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Leader (1850-1860), 21st February 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 5, February 21,1857.] THE LEADER. 173

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      America. Mr. Buchanan Haa Been At Washin...

      Governor Johnson , of Tennessee , and forty other passengers were severely injured . The severity of the weather at New York has rendered trade very dormant . There is an increased demand for money , and the market is firmer , though rates are not materially changed .

      February 21,1857.] The Leader. 173

      February 21 , 1857 . ] THE LEADER . 173

      An American Murder, Ne"W Yoek. Is At The...

      AN AMERICAN MURDER , Ne"W Yoek . is at the present time greatly agitated by a very extraordinary murder which has recently been committed there . The particulars are thus related by tlie Times American correspondent : — " A Dr . Harvey Burdell was found during Saturday , the 31 st of January , dead in his room , at 31 , Bondstreet , strangled , with fifteen stabs in different parts of bis body . The murder must have been committed in the night of Friday , the 30 th , hut no alarm was heard in the house . There had been no forcible entry , and , as no property upon him or in the room was touched , plunder could not have been the object . The deceased was a surgeon-dentist , in good practice ; he was wealthy ,

      and the house , in one of the best streets in the city , -was his own . As suspicion from the first did not extend beyond the house itself , every inmate of it was put under arrest as a beginning , and the coroner's inquiry , although it has not yet fixed the guilt on any one person , has revealed a state of things in that one dwelling unrivalled in any romance . Burdell was the owner of the house and lived in it , but was not its master . He had in an evil hour become acquainted with a ' wateringplace ' widow named Cunningham , cruising at Saratoga and elsewhere , to whom the wealthy bachelor fell a prey . He installed her in the house , first as a lodger only , next as tenant ^ she established there a lover , who became lord of the establishment / and two daughters , one of whom

      introduced a lover into the premises also . While living in the house , the widow brought an action against the doctor for breach of promise of marriage , which he compromised by a written promise of constant ' friendship , ' and something more definite—a lease of the house . Then comes the most extraordinary part of the transactions . A few days after the action was put an end to , the widow procured some man to personate the doctor , and to that man , -whoever he was , was regularly married in October last by the minister of the Dutch Reformed church . While obtaining , as far as the law and registers are concerned , the position of BurdeH ' s wife , he , quite unconscious of the singular fraud , lived on very bad terms with her and the whole of the inmates she

      had gathered round him ; there were constant quarrels , and gradually he felt such fear and hatred of the woman , or some of those about her , that he expressed to a friend his terror that something would happen . He said , however , he was always armed , and would ' rough it out till May , ' when he had taken legal steps to put an end to the occupancy or the lease . The foreboding of the unhappy man was realized ; on the night of the 31 st of January , -without any previous threat or quarrel stronger than the ordinary indications of ill-will , he was murdered . The present supposition is that the man who personated Burdell , and was married in his name to the woman Cunningham , was her paramour , living in the house—a man named Eckel . The minister who

      performed the ceremony fully identifies the woman , but cannot speak so confidently of the man . He thought at the time he had false whiskers on , but the suspicion was not strong enough to induce him to make any remark . By the aid of a wig and these false whiskers , it is believed Eckel passed himself as the deceased on the occasion , so that for some months Burdell had been living with the man who had been married to his own tenant in his own name . The evidence on this point reads more like a bit of audacious comedy than the horrible tragedy it has turned out to be . The plan was deeply laid , and , could Burdell have been got rid of quietly , would in all probability have succeeded . On the proof of the marriage being established—and the certificate and evidence of the

      clergyman would have been conclusive—the widow , in the name of Burdell , would have claimed a third of the deceased ' s property , which amounts altogether to 100 , 000 dollars . The previous action for breach of promise , and the terms on which the parties were known to liave been , would have explained the marriage ; and the question of the personal identity of the deceased would not have been raised . Such a singular complication of affairs as that in Burdell ' s house could not have gone on long without discovery , but what hastened the blow is not known . The intention of the murderer appears to liave been frustrated by a desperate resistance on the part of the victim . The attempt to strangle him must li

      ave failed , and the knife been used in a violent struggle . " Whether his death was meant to appear aa a suicide , or how it would have been explained , can only bo conjectured ; one supposition is that the body would liave been placed in the street , to bo found ' gnrotted , ' thnt mode of robbery ' having lately been extensively practised in New York . Hut the garottera never mangle their victims in so frightful a manner . No attempt had been made to remove or conceal the body , which wan found while the rest of the family was at breakfast by the doctor ' s boy , who did not live in the house . The inquiry hna discovered motives enough for the murder , but as to whoso hand committed it there is yet no

      evidence ; nothing but suspicion that points at the man Eckel . The excitement this murder has caused is -very great among all classes , and for the moment notling else is thought or spoken of . Not the least singular part of the inquiry is the mode in which it is conducted . The coroner into whose hands it has fallen is evidently incapable of the duty , and degrades his functions by indecent jesting with the witnesses . "

      The Orient. India. A Second Division Of ...

      THE ORIENT . INDIA . A second division of troops for service in Persia is being organized at Bombay . Sir . James Outram is to be the Commander-in-Chief of the English army in the dominions of the Shah , General Stalker dropping to the command of the First Division . The cavalry , artillery , and the engineer department of the army , are also to be augmented . Great animation prevails , and Sir James Outram and staff are already on their way to the seat of the war . According to an extraordinary rumour , Sir James has been ordered to levy troops in Persia itself . Dost Mahornmed has been visiting Sir John Lawrence , by whom he was received with much military honour . They have been conferring on public affairs , but the result of their deliberations is not yet known . Ifrom Herat it is reported that the Persians are busily engaged in strengthening the defences . Two deaths are recorded of Englishmen settled in India—Mr . Bushby , the Resident at Hyderabad , who expired of apoplexy on the 29 th of December , and Dr . Straker , C . B ., Physician-General to the Bombay forces . Partly , it is said , owing to the exertions of the first of these gentlemen , the Nizam has sanctioned the abolition of slavery in his dominions . A few troops are to be despatched from India to China ; but the drain of European regiments from , the country seems to be causing some alarm .

      The Penal Code , based substantially upon Mr . Macaulay ' s suggestions , has been read a second time . — An improvement in trade is reported from various parts of India . " A most painful interest , " says the Bombay Times , " has been -widely excited by the statement that the wives and children of the 2 nd Europeans , left behind at Hydrabad when the men marched down to Kurrachee for embarkation to Persia three months ago , have experienced the most cruel neglect from the authorities . They are said to have been left in the most utter destitution , and , out of one hundred and twenty-four -women and children , twenty-eight sank and died within six weeks . "

      Kurrachee has been again visited by two shocks of earthquake . —The neighbourhood of the powder works at Mazagon has been afflicted with a sudden and very sharp attack of cholera .

      CHINA . Further intelligence with respect to the late hostilities is contained in the letters and papers received by the last mail ; but it does not add much to our knowledge . Some banditti have taken possession of a large village near Whampoa , where they have committed depredations ; and attempts have been made to injure our ships of war by sending down on them boats filled with gunpowder , but without success . Mr . Cowper , senior , has been kidnapped , and no trace of him had . been obtained

      at the latest dates . At Hongkong there have been no disturbances , and precautions have been taken agains their occurrence . Alarm has been occasioned at Amoy by powerful pirate fleets cruising in the neighbourhood . An English steamer has gone after them . The Viceroy Yeli shows no desire to come to terms ; and th « American Commissioner at Macao has issued a circular , intimating great dissatisfaction with that official ' s assurances with respect to the United States . Trade is almost suspended , on account of the disturbed Btate of affairs .

      "We read in the letter of the Times Hong-Kong correspondent : —• " At Canton , the foreign factories have been burnt to the ground . The fire commenced about eleven , p . m ., on the 14 th of December , and , although every effort was made to arrest the flames , it proved utterly useless , and all the houses were destroyed , with the exception of one , which has since been gutted by the Chinese . It was the result of a well planned and executed scheme on the part of the Chinese . The lire broke out simultaneously at different points , and was aided by combustibles , fire-balls and rockets , thrown from the

      suburbs . Many Chinese houses were also burnt . One of the small postal steamers wan attacked between Canton and the Boguc on the night of the 22 nd of December , by a largo , fleet of mandarin junks , and had u narrow escape from capture . The pilot and one of the crew were killed , and two others wounded . A lorchn , which she wan towing , had to bo oust off , and was captured , proving a rich prize , as she -was laden with goods and valuables , removed from the Canton warelioiiHcs at much risk and expense . JJefore being caat off her crew were taken on board the Htoanicr . "

      A despatch from Trieste , dated February the 13 th , Bays : — "According to the new « from Hongkong , of the ilOtli of December , commissioners were expected to arrive in February , sent by the Emperor of China to

      arrange the difference relative to Canton . Governo * Yeh had been degraded , and the Emperor had promised a pardon to the rebels . The Chinese at Hongkong had formed a design to set fire to the town , but the English were on their guard . The former seemed determined to assume the offensive . Some junks attacked the mail steamer Thistle , and several of the crew were killed . "

      PERSIA . Intelligence from Teheran , of the 7 th January , states that the enrolment of troops , and the departure of Generals Ferlate Khan and Mirza Mehemed Khan for Farsistan , have been the occasion of grand fetes . Troops have been sent from Farsistan , from Kerman , and from Arabistan , against the English . Reinforcements have been sent from Khorasan to the Cabul frontier . Seven thousand English have embarked at Bombay for the Persian Gnlf . Four thousand English and 1000 Sepoya have entered Cabul , and are to march with the Affghana upon Herat .

      Ireland. Attempted Assassination.—A Shot...

      IRELAND . Attempted Assassination . —A shot was fired , on the evening of Thursday week , from behind a holly bush bordering the highroad near Ballinasloe , at a Mr . Georgo Harrison , a farmer from Northumberland , an < l a tenant of Colonel Maberly , who has purchased some land in that locality which was recently in the Encumbered Estates Court . Mr . Harrison escaped unhurt , and tho would-be assassin made off . The latter is supposed to be some cottager who lias received notice to quit . The Irish in America . —An Irishman writes from New Orleans to one of the Limerick papers , to say that America is " no country for an Irishman any longer . " He states that Irishmen aro insulted , persecuted , and even murdered , by " fanatical Americans . " It should be recollected , however , on the other hand , that the Irish in America arc the cause of frequent tumults and drunken disturbances .

      A Roman Catholic Scruplts of Conscience . —In a case before the Prerogative Court , Dublin , last Saturday , one of the witnesses , the Rev . Mr . O'Farrell , a Roman Catholic priest , objected to being sworn on the Protestant version of the Bible , and wished to be allowed to substitute the Douay version . Judge Itadcliffa would not allow of this ; and the priest was then sworn on the Protestant translation , but under protest .

      Louis Blanc Ox The Fuench Elections. We ...

      LOUIS BLANC OX THE FUENCH ELECTIONS . We are sure that the following letter , communicated to us by M . Louis Blanc , will be read with an interest commensurate with the importance of the points at issue : " Help thyself , and God will help thee . " This is my first answer to all such as , from various quarters , put to me the question , " WJiat is to bo done at the forthcoming elections in France ?" The French people having been reduced by Louis Bonaparte himself to the unhappy choice of being trampled upon or having recourse against violence to force , who can ([ any that its case is one of natural selfdefence ? If , therefore , insurrection were at present likel y to succeed , I would not hesitate to cry out , "Up , up , and at them !"

      The fact is , that to those who all over Europe pant for liberty , and used to admire tho heroic exertions of Franco , it is a matter of astonishment that , after sustaining so many prodigious struggles and sheddingtorrents of blood , in order to bo free , she should have come to crouch under despotism . Oh , if Franco could but know how low she has sunk in the estimation of Europe ! French soldiers proved ns gallant as ever in the battle-fields of tho Crimea ; but warlike wonders are not enough to retrieve the character of an enslaved nation . They are nothing better than a purplo mantle cast over a skeleton . In ancient Rome , it was for tho vile gladiators , not for tho soldiers , to say , Caesar , morituri tc salvtant . Why then was it asserted in tho imperial bulletins that

      , at the storming of tho Malakoff , the Frencli soldiers , instead of shouting Vive la France . ' shouted Vive VKmpercur f Tho fact was denied , but in whispers , and Europe believes it . So , oven our military glory lias ceased to bo our own . Where there wan a nation , there remains one single man ! Alns ! it is this amazing ; humiliation of the fatherland that makes the hours of exile so bitter . There is nothing in poverty which manly hearts arc not able to endure , and Jiving far from all that is held dear on earth in a sacrifice which , grievous as it is , any honest man must always be prepared to make to freedom . Hut never , never did wo expect to have every day to blush with shamo on hearing foreigners Hay contemptuously tliat the Fronch are fit for slavery , since they submit to it .

      However , wo do not « hut our eyes to tho extraordinary difficulties of the situation ; we know that disarmed Paris lies mirroundcd with bayonets ; that a . lynx-oyed police lurks everywhere ; that to the . gagging of tho prcHH in added tho suHpoiiHion of every free intercourse ; that the nation , buried in a suffocating atmosphere , is scarcely permitted to breathe ; and that it is

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 21, 1857, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21021857/page/5/