know this gentleman; I should not be at liberty here; I shall not engage the

room."

The President.-Might not this old lady be a woman who kept your child? Castaing. No, sir; Auguste knew very well that my child was at Montmorency, whence I had no intention of bringing it.

The evidence being closed, M. Persil, advocate of Madame Martignon, addressed the court, and went over all the circumstances which tended to prove the guilt of Castaing. He admitted that there might be doubts as to the poisoning of Hippolyte, were it not for the dreadful light thrown upon it by the fate of Auguste, whose death by poison appeared to him incontestibly demonstrated. He wished rather to act on the reason than the passions. A different course was followed by M. de Broe, the king's advocate, who, after a full exposé of all the proofs of guilt, added

"You have now before you this fearful cause. Need much be said to recommend it to the friends of social order? Where is the man who does not shudder at the idea of poisoning, a crime which unites the horror of homicide to the infamy of meanness? Where is the generous heart, which, having tasted the sweets of friendship, does not feel a just indignation at the spectacle of friendship basely and cruelly betrayed? What religious man would not groan at the spectacle of immorality leading to crime, and hypocrisy giving birth to sacrilege and profanation? What citizen, in short, what father of a family, would not tremble at the idea, that a physician, a man initiated by his profession into the secrets of human nature, should abuse a protecting science, to introduce into the interior of families, instead of his claims to a necessary confidence, the frightful calculations of a

shameful avarice; instead of his cares for the preservation of life, to introduce death-death in all its horrorsdeath coolly combined in its means, and surprising the victim without betraying the murderer.

"It has been enough, gentlemen, to unroll before you this dismal picture. You have felt how much it interests social order; you will not give to the poisoner the rich spoils which he comes to claim, holding in each hand the head of a friend. You will not give to him a brevet of encouragement and impunity. Society has raised a cry of consternation and alarm; society must be avenged."

Roussel, the advocate of Castaing, began in the following manner :—

"A man dies in the flower of his age; he has been struck by an unforeseen accident. A voice rises and cries, that this man has been poisoned; a thousand voices repeat it. A thousand circumstances add to the horror of the crime. It is a physician, who has abused his noble profession; it is a friend, who has made death flow in the veins of his friend; it is a man loaded with benefits, who, impelled by a base avarice, has caused the death of his benefactor. These conjectures, sprung from curiosity, propagated by malevolence, indiscreetly spread by public report, swell and are aggrava. ted in passing from mouth to mouth. It is amid these general prepossessions that the inquiry is begun, pursued, and finished. The whole life of the accused is interrogated-his family, his studies, his most intimate relations; but the investigation, being conducted by prejudice, could not lead to truth; and public opinion, led astray by false lights, shares the error into which justice was for a moment drawn."

The advocate proposed to confine himself to the death of Auguste. All the rest was mere presumption and supposition, destined to pave the way

for the belief of this horrible and improbable crime. He undertook chiefly to prove the three following propositions :

1. The disease of Auguste presented symptoms different from those which are observed in case of poisoning even with vegetable substances.

2. The poison was not found. 3. The examination of the body excludes every idea of poison.

On these subjects, the advocate went into extensive details, through which we cannot follow him. The purchase of poison to destroy the cats which disturbed Auguste, appeared to him a very natural freak of a hasty young man, who, in a moment of impatience, might readily call on his friend to display his medical skill, by ridding him of these tormentors. The minutest particulars had been distorted and misinterpreted, so as to overwhelm his illfated client. Such was the demand of an abatement on the price of the drug. Yet was this like a man who had in view the obtaining a fortune of from fifteen to twenty thousand francs ayear? Besides, it drew attention more upon him, which it would have been his policy to avoid. Among the circumstances which had most heightened the prejudice against him, were the variations in his own testimony. Yet might not these be the result of the alarm inspired by his distressing situation? They had been adopted on the advice of Goupil, who, there was reason to suspect, had been placed beside him for a sinister purpose, and with a view of drawing from him these misplaced and fatal confidences.

The advocate terminated by invoking the white hairs of the aged father of the panel, on whose breast was the decoration of honour, and who protested that his son was not capable of the crime of which he was accused. "Shall I speak," added he, " of his unhappy mother, and of that cruel

word, which has been so much used against her unfortunate son? • She said horrors of him.' Ah! could this ever be true of a mother? They have interpreted too severely this passage, in a letter of reproach, written in a moment of quarrel by the person to whom he was intimately united. The horrors of which she speaks were doubtless the fear that he would be faithless to her, and would abandon her. It is evidently to grievances of this nature that she makes allusion.

"An appeal has been made to your sensibility. Be not deceived; the interest of society can never require anything but the maintenance of the rules established for its own preservation. Allow not yourselves to be carried away by this representation of society in alarm. To avoid the two rocks between which it has been attempted to place you, there is a sure path-there is a virtue which has no excess-it is the love of truth. Moved by this love, I have presented to you whatever could disprove the accusation against Castaing, and to this love of truth I recommend the accuser and the accused."

The jury, after retiring two hours and a half, brought in their sentence, acquitting Castaing as to the poisoning of Hippolyte Ballet, declaring him guilty of the abstraction of the will; and, by a majority of seven to five, Guilty of the poisoning of Auguste Ballet.

The court, after ten minutes deliberation, unanimously adhered to the sentence of the jury.

Castaing, on being introduced and informed of the sentence, fell at first senseless on the bench; afterwards, starting up, he gave vent to a series of incoherent exclamations and protestations of innocence. His advocate, Roussel, at length succeeded in calming him.

An hour after, the court pronounced their sentence-Death, and the pay.

ment of 100,000 francs to the family of Ballet. Castaing made an appeal to what is called the court of cassation; but it was rejected.

POISONING HER HUSBAND.

Paris Court of Assize, December.

M. Boursier was an extensive grocer, who was so fortunate in business, as to be on the point of retiring, with an income of 15,000 livres (upwards of 6001.) a-year. His wife had been particularly active in the management of the shop. They had five children, and appeared very happy together for some time; however, a Greek of the name of Kostolo, of humble rank, had become a frequent visitor; and Madame Boursier, after strongly denying, was obliged to admit, that she had formed a criminal intimacy with this person; and that very soon after the death of her husband, she had favourably received proposals of marriage from him. There were circum. stances about the death of Boursier, which gave rise to the suspicion of poison; and his wife declined, on grounds of inconvenience, to have the body opened. Suspicions increasing, about a month after the prosecution was commenced. The following are the most important heads of evidence :

M. Orfila, professor in the faculty of medicine. I was sent for, on the 30th July, by M. Demoutiers, juge d'instruction, who put to me the following questions. 1. Is it possible to know, after a month's interment, that an individual has been poisoned? 2. In case this possibility should exist, would there be any danger in performing the operation?

I replied to the first question, that

Chaise, at seven in the morning. The body was drawn from the coffin. After the identity had been established, it was placed on a table. I perceived that putrefaction had reached an extreme point over the whole surface; and thought it necessary to employ a liquid, which might neutralize the bad smell, and make it disappear. As soon as this liquid was employed, the smell dispersed as by enchantment, and we proceeded to the opening of the body. The greatest care was taken. I said before, that the exterior surface was entirely putrified. It was not so with the interior; the intestinal canal and the stomach, were, on the contrary, very well preserved, and, in a manner, untouched;-we could then easily discover the alterations. We found, at the first inspection, nothing remarkable, not having the instruments necessary to examine the substances contained in the stomach. I applied two ligatures, the one to the upper, the other to the lower part of the digestive canal, and the whole canal was thus carried to, the school of medicine.

We discovered that there were in the stomach red spots, which evidently announced an inflammation. We found, at last, in the intestines, white oxide of arsenic, commonly called the arsenic of commerce; but not in so great quantity as is said in the act of accusation. These grains were mingled with little balls of a fat mat ter, which were taken, at first, for arsenic, but were not arsenic. The fol lowing means were taken to ascertain

the existence of the arsenic. Whenever a substance is white and solid, when, thrown upon burning coals, it diffuses an odour of garlick; when thrown into water, it is dissolved, and then precipitated into yellow by the sulphurated hydrogen, I hesitate not to say, that it is white oxide of arsenic. These four characters were observed by me, and decided the existence of a quantity of arsenic sufficient to cause death."

The President.-The physicians who attended the patient, appeared to ascribe it to a rupture of the vessels.

M. Orfila.-I affirm that there was no rupture of the vessels, and that we did not find even any trace of bleeding, which was very remarkable.

Q. Do you consider the death as caused by the arsenic ?

M. Orfila.-To affirm it, I would require to know all the symptoms of the malady; but, I repeat it, the ar senic was in quantity sufficient to cause death.

Drs Gerdy, Lemeur, and Barruel, deponed to the same effect.

Josephine Blin, servant of M. and Madame Boursier, is introduced. This girl expresses herself with extreme volubility.

The President.-What passed in the morning of the 28th June?

Josephine. I rose as usual, and my master too; Madame, who had taken an emetic in the evening, was still in bed at eight in the morning. My master, seeing that she did not rise, took a little brush, and amused himself with blacking the cheeks of Madame. He took a mirror, and said to me, take this mirror to Madame, and let her see how pretty she is. I waked Madame, and said to her, presenting the mirror, mon Dieu! what is the matter with you? Madame was angry, but it did not last long; she and my mas'ter embraced, and were reconciled.

My master gave me soap, because

we were this day to have a great washing; and began arranging bottles in his shop on the other side of the counter, while waiting for breakfast. Then I came to tell him that his rice was served. Four or five minutes after, he came into the hall, and ate. He called me in a moment after, and said, oh! mon Dieu, how bad the rice is! I said to him, sir, it is very good; he ate again, and said, how bad it is! Then he was taken ill. My mistress came to give him aid; she looked if the pan was clean, and went to throw the remains of the rice into a platter under the well; after that, she recommended me to clean the inside with ashes and sand. During the time my mistress went to seek a glass of sugared water, into which some spirit of wine had been put by mistake. Monsieur vomited much, and his illness became worse. Physicians were sent for, and he died in the night between Sunday and Monday.

The President.-Madame Boursier, you pretend that your husband, while breakfast was preparing, remained in the shop opposite to you?

Madame Boursier. Yes, sir.

The President.-According to the deposition of the witness, he was not in the counting-room, but at the other end of the shop, employed in arranging bottles. Thus you might, without being perceived, have penetrated into the breakfasting room.

M. Couture. That would be impossible, according to the plan which I have got made of the localities, and which will be immediately shewn to the court.

The servant answers to diverse examinations, that, according to custom, she took out of the rice which was in the pan, two portions, one for her own breakfast, the other for the breakfast of a child. She did not see Boursier eat his rice, but she was the first on whom he called to complain of it;

but she answered him only from the entrance of the kitchen.

Madame Boursier persists in maintaining that she did not give orders to scour the pan with sand and ashes. She adds, that counsellor Sylvester interrogated at her house the girl Blin before five persons, and that the girl said the contrary.

The President. You are mistaken -it was not counsellor Sylvester who visited the places; besides, you speak of a fact which is not in the precognition, and which nothing can fix.

The following examination of Kostolo, seems very characteristic of French judicial proceedings.

Q. How much money did Madame Boursier lend you?

A. 650 to 680 francs; nearly 700 francs.

Madame Boursier.-I gave, at most, 350 ranks.

Kostolo.-(Coolly.)-You are mistaken, madam; you gave me 200 francs at one time, and 150 francs at another; but at other times, you sent me sums amounting, in all, to nearly 700 francs. I declare the truth.

Q. Did not you ask Madame Boursier, if she would have a husband like you.

A. You must feel that, on these occasions, one says all sorts of things. I spoke as it were for the sake of speaking. I did not love this woman; I had no thought at all of marrying her.

Q. What did she answer?

A. She said she durst not-that the law forbade it before a year; we said all this in jest ; you know well, that on these occasions, a woman never says at once, yes.

Q. You passed the Sunday night with the patient, and gave him drink? A. No, sir, Madame gave him to drink?

Madame Boursier. It was you that gave him to drink.

Kostolo.-How could that be possible, madam? No; it was you.

Madame Boursier.-I prepared the lime and orange water, and you gave him to drink.

Kostolo. That is possible.

Q. Did you not communicate to Mr Toupie, a young medical student, who watched with you, some suspicions that Boursier might have been poisoned?

A. I remarked that the nails were blue-that he had white spots over his body. I remembered having seen the same thing on the body of Prince Callimachi, when he was poisoned in my country.

Q. Did you not say also to Madame Boursier, that you dreamt her husband had died of poison ?

A. I do not recollect such a dream.

Madame Boursier.-Kostolo spoke to me of this dream that very evening. He said, that during the night he had been tormented with a painful idea;he saw my husband die poisoned, amid horrible sufferings.

Kostolo.-I do not recollect that. Q. Had you culpable connection with Madame Boursier, in the chamber of her husband, fifteen days after his death?

A. Yes, sir.

Madame Boursier.—I deny it. The President.-You confessed it in the precognition.

Madame Boursier.-I did not understand; I say the truth now.

Q. You admitted, Kostolo, that you made proposals of marriage to, this woman?

A. Never in my life did I think of marrying a woman with five children; a woman whom I did not at all love. (Movement of indignation in the public;-they said, in an under tone, happily he is not a Frenchman.)

The President.-What! you made protestations of attachment-you received money from her? Kostolo.-Good!