turned into court, when the Foreman said: We are of opinion that the deceased died by his own hand when he was in a perfectly sane state of mind.

"The Coroner: Are you unanimous ?

"The Foreman: We are unanimous.

"The Coroner: My own opinion is, after the most mature and deliberate consideration, that you could have come to no other conclusion.

"The inquisition was then signed in the usual manner, and the proceedings terminated."

It is much to be regretted that a verdict of felo-de-se should, in these enlightened times, be considered necessary in order to satisfy the demands of justice. In the case of Mr. Sadleir, we agree with Mr. Wakley, that there was no positive and conclusive evidence before the court to establish the insanity of the deceased. The jury might, however, have escaped from the difficulty, and have protected the bereaved family of this unhappy gentleman from further obloquy and disgrace, by adopting a common practice, of returning, what is termed, an open verdict. Verdicts of felo-de-se can lead to no good, satisfactory, or practical result.

We are but now re-echoing opinions expressed by ourselves in print sixteen years ago, at which period we thus record our sentiments in respect to verdicts of felo-de-se : *

"The act of suicide ought not to be considered as a crime in the legal definition of the term. It is not an offence that can be deemed cognizable by the civil magistrate. It is to be considered a sinful and vicious action. To punish suicide as a crime is to commit a solecism in legislation. The unfortunate individual by the very act of suicide places himself beyond the vengeance of the law; he has anticipated its operation; he has rendered himself amenable to the highest tribunal, viz., that of his Creator; no penal enactments, however stringent, can affect him. What is the operation of the law under these circumstances? A verdict of felo-de-se is returned, and the innocent relations of the suicide are disgraced and branded with infamy, and that too on evidence of an exparte nature. It is unjust, inhuman, unnatural, and unchristian, that the law should punish the innocent family of the man who, in a moment of frenzy, terminates his own miserable existence. It was clearly established, that before the alteration in the law respecting suicide, the fear of being buried in a crossroad, and having a stake driven through the body, had no beneficial effect in decreasing the number of suicides; and the verdict of felo-de-se, now occasionally returned, is productive of no advantage whatever, and only injures the surviving relatives.

be

"When a man contemplates an outrage of the law, the fear of the punishment awarded for the offence may deter him from its commission; but the unhappy person whose desperate circumstances impel him to sacrifice his own life can influenced by no such fear. His whole mind is absorbed in the consideration of his own miseries, and he even cuts asunder those ties that ought to bind him closely and tenderly to the world he is about to leave. If an affectionate wife and endearing family have no influence in deterring a man from suicide, is it reasonable to suppose that he will be influenced by penal laws?

"If the view which has been taken in this work of the cause of suicide be a correct one, no stronger argument can be urged for the impropriety of bringing the strong arm of the law to bear upon those who court a voluntary death. In

"The Anatomy of Suicide." One Vol. 8vo. By Forbes Winslow, M.D.

the majority of cases it will be found that some heavy calamity has fastened itself upon the mind, and the spirits have been extremely depressed. The individual loses all pleasure in society; hope vanishes, and despair renders life intolerable, and death an apparent relief. The evidence which is generally submitted to a coroner's jury is of necessity imperfect; and although the suicide may, to all appearances, be in possession of his right reason, and have exhibited at the moment of killing himself the greatest calmness, coolness, and self-possession, this would not justify the coroner or jury in concluding that derangement of mind was not present."

The verdict of felo-de-se, however, appears to have given general satisfaction, if we are to judge by the tone of the public press. We have only room for one extract on the subject, and that is from the Christian Times.

"The coroner's jury appointed to inquire into the circumstances under which John Sadleir met his death have returned a verdict of felo-de-se. The finding comes upon us with a startling effect, for verdicts of this stern character had become nearly obsolete. The spurious liberality, leading to a morbid humanity, which is the characteristic of our times, had rendered it almost a matter of course that, in cases of self-murder, the verdict of the coroner's jury should ascribe the act to 'temporary insanity.' We are glad that the Hampstead jury have taken a more manly view of the obligation imposed on them by their oath, and that they have not been deterred, by any fear of injuring the feelings of relatives or friends, from returning a verdict according to the evidence. We should be glad to regard this departure from the conventional and stereotyped form which has too long characterized verdicts in such cases, as symptomatic of a return to a more elevated standard of public morality, when men shall think more of duty and less of the consequences that may flow from its discharge.

"That John Sadleir took away his own life while in full possession of his mental faculties, will not, we think, be disputed by any one who read the evidence. Every circumstance attending the awful tragedy showed marks of forethought and deliberation. The stratagem practised to obtain the poison; the arranging his affairs, as far as such a hopelessly entangled web could be arranged; the selection of the scene of suicide, at a distance from the house which his brother's family and he jointly occupied, coupled with the precautions taken for the identification of his corpse; the feeble attempt to assert, even in that horrible hour, his position as a gentleman, by using a silver cream jug, out of which to drink the poison-a minute but significant stroke of character which throws all that Dickens has imagined into the shade;-all these tend to show that John Sadleir was of sound mind when he planned his own destruction, and retained his intellect till the last moment of carrying his fell purpose into effect. As this is the first case that has occurred for a long time where a jury has had moral courage enough to return such a verdict, so it must be added that there are few cases where every hypothesis of insanity has been more completely excluded. Every one who knew John Sadleir admits that he was a clever and active man of business, and the methodical habits which made him such clung to him to the last. Everything was scrupulously arranged; and it is affecting to observe that while so many matters of no moment were cared for and provided against, the same force of will was exercised in determinedly shutting out from view the more awful considerations of futurity.

"We would not, however, be understood to bear harshly on the memory of this wretched man. In truth, we have no heart to do so. Even the frauds he committed, gigantic as they are, lose their proportions when we contemplate the miserable tragedy to which they led. The letters which were written by

him give us some slight glimpses of the agony which racked his mind during the last night he spent on earth; but after all, how frail and feeble must those glimpses be compared with the dread reality! Who shall attempt to gauge the keenness of that remorse which gnawed him as he sat alone, at midnight, with all the memories of the past rising before him in such unnatural brightness as to darken with the blackness of despair every prospect for the future? Who shall attempt to delineate that rush of fearful fancies through his mind in his ghastly death-walk along the silent streets to the yet more lonely hill! There is nothing more terrible than to behold a human spirit thus caught in the meshes which its own guilt has woven round it, struggling desperately for escape, and struggling in vain. It is rarely we are permitted to see acted visibly, almost before our eyes, the moral retribution of guilt thus consummated in this world. Would we could hope that the lesson might be as lasting as it is impressive!

"This terrible tragedy will not have been enacted in vain, if it shall lead society back to the great moral truth, that neither wealth nor station are the great ends of life; that the aspirations of ill-regulated ambition are ever in opposition to the dictates both of Revelation and experience, which emphatically proclaim that man's life has to do with the lowly rather than the high, with the common and the familiar rather than the brilliant and the startling; that the battle-field where true glory is to be won, lies not in the broad and vulgar light of this world's applause, but deep down in the secret recesses of the heart, where the strife and the sweat, the agony and the victory, can be discovered by Him alone who has promised to all who overcome in secret, that He 'will reward them openly.''

In relation to questions of felo-de-se, we would direct attention to the following unique and singular case of suicide. What do our readers think of this man's mental state? Was the verdict of " temporary insanity" justifiable? It constitutes a melancholy illustration of the state of mind occasionally known to precede the act of selfdestruction. Cases of suicide have been committed by persons upon whose bodies, after death, letters have been found earnestly begging the coroner to repudiate all attempts on the part of the jury and family to record a verdict of insanity! They have been anxious to "die game," and to escape the stigma of lunacy and irresponsibility, so strangely constituted is the human mind!

"An inquest was held by Mr. W. S. Rutter, county coroner of Lancashire, on the body of Mr. John Hobler, aged twenty-one, a young gentleman of highly respectable connexions in London, who had been studying the profession of a machinist and tool-maker at the works of Messrs. Whitworth and Co., of Manchester. The deceased resided with Dr. Clay, of Manchester, a relative, and absented himself in the month of January, leaving letters behind him stating his intention to destroy himself. Of course his absence created much alarm and uneasiness, and his friends advertised him, and took measures, through the police, with a view to discover his retreat, but in this were unfortunately not successful. On Wednesday his dead body was discovered in a copse or plantation called Cheetham's Close, in Turton, near Bolton, near a road but little frequented; and, from the state of decomposition it was in, the body had probably been there for some weeks. An empty phial and wineglass were found near the body, leading to the supposition that the unhappy gentleman had poisoned himself. The body was discovered by a boy in company with Mr. Kay, of Turton Tower, the owner of the property, while in

search of game. In one of deceased's pockets was found a letter with this address outside:-'The finder of this body, particularly addressed to the police, inquisitiveness being their misfortune.' The letter was as follows:- If they make it a case of temporary insanity, it will be so—on the part of the jury. Dearly beloved cove or coves, now that you have found this body, do not be an idiot or idiots, and get up an inquest to talk about what they know nothing about; but somewhere in my pockets you will find 6d., with which get a gill. After that, stick my body in a hole somewhere. You need not read over it any service, as I read it myself before starting; and by selling my clothes you will be able to pay yourself for your trouble. After which, go away: and above all things do not try to find out who I am, &c., as you will not be able, but do as I say, and the Lord reward you accordingly. Yours truly. The verdict must be that, in great consideration for some person or persons, he destroyed himself to save them the trouble.' At the time the inquest was commenced the name of the deceased had not been ascertained, but Dr. Clay, of Manchester, afterwards identified the body, and the jury agreed to a verdict to the effect that the deceased had destroyed himself while labouring under temporary insanity. Dr. Clay stated that, before leaving Manchester, Mr. Hobler was in a low and desponding state of mind, brought on by over-study."*

Mr. Sadleir's sad case has been made the subject of comment and animadversion, not only in the pulpit, but in the principal journals of the day. The Times has not remained silent. With its usual sagacity, power, and brilliancy of illustration, it has endeavoured to draw an important lesson from Mr. Sadleir's eventful history and melancholy death. The observations of the Editor deserve to be universally read, and seriously studied by all interested in the moral condition of the nation, and anxious to preserve intact the stability of society. The vice of the age is undoubtedly covetousness; a craving, insatiable, and morbid appetite to obtain the maximum amount of wealth at the minimum expenditure of labour. This has led to reckless speculation; and on the heels of speculation have followed inevitable ruin, disgrace, and often premature death! The philosophical remarks of the Times are so replete with material for serious and philosophical thought, that we make no apology for quoting them entire.

"Death is the last punishment which the justice of man can award to the greatest criminal. When the moment of enforced agony is over, and the guilty spirit is dismissed to the judgment-seat above, there is an end of all vindictiveness and all animosity. There must, however, be no confusion of the eternal difference between right and wrong-no maudlin palliation of great crimes, because the best among us have often tripped and sometimes sinned. Let us at least abhor vice if we do not always avoid it. Let us, indeed, be sterner critics upon ourselves than upon our fellow-creatures; but no false commiseration or complaisance should bind us to silence when a country is startled with a rumour of a great crime because the criminal has expiated his guilt by a violent death. Our readers must have already perceived that we are speaking of the suicide of John Sadleir. It is not for the purpose of denouncing the individual, nor of giving additional publicity to his disgrace, that these observations are intended. The fact of his violent and horrible death, and the history of his crimes, are already so notorious, that nothing we can say could

* The Times, March 15th.

add to his dishonour. If we remark upon the tragical end of his career at all, it is as a protest against that fearful spirit of speculation which is the vice of our times; it is that others may see in his fate something akin to that which awaits themselves when they are driven to the end of their shifts and contrivances when they have exhausted the suggestions of cunning and the resources of crime. The bankrupt's despair, the felon's cell, the cold bed of the suicide on the damp moor, must be reached at last, the fitting termination to a life only supported by the plunder and misery of others. John Sadleir does not stand alone in his guilt and in his shame. The criminal records of the last year can show the names of men who stood as high or higher in the world's eye, but of whom we now forbear to speak, from very pity for their fallen estate. Hundreds, we fear, of persons in this metropolis, and in the larger mercantile towns of the kingdom, are now engaged in the same perilous traffic. It needs but a reverse and an opportunity, and why should they hesitate to follow in the footsteps of the most keen-witted and unscrupulous of their predecessors ?

"The proceedings of the adjourned coroner's inquest, which we publish this day, do not throw much additional light upon the nature of the embarrassments which drove John Sadleir to despair. Letters of his, written a few hours before he sallied out on his fatal expedition, were produced, but they inform us of little beyond what was already known. This is their general tenor:-'I cannot live. I have ruined too many. I could not live and see their agony. I have committed diabolical crimes unknown to any human being. They will now appear, and bring my family and others to distress, shame, and grief that they should ever have known me. I blaine no one, but attribute all to my own infamous villany.' Such, as will be seen by our report of this day, is the general tenor of these letters, which are written in a spirit bordering on distraction. It is, however, sad to know that the self accusations are not the mere suggestions of a diseased brain. It is true that the writer was guilty of diabolical crimes; it is true that he has swindled and forged to a fearful extent; it is to be feared-as he himself says-that he has been the cause of permanent misery to thousands of unoffending people. Let us not deceive ourselves, nor, out of false pity for the wretched author of all this sorrow, endeavour to palliate the atrocity of his acts. If the heinousness of crimes be measured by their consequences, the man who carries disaster, if not absolute ruin, into a hundred families, is stained with deeper guilt than the mere ruffian who attacks life. The report is that, when the full extent of his villanies is known, it will be found that, in one form or another, he has swindled the public to an amount little short of half a million. It would seem narvellous to those who have not been under the unfortunate necessity of watching the course of modern speculation, how a man who, probably, started in the world without any fortune at all, could involve himself and others to such an extent. In Sadleir's case, however, it must be considered that, independently of the ordinary resources of the speculator, he was enabled, from his official position, to commit many crimes without fear of immediate discovery, which another man could not have attempted without instant detection. It would be as yet premature to suggest any precise estimate as the limit of his defalcations. When a man is in a position to forge title-deeds, railway shares, and mortgages to an indefinite amount, there need be little limit to his operations. He is also charged with having fraudulently assigned away deeds held in trust by him to an enormous amount. As a forger, he seems to have been remarkably successful, and it is said that the signatures of the Irish Encumbered Estates' Commissioners have been so skilfully executed, that no one, however familiar with their handwriting, could distinguish between the forgeries and the genuine signatures. At the close of last week it was added that many forgeries on private individuals had been already made out, and that the discovery of many more was anticipated. On