be subjected to a revision . The executive power in this Confederation will belong to Austria and Prussia alone . Austria reserves its declaration as to which of its provinces will enter this new Confederation , in which there will be no popular representation . With respect to article 11 th of the federal pact , which provides that for such purposes the assent of the central power shall be indispensable , the states will be authorized to form , separate leagues .

    * ' 4 . All the German States are to take part in the Free Conferences , which will be opened at Dresden in the course of this very month . " 5 . The Prussian army , as well as the Federal troops , will for the present remain on a war footing . " 6 . The transactions of the Federal Diet will cease . The Federal Diet has no vote on any of the above questions . " The latest accounts from Berlin affirm that the reduction of the army had been decreed . Letters from Frankfort state that the Austrian troops occupied Marburg , where they commanded the railroad from Frankfort to Cassel , and that they continued to advance .

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    THE EXTRAORDINARY POISONING CASE . The trial of Father Gothland and Madame du Sablon , for administering poison to the priest ' s housekeeper was brought to a close on Thursday week . Throughotit the whole trial the most intense interest prevailed in the town of Angouleme . The court was crowded to excess by the eminent persons of the city and neighbourhood , and of Bordeaux , Perigueux , Cognac , and Poitiers . Strangers had flocked to the town in shoals , and the hotels were entirely full . Vast crowds assembled in the streets to see the

    accused pass to and from the court , and a strong military force was required to form a passage for them . In passing to the court Madame du Sablon ¦ was supported on the arm of her husband , and was accompanied by some relatives and friends , among whom were several ladies . Gothland leaned on the arms of two of his parishioners of St . Germain , his parish , in which the alleged crime was committed , and was surrounded by others . Out of doors the people hissed and hooted the accused , and on one occasion several persons were arrested .

    The evidence as to the character of Gothland was very complete . While in prison he was said to have told a man named Dubois that one day when he was drunk he was called on to administer the Sacrament to a dying woman , but in staggering along he had lost le bon T ) ieu ( the consecrated wafer ) . He , however , made , he said , the usual signs over the dying person , and she believed that " she had swallowed le bon Dicu ! " Another prisoner , who was confined for having taken part in a duel , gave an account of some conversations with Gothland , in which the latter luul said "ho would run away with Madame du Sablon , as she had a good fortune and ho had none . " On another occasion he said he did not

    because she had discovered and revealed the secret of his adulterous connection with Madame du Sablon ; and that the female prisoner had supplied the poison , and assisted in the perpetration of the

    . M . Georgeon , advocate of the accused Gothland , then proceeded to address the jury . He maintained that it had not been proved that any adultery had been committed , and , consequently , that the accused could have had no reason to poison the deceased . He laboured to prove that all the imputations that had been cast upon Gothland were unfounded , and that his liaison with Madame Allier , on which such stress had been laid to prove the immorality of his character , was a perfectly innocent one . He argued that the deceased had spread the reports of an adulterous connection between Gothland and Madame du Sablon to avenge herself for having been dismissed from his service ; and that all that she had said on the subject was an odious calumny .

    The jury , after two hours' deliberation , found Father Gothland guilty of the charge of having committed murder by poison , with extenuating circumstances , and he has been condemned to the galleys for life . Madame du Sablon was acquitted . What the " circonstances attenuantes" in this revolting case are , it would be impossible for any simple mind to find out . Father Gothland , fearing to be discovered in an intrigue "with a married woman , deliberately poisons his old housekeeper , who had detected his guilt . According to the evidence of

    medical men the woman must have been poisoned by repeated doses . It was the priest himself who attended upon her , who prescribed for her , and also administered the doses—nay , it was he , who , with horrible sacrilege , affected to bestow the rites of the Church on his victim . If ever murder was attended with circumstances of diabolical aggravation it was this—nor can it be allowed that the jury did not know it—why they admitted mitigating circumstances can only be explained by the fear they probably felt at handing an ecclesiastic over to the public executioner .

    cure much about his gown ; ho would throw it aside if ho could find a wealthy woman like Madame du Sablon . When told that Dr . du Sablon had attempted suicide , "Ah ! " said he , "hois Buch an old ass . " The Jugc do Paix , ofthc canton of Monthron , stated that the Cure Bissette had been removed from the parish of St . Gormain in consequence of a criminal connection with Madame du Sablon . It was also given out that Madame du Sablon had written an improper letter to a young man , named Puvignon , and had sent him a book of indecent songs .

    The 1 . rocuvour of the Republic then entered into in elaborate examination of the circumstances of the jasc , and contended that it was clearly proved that ihe deceased had died from poison administered on mccessivo days ; that Gothland had poisoned hex

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    found that the girl had the marks of severe beating on her back and shoulders , that her bones were almost coming through her skin , and that she could not hold herself upright from weakness . At first she appeared to improve under the care of the laundress , but although the latter gave her very little food , it seemed too much for her weak stomach . It was then thought advisable to call in medical aid , and , accordingly , Dr . Marsden , surgeon to the Royal Free Hospital , saw her on Monday week , at Mr . Phillimore ' s request . She was then in a most exhausted condition . The pulse scarcely perceptible , and the extremities very cold and livid . The

    respiration was feeble , and she was almost unable to speak , indeed it was with difficulty that he got her to answer his questions at all . Having made a careful examination of 'her , he came to the conclusio n that there was no disease in existence . It was a case resulting entirely from want of sufficient food for many months , otherwise the girl never could have been in such an attenuated and low condition as she then was . He ordered some light and nutritious food to be given in very moderate quantities , and advised her immediate removal to some hospital . She was taken to the Royal Free Hospital in the Gray ' s-innroad on the following morning , and under the very careful attendance and care bestowed on her she

    appears to have rallied and to be xn a fair way of recovery . Dr . Marsden felt satisfied , however , that , but for the interference of Mr . Phillimore , the poor girl must have died . Owing to the want of food and warmth she could not have existed many days longer . He had been in the constant habit , during the last twenty years , of seeing cases of extreme distress , in many of which the parties had died a , few hours after their admission into the hospital , but he had never seen a case at all approaching the appearance presented by that girl . He could not have believed that a person could be so reduced and live .

    After the evidence against Mr . Sloane had been heard , the girl was brought inta court . She was placed in an easy chair , and supported on pillows , and during the whole course of her examination it was almost impossible to perceive that she was living , but for the motion of her eyes and lips . She was placed by the side of the presiding alderman , who had to put his ear close to her mouth to catch the feeble accents which she uttered "with great difficulty and at long intervals . Having repeated the form of

    oath and kissed the book , which was placed to her lips , she commenced her truly heartrending tale , the like of which , perhaps , was never heard , even in a court of justice . It will be necessary to state that her replies to the questions asked only reached the ear of the alderman , who stooped over her for that purpose , and he in turn repeated them to Mr . Wood , the chief clerk , in a loud voice , that the reporters might hear . We give her statement precisely in her own words as it reached the court .

    ATROCIOUS CRUELTY TO A SERVANT . One of the most atrocious cases of systematic illtreatment of a servant by her master and mistress we have heard of for many years was brought before Alderman Humphrey , at the Guildhall , on Saturday . Some days previous an application had been made for a summons against a Mr . George Sloane , a special pleader , residing in Pump-court , Temple , for sundry assaults , and a series of wilful and premeditated acts of cruelty towards a female servant in his employ . It appeared from the statement then made , that Mr . Sloane had in his service a girl named Jane Wilbred ,

    whom he procured about two years ago , from the West London Union . During the first five or six months the girl was treated with tolerable kindness ; but after that period a system of the most revolting cruelty was resorted to , the particulars of which almost exceed credibility . By these means she was reduced to a perfect skeleton , and almost unable to walk . While in that state she was noticed by two gentlemen who occupied chambers in the same house , named respectively Phillimore and Fry . Through the instrumentality of these gentlemen she was removed from Mr . Sloane ' s care , and a medical man

    was called in , who thought her life in such danger from the treatment she had undergone , that he directed her immediate removal to the Royal Free Hospital , and took steps , in conjunction with Mr . Phillimore and Mr . Fry , to bring the case under the cognizance of the civil magistrates . As it was uncertain when the girl , Jane Wilbred , would be able to bear an examination , it was not known when the case would come on ; but , nevertheless , upon the mere chance , the court was crowded to excess . The girl was brought from the hospital in a cab , and remained in the alderman's private room until called

    upon to give evidence . From the evidence of several respectable witnesses it appeared that the poor girl , who had come out of tho workhouse in good health and excellent condition , had been an object of remark and commiseration among the neighbours ever since last spring . Within the last fortnight their sympathy for her had been excited still more strongly by the look of starvation and illness which she wore . Among others Mr . F . G . Phillimore , a barrister , who lived next door to Mr . Sloane , had his attention called to the

    wretched condition of the poor girl , and from what lie heard , he , in company with Mr . Fry , another barrister living in the same place , waited upon Mr . Sloane and demanded that the girl should be delivered into his ( Mr . Phillimore ' s ) custody . This was done , after some hesitation , on the part of her master . Mr . Phillimore having sent for some food for the unfortunate creature , went to Sloane and told him that he should not have * ho girl again , but that she should bo placed under the care of the laundress until she was so far convalescent us to be enabled to

    return to the union . Mr . hloane made some objection to this proceeding , but at length gave way and left tho room directly after . Tho laundress having taken the girl under her care , took her home , washed her , and put her to bed . On examining her sho

    " Jane Wilbred said : I am going on for eighteen . I recollect being in the West London Union . On the 19 th . of July , going on for two years ago , I left it to go to Mr . Sloane ' s . I recollect that Mrs . Slo-ane came to the union for me . Mrs . Sloane agreed to take me into her service . I never received any wages . Mr . Parker , the governor of the West London Union , went with me to Mrs . Sloane ' s . It was at 6 , Pump-court , Temple . Where I went to I did all the work . I had none of the cooking to do . I had to clean the offices , make the beds , run of errands , and also to wash the clothes belonging to Mr . and Mrs . Sloane , and those of a young lady living with Mr . Sloane , as well as my own . I had to wash generally once a-week , but sometimes once a fortnight . I had

    only one bed to make , for the young lady used to take a sofa into one of the sitting rooms and sleep there . She was living there all the time I was in Mr . Sloane ' s service . I had my bed-room . It was a little room between the young lady ' s and that of Mr . Sloane . I had to sleep on a rnattrass placed on a bedstead . There were clothes upon it . At first they treated me very well ; but after three months they took away the pillow , and I had to use my own clothes instead . At first I had a blanket , counterpane , and sheet ; but they took away the blanket , and I had only the sheet and counterpane . It was Mrs . Sloane did this . " Mr . Clarkson said it was quite clear that the defendant had nothing to do with it , and that evidence ought not to be taken against him .

    " The Alderman thought otherwise , Mrs . Sloane was supposed to act under his guidance * therefore defendant was answerable for her conduct . " Jane Wilbred continued : I used to get bread-anddripping and coffee for breakfast , and meat and potatoes for dinner , and also tea and bread-and-butter in the evening . That was only at first . A few months afterwards they gave me only a little bit of bread and mustard for breakfast , with coffee and carraway seeds . It was often eleven and twelve , and sometimes one o ' clock in the day before I got even that , and I never had anything before six clock

    that time , though I rose to my work as early as o in the morning . There was a cupboard where they kept the bread . I never could get to it , but if I could find pieces of bread left out I used to eat them . I had only for my dinner a little bread and broth with a quantity of mustard in it . When there was not mustard they gave popper in such quantities that it used to burn my mouth ' The last time I had meat was about a month before Mr . Phillimore saw me ; then I had a little beef , but not nearly so much as I could eat . It was generally six oraeven o ' clock in the evening before ever I got any dinner ; sometimes before and sometimes after Mr . and Mrs .

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    892 &f > $ litaXttt . [ Saturday , . , - ... ' ¦¦ ' ¦¦• - ¦ -- - ¦ 11 ¦ i - ii

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 14, 1850, page 892, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1862/page/4/