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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . jad ^ lasssfftfSSs . 'sssTW S ^ S ^ FS . ^ -- ' - " Amount received / row Lord Gratmlle .
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THE STORY OF MADELINE SMITH . mile L'Angelieb , and Madeline Smith iet for the first time in the streets of -lasgow early in . 1855 ; they were intronced by a mutual acquaintance , a young lad ; eighteen . There was a rapid progress in Ltimaey , and in April of that year Madeene writes to ' Dear Emile' ibr the first me . He soon proposed for her hand , but 3 r father rejected him . ( Ij'Angelier was ; this time a clerk in a merchant ' s office , hile the father of Madeline Smith was an
• chitect in good practice . ) The acquaintance as then broken off , and was suspended for ime months . " When renewed , the young > uple are on the most affectionate terms . Te have no letters of his written at this sriod " , but her letters are ardent ancluurerained , find indicate the whole correlondence . A correspondence of some onths goes on , until in . a letter withit date , but which appears to have been
ritten in May , 1856 , she refers immis-Icably to the fact that she has admitted him the privilege of a husband . " Beloved , if D did wrong last night , it was in the exciteent of our love . I suppose we should havo aited until we got married . " The tone of iis letter shows that she was feverishly glad . her guilty love—that she had no hesitation ' remorse , and that she was anxious to : cuse to her lover their mutual sin . It is
so indirectly indicative of the character of ie young ' maiden , ' that as far as is known ie first criminal intercourse took place out ' doors . After this , L'Angelier evijntly intended and urged marriage ; she emed willing , but pointed out difuculas . L'Ancjielier , pointed out her faults , timed her against flirtation , and relested her not to bo seen so often on the
reets . Ho was evidently a jealous and exiting lover—not very strong-minded ; and , wo may judge by her replies , rather ready indulge iu unmanly whiuing over thopostmement of their mnmngo and the nature ' their intimacy . Her letters are full of the othing consolations of a woman addressing peevish , self-accusing lover . Ono lottor we lote entire , as it indicates tho character of ) th rmrties : —
"My sweet , beloved , and donrost Emile , —I ahull 5 * in and answor your dear long lottor . Iu tho first ico , how aro you ? Bottor , X trust . You know I foci appointed at our mnrriaffO not taking plnco in ptomber . But , as it could not , why , thon , 1 Junt ido up my mind to bo content ,, iiucl truat that it ' -nuiy oro long . Wo shull fix about that nt our noxt loting , which I hopo won't bo long . ... Do not wcop , rUng , fond husband , it makes mo end to think you op . Do not do it , darling ; « fond embrace nud dear
to you "you fehall have it some day , so that promise won ' be broken . If I did not sign my name it was for no reason ; unless it is to a stranger I never do put Smith , only Madeline . You shall , clear love , have all your letters back . Emile , love , you are wrong . If I did feel cool towards you in winter I never gave thought of love to any other . No other image has ever filled my heart since I knew you . "
t kiss to you , sweet and much-beloved Emile . Our intimacy has not been criminal , as I am your wife before God , so it has been no sin . our loving each other . No , darling , fond Emile , I am your wife . I shall cease to be childish and thoughtless ; I shall do all I can to please you , and retain you truly , dear , fond love . You know I have wished as much as you do to give you my likeness , but I have not had an opportunity . I promise
One can see "by this letter that all the firmness and the confidence come from Madeline , and that her handsome little lover — Gascon in talk and weak in resolution — is a ' sweet little pet ' taken up for the time . His general character was that of a little flighty Frenchman ; vain of his pretty face and pretty feet ; talkative , and given to tears ; "boasting once or twice that he knew something of arsenic , and had even taken it ; demonstrative as to his courage for suicide—which he never attempted , though he once stood at a high
window before a witness and talked of it , and on another occasion flourished a knife , but not so rapidly as to effect even a scratch before he ' was secured . All these , however , seem but the very natural signs of a diseased vanity , coupled with the uncertain fortune ( in earlier years , and before he met Madeline ) of a poor devil driven about from one miserable situation to another , falling . into love with ladies of higher station , and naturally enough getting jilted more than onee . In August , 1856 , there is an indication of a chanceIn tho tone of the letters from
Madeli ; n \ e . She alludes to doubts and quarrels ; he is jealous of a ISlr . Minnocii , and she tries to dissipate his doubts of her constancy . They still meet occasionally at the house in Helensburgh—sometimes merely to exchange looks and letters at the window—at other times to have prolonged interviews . The family return to Glasgow , and , though the correspondence is continued , there are evident difficulties in the way of an interview ; but the interviews are accomplished , for there are still allusions to them throughout the
letters . On the 28 th of January Madeline received an offer of marriage from Mr . Minnoch , a merchant , an ' old friend' of her father ' s . Almost immediately she intimates to I / Angelier , that sho no longer loves him , and she writes in a tone of candour as if she felt bound to tell frankly tho change in her feelings . She assures him— -falsely—that she is not engaged to another , and she expresses a hope that he has ' the honour of a gentleman' and will not reveal what has passed between them . In reply , I / Ancieliek seems to havo threatened exposure , for she writes a letter full of wild appeal , imploring him ' for the love of Christ' and * for tho sake
of his once-loved Mimi' not to ' bring hor to open shame . ' As far as we can traco by the correspondences this quarrel is at length mado up , but on what terms is unknown . She resumes her loving correspondence , and some interviews take place . Sho is still engaged to Mr , Minnoch , and tho marriage with that gentleman is announced iu tho family as a settled thing .
At this point oi our narrotivo wo may glance at the character of Maims link Smith . . Her letters aro written in hot words of lovo , riiro even iu tho records of tho most pasaionato attachments . A sensuous lire breathes through them , and sho ovidently dominates tho weaker spirit of the little ' l- ' ivuchman . H \\ o has admitted him to her embraces , and Mho often refers to their . ' guilty gladness , ' sometimes in words that oven London editor * —not very nioo on all occasions—think it
only decent to omit . She contrives with . skill to admit him to interviews in her father ' s house , and she shamelessly asks her father ' s servant for the use of her room for the accommodation of herself and her lover . One of these interviews is described by the confidante , Christina . Hagga ^ t . ( She does not fix the date , but according to Tier
indications it must have taken place m the latter half of the month of February . ) She left the back door open , and remained in the kitchen herself . She heard footsteps coming in , and she has ' no doubt' that Miss Smith and her visitor went into her ( the cook ' s ) bedroom and remained there half an hour or so .
We now come to the first fact which has any immediate connexion with , the cause of L'Angelieb ' s death . We must bear in mind that Madeline Smith had been plunged into a paroxysm of terror at the idea of an exposure of her letters , that she tried every form of entreaty to induce L'ANaELiEK to restore them , and that he declined to
restore them .. To realise the situation , we must bear in mind that this miserable little L'An gkelier was a warehouse clerk at 100 ? . a year—not moving in good society—not known to Miss Smith ' s friends—while she was a pretty girl , generally admired , of strongpassions , strong will , strong nerves , unscrupulous courage , and great craft . She had in her hot lust received the Frenchman as her
lover , but she always hesitated at marriage . She got tired of the lover when lie preached to hex of her faults , and when their stolen embraces were prevented ( this is her own confession ); her love for him was merely sensual . And now she finds that this mean wretch has her in his power—that the unmanly little Guppy . can blast her happiness for life . What was the next step ? -Did she break off with her new suitor , MivMin-Nocn , and resume relations with L' Angelieb . ? No ; she adopted a course which accumulated embarrassments around her . She continued
her engagement with Mr . Mimnoch—the day for the wedding was fixed ; she was resolved to marry him ; and as she was a young lady of strong will and steady nerves , and not hindered by the timidity which a virtuous young maiden might possess , doubtless she considered herself capable of attaining the object of her desires . But we have seen that she had another object in view—to get back her letters or en ' suro the silence of her former lover . He refused to give back her letters ; he refused to pledge himself to silence . Does she , in fear , givo up
MiNnocii ? No . How will she get out of the difficulty ? She resumes a loving correspondence and lovers ' intercourse with L ' Angeher . She sends for half an ounce of prussic acid . ( The date is not given , but two witnesses fix it at about six weeks before the 31 st of March , that is , about tho middle of February , tho date of her reconciliation to L'Angelieb . ) She sends for it openly ' for her hands , ' it is refused . Prussie acid is never xisod as a cosmetic , and sho oilers no explanation of her desire for it . Tho lovers seem to have met on
Wednesday , February the llth , and on JLhursday , February tho 10 th . On the night of tho 19 th I / Angielusu was ill , with all tho symptoms of having taken arsenic . Ho recovered . On February tho 2 lst sho goes openly lo the shop of » druggist , and buys an ounce ot arsenic ' to poison rats . ' ( Who now aavs ^ lfc was to uho it as a cosmetic ) Tlioro arc indications in the correspondence Unit an interview took place on tho 22 ml—not positive indications , bwfc . suoh ns nri * o from a comparison of all letter * dated with thoso undated , nud of known Jiu-ts <> f certain date with tho undated lottery . On the morning ot tho 2 Jrci
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No . 3 ftl . JtlXY 11 , 1857 . 1 x j . ja - ^ ^ * . - " ¦» *»
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o notice can be taken of anonymous ^™ aP ° 2 , ™^ culty of finding space for them .
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i . ere is nothing so revolutionary , because there is aothing' so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain : o keep things fixed-when all the v . orla is by thevery aw ofits creation in eternal progress . —De . Aekolb .
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SATURDAY , JULY 11 , 1857 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 11, 1857, page 659, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2200/page/11/
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