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Leader (1850-1860), 7th December 1850, Edition Country of 1, Page 5, A REMARKABLE ESCAPE FROM PRISON. A convi...

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      An Extraordinary Poisoning Cask. The Tri...

      former , commenced on Thursday week , before the Court of Assizes of the department . The case excited the most intense interest , and the court was c rowded to excess , a vast crowd assembling in the streets to see the prisoners pass from the prison . The family of the female prisoner had solicited that she should be allowed to go in a carriage , but this was refused . Madame du Sablon walked first , elegantly dressed in black , and wearing a long veil ; she leaned on her husband ' s arm , and was accompanied by her sister and brother-in-law . The cure

      walked alone , but was followed by groups of his parishioners . Both were in custody of policemen and gendarmes . They were placed side by side in the dock , and the male prisoner stated his name to be L aurent Gothland , his age twenty-nine , and his profession that of a priest . The female said that her name was Marie JLaure du Sablon , and her age thirty . Madame du Sablon ' s features were thinned by a long sickness and anxiety , but were delicately beautiful . The cure is a short thick-set man , with rather a sensual cast of face . He was dressed in plain black clothes .

      The indictment stated that the widow Deguisal died at the house of the cure of Saint Germain , on the 21 st of December , after an illness of six days . At six o'clock the next morning the cure went to the mayor to demand an authorization to bury her at once , as he said the body was in a state of putrefaction . The authorization was granted , and the cure caused the body to be interred on the same day . On his return from the ceremony he wrote to the

      deceased ' s son to say that she had died of congestion of the brain . Surprised at the sudden death and hasty burial of his mother , the son , Edmund Deguisal , suspected that there had been some foul work , and on the 28 th he communicated his suspicions to the Procureur of the Republic at Angouldme . That functionary went the next day to St . Germain , and had the body taken up . On examination by chemists arsenic was discovered , and it thus became evident that deceased had either committed suicide

      or been poisoned . But there were not the slightest grounds for supposing that she had committed suicide , and therefore the conclusion was that she had been murdered . But by whom ? Evidently only by the cure Gothland and Madame du Sablon , for they alone had approached her in the sickness of which she had died , and they alone had interest in her death . The honour of both was in her hands , she having discovered that an adulterous connection existed between them . Gothland , it appeared , had at first been curate at Semur , but had been interdicted by the Bishop of Autun , on account of immoral

      conduct . On the prayer of the superior of the seminary , the bishop consented to appoint him to the cure of Charolles ; but he there caused such scandal by his relations with a Madame Allier that he was expelled . After a while he presented himself to the Bishop of Angouleme , and having deceived that prelate as to his past conduct , was appointed by him cure of the parish of St . Germain . At St . Germain Madame du Sablon was his nearest neighbour , and they soon became very intimate . This lady was of rather light conduct , and it appeared that some time before she had sent some licentious verses to a young man of

      nineteen . A criminal connection having been established between them , it appeared that almost every day they indulged their passions at the parsonage , and besides , they constantly exchanged letters . The widow Deguisal suspected what was going on , but to convince herself she enlarged a hole which happened to be in the ceiling of the cure ' s bed-room , and placed herself in the garret above . Peeping through the hole , she distinctly saw enough to satisfy her as to the guilt of the parties . Greatly shocked , she notified to her son her intention of leaving the cure ' s service , but he told her to take no notice . After

      a while she had a quarrel with the cure , and he threatened to beat her . ' ? Take care , Monsieur le cure , " said she , ** I know something . " " " What do you know ? " cried he , " tell me . " Well , then , I know that you carry on a criminal connection with Madame du Sablon ? Through that hole I saw you !" On this the cure became calm ; he offered her money , which she refused ; and he then wrote to her son to say how pleased he was with her , and that he had encreased her wages . Whilst he was thus engaged with Madame du Sablon , he kept up his correspondence with Madame Allier at Charolles , and he protested to her that he loved her better than he did Madame du Sablon , and that he had to resist the

      advances of the latter . He once , on pretence of visiting his family , went to Charolles , and for fifteen days was secreted by Madame Allier in her house . During his absence Madame du Sablon was jealous , and opened letters which arrived for him . On the 10 th of December the widow Deguisal was suddenly seized with violent vomitings after dinner , and these continued on the following days . Madame du Sablon sent her broths and medicines from her own house ; the cure prepared her sugared wine , and sat up with hi ? r . Slie took nothing except what passed through their hands ; and during five days they kept administering poisoned food . The way in which the poison was procured was this : Dr . du Sablon had a collection of . medicines in , his house , in his professional

      capacity ; among them was a phial containing sixty grammes of arsenic ; of these fourteen had been employed in killing rats . When the phial was examined by the magistrates only twenty-five grammes remained ; consequently twenty-one were missing ; and they could , it is asserted , only have been taken by the female prisoner , as she alone had the key of the chest in which her husband kept the poison . The indictment dwelt on the fact that the accused had the strongest possible interest in getting rid of the deceased , inasmuch as a word from her would have caused the former to be ignominiously expelled from the Church , and the latter to be dishonoured as a wife and mother .

      Gothland , in reply to the questions put to him , maintained that he had not been dismissed from Semur and Charolles on account of ill-conduct , but because he had from different causes excited the illwill of the cure , to whom he was assistant . He attempted to explain away his intimate relations with . Madame Allier by stating that they were of a mere friendly kind , such as she maintained with fifteen or twenty other priests . He also observed that her age was forty-eight when he first knew her , and fifty-three now ; but his letters to her , of which several were read , were decidedly of an amatory character . He gave a gen er al denial to the charge of having been too intimate with Madame du Sablon , and declared that he had refused little presents which she had wished to make him . He said that he had

      resolved to dismiss his servant on account of her violent conduct . He denies that he alone had attended her after she had become indisposed , and said she first became ill after eating the same dinner as he had done . Dr . du Sablon , on seeing her ill , recommended her to take tea , and he sent her some drops of laudanum . He admitted having given her some sugared wine . He said that just before she died he heard her pronounce the holy names of Jesus and of Mary , that that was a great consolation to him , and that he immediately administered the sacraments . " He added that Madame du Sablon and her husband had come to the bed-side of the deceased .

      Madame du Sablon , in answer to the judge ' s questions , said : —She had been married eleven years , and had a son . She admitted that she had sent some songs to a young man , and also that she had known the cure Bissette , the predecessor of Gothland . She had visited the latter sometimes , but never alone . Had never been at parties with him . On the arrival of Gothland , her husband forbade her ever to enter his house ; but that did not cause her to reflect on the causes for which Bissette had left the parish ; neither did she know for what cause he had left . Although her husband had forbidden her to visit Gothland , she had taken him for her confessor . She had gone to the parsonage when the cure ' s servant was ill , but on other occasions had always been accompanied by her

      husband . It was not true that she had opened any letter of Gothland ' s ; as to the little presents which had been referred to , she had sent them with the knowledge of her husband . She did not know that her husband had arsenic in his possession . He did not leave his keys with her , though he sometimes left her medicines to be distributed to his patients . She had , however , seen a phial containing arsenic . It was her servant , not she herself , who waited on and prepared things for the deceased . When Dr . du Sablon heard that his wife was accused of the double crime of murder and adultery , he proposed that both should commit suicide , and that their child should be made to die with them . They all three fastened themselves in a room with pans of charcoal , and would have died , had not the husband's courage failed him on seeing his son struggling in the agonies of death . The case was proceeding on Monday when the report came away .

      Dec. 7, 1850-] ©|> $ &£Gjr$T+ 869

      Dec . 7 , 1850- ] ©|> $ & £ gjr $ t + 869

      Address Of The Committee Of Observation ...

      ADDRESS OF THE COMMITTEE OF OBSERVATION OF THE NATIONAL CHARTER AND SOCIAL REFORM UNION . To the People op Giieat Britain and Ireland . Fkiends , —Most of you are aware of the fact of the Executive of the Chartist body having , in conjunction with the leaders of the Chartists generally , called together a Conference to discuss whether a fusion of the Democratic bodies was advisable , and , if so , to devise measures to bring about so desirable a confirmation .

      That Conference , composed of equal portions of the various London Chartists and Social Reform bodies , with a delegation from the "United Trades , and a number of invited friends of standing in the Democratic cause , have met , and have decided that it is most desirable this fusion should be at once attempted . The Conference observed with pain that , for some unexplained reasons , those persons who have been

      loud in suggesting their own projects for union , kept cntxiely aloof from its meetings , but , conscious of the integrity of its members , and confident of the adhesion of the millions , if they did but exhibit a determination really to attempt an actual union of all classes of Democrats , the Conference have opposed all attempts that have been made to cause its dissolution , and have appointed the present Committee

      of Observation during its adjournment , until the firs ! Sunday in January , 1851 . The programme of this proposed union is now before the People of the United Kingdom , and is it the earnest hope of the Conference that during its recess all persons individually and collectively , who have the cause o : Democracy at heart , will transmit to the Committee o : Observation their sentiments and wishes on the subject , with a view to future action , and by the instruction thus received the Conference will be prepared to act .

      On one subject the Committee feels called upon to express a most decided opinion , which is , the absolute necessity of this or some other plan of union that , by a concentration of the scattered elements of Democracy , wil ] enable any Executive you may hereafter appoint to bring the united force of a compact and determined mass oj action to bear upon our present Legislature . We say , then , in conclusion , to the men of Great Britain and Ireland—now is the time for an universal

      expression of opinion . Let it no longer be said that we clamour for the possession of abstract rights , while as a body we always neglect to use and exercise those we already possess . Anxiously awaiting your addresses on the subject , We are , your faithful friends , Edward Swift , George J . Holyoake , J . I . J . Fussell , John Milne , Walter Cooper , George J . Harney , George W . M . Reynolds , Arthur Bate , Thornton Hunt , Daniel W . Ruffy , Henry A . Ivory , John Pettie , William Shute , Edmund Stall wood , George Hooper , Isaac Wilson , Robert Leblond , Charles Utting , T . Gerald Massey , John Arnott , Secretary , to whom all letters are requested to be sent , at 14 , Southampton-street , Strand , London .

      A Remarkable Escape From Prison. A Convi...

      A REMARKABLE ESCAPE FROM PRISON . A convict , named George Hacket , who has attained considerable notoriety amongst the police in the metropolis , and who succeeded in getting out of a cell at the Marlborough-street police court a short time since , contrived on Sunday evening to escape from the Model Prison at Pentonville , under circumstances which render his flight an extraordinary exploit . Hacket is the son of a streetkeeper in Dowgate ward . He commenced his career of crime by smuggling , and some dozen convictions are recorded against him at the Mansion-house and Thames police offices . He then attached himself to a gang of marauders , and the amount of depredations they

      committed was enormous . Possessing themselves of a light chaise cart and swift horses , they drove about the principal streets of the metropolis , ana their respectable appearance , along with the tradesmanlike appearance of the vehicle , disarmed all suspicion . Hacket was first discovered to be connected with this gang in the latter part of 1847 , when he was caught in the act of stealing a chest of tea from a shop in Hart-street , Bloomsburysquare . He was tried , convicted , and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment . At the termination of his sentence he again joined the gang , and was known to have been concerned in several burglaries which subsequently took place , particularly that committed on the morning of

      the 27 th of last March , on the premises of Messrs . Hardy , New Bond-street , when property to the amount of £ 300 was stolen . On that occasion he got clear off with the plunder , but was stopped by one of the city force a few weeks afterwards , and would have been taken into custody had he not made a murderous attack on the police officer with a life preserver , and thereby effected his escape . A few nights after he was seen by another policeman , who apprehended him . He was lodged in one of the cells at Marlborough-street police-office , but managed to effect his escape by bribing a turnkey . Nothing morewas heard of him until the 29 th of May , when the officer Storey , who was passing over London-bridge , saw him

      lying at the bottom of a cart , which was also proceeding over the bridge . The officer stopped the vehicle , and called upon Hacket to surrender ; but the latter jumped out of the cart and endeavoured to get away . The officer overtook him in Thames-street , and a desperate struggle ensued . Hacket drew a formidable life-preserver , and by beating the constable over the head nearly murdered him . The bystanders fortunately secured the fellow , and on being examined at the Mansion-house he was committed to Newgate for trial for attempting to murder Storey . He was tried before Baron Alder son , found guilty , and sentenced to fifteen years' transportation . While in Newgate he made preparations to effect an

      escape , but his plan being discovered he was placed in a cell of greater security . From Newgate he was conveyed to the Model Prison at Pentonville , and after two attempts has succeeded in getting out of the gaol under circumstances that have led the authorities to suspect that some of the turnkeys had been tampered with . On Sunday evening Hacket attended service in the chapel , commencing at half-past six o ' clock and concluding at eight . Service being finished , the usual mustering of the convicts took place , when it was found that Hacket was missing . Search was made , and on examining the walls of the prison it was ascertained that he had escaped

      and had got clear . At first it was a matter of great surprise how he could have got opt of the chapel unobserved , having been distinctly seen in his seat , and it was only by finding the sheets of his bed , a rope , and his clothing on the parapet wall that his mode of escape was detected . It appears that by some means he managed to wrest off the spring of the flour of his coll , which he formed into a " jemmy , " and contemplating some hazardous task , he concealed about him a weight and the sheets and rope of his bed , which he must have wrapped round his body under his clothes . As soon as ho was conducted to his scat he must have slipped down off his seat on to the flooring , and , by the "jemmy" and

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 7, 1850, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07121850/page/5/