THE GLASGOW MURDER TRIAL. (From the Home News.)

Otago Witness, Issue 585, 14 February 1863, Page 7

THE GLASGOW MU RDER TRIAL. (From the Home News.)

Jessie Al'Lachlan, who was convicted of murder at Glasgow, on the '20th September List, has now been

respired, during her Majesty s pleasure, on the ground that there are doubts of her guilt. This mur<ier lias caused a deeper sensation in Scotland than anything since tlie case of Madeline Smith, and no one can read its incidents without feeling that it is one of the strangest as well as the most dreadful in the annals of crime. The chief point is that the question of guilt lies between Jessie M'Lachlan and an old gentleman, Air James Fleming, 87 years of age, whom Jessie M'Lachian denounces as the murderer. The murdered woman was the servant of Mr Fleming and his son. On Friday, July 4, Air John Fleming;, the son, kfc the hoiist in Glasgow, and vei.t to Dun loan, leaving oil Air Flenriug in tlie h)ii c with the jc -v, Et, Jess'e M'Pherson, a woman ot'C-3. '^.n tlie Monday afternoon he returned, when the old man informed him that the servant had gone off, and tlut he had been left alone in the house. Air Fleming, the son, went downstairs, opened the door of the servant's room, and found Jessie M'Plier-.-on murdered on the floor. She li id been lucked witu a cleaver about the head ; the clpaver with tl\e hloui upon it was there ; there wis blood all about— in short, tiieie cou d be no dou,bt that a barbarous minder hfi'l been coiyuiliNd. The evidence of the old man iv.r-, that he liad heard screams about 4 o'clock on the Saturday morning and uot out of bed, bul as they suddenly cua«ei he leiurnud to bed again. Je?->ie M'Ladilau, an acqiuint'iuct! of the murdered woimn, w.i.s apprehended, and aecurd'iig to Scotch pinotics) examined. She gi\e conti.ulietury accourts of her proceeding---, and it was yioved tn.it she was JiWity from home on the Frid ty n/g'it, an I tint she had intended Ugj and <cc the <ics -ased. Fui'tL rluoro, she, who h.\ I be -n pawning trilling- atfcich's for a il'-y shillings oa tlie Fnday, was ab e iiie next day to |ay her rent and to git clothes to the value of neasly Lo out of pnvn. Thy b'oody bDotmarks on the floor in the Fieminjj-s' hoinc corresponded with Lei feet; the atoleu plate was prj\ed to have been disposed ot by her ; one or Uvo of the murdered wo. nan's dresses were found in her posswion ; and some of lit own clothing, covered with blood, was found, concealed by her at a di-lant place. The defence of the pi isoner at first w.is that she kne.v nothing of the circumstances of tlie murder, but she had been employed by old Mr Reining to pan a til i plate, and that having raised LU 15s on it he uave her L 4 for ly;r tiouble, with which money the psiil her landlord. This .story wm improbable I'uonnh iv ikelf, and coupled with the fact that A3r Fit mine: was not a nesuy person, but had LIBO in the bauU, it was absolutely inciediblo. JJut the prisouur adhered to her version, and accuse 1 tne old man of bcm<r the murderer. Tlie jury showed their opinion of this defence by unauimously fiudinfc Uer gui.ty after a quarter of uu honi'a consideia.tion. But no sooner was qhe <?onvic^ed than she came out with a totally new story, which certainly looks as if it was composed to meet the circumstances proved at the tri.-il. According to this revelation, she had gone to the Flemh'gd' house to -cc t ie deceased, and had found the man bitting with her in the kitchen. Tin- three spent tin evening togeth-r, quarrelling toolc place, and when the prisoner, who had gone out to get some whisky, came back she found Jeesie il'Pherson lying on the floor bleeding- from a \v_ound in the foreheul. The old man said he lnid'^ot meant to hurt her, and swore the pviscne;; ou tlie B^ibl'e 'tjo secrecy respeclm; the ' whole alfiiir. The prisoner then wa? for going for a doctor,' wd went upstairs pre\ iously to do so. When sh.e c^r«e down she found | the old man chopping tha c\ecea-ed about the head v tth a cleaver. " She died, and he dragged her into her own room. The prisoner and the old mau together cleaned up the blood ; he persuaded her that they were both in tqual danger from what had passed, and told her to get ri<l of the dresses by sending them to some address by uiKvay, to ba left till called for, and to pawn the plate in i\ t&ted' name. She had got her own rcv,a m). draggled and wet, and threw Jessie. *s grown 'over her in order to go home, which she^cUd about 9 oVlock in the morning." This is the seemingly wild story on wh.ch the new inquiry into the facts, which we lately said had been ordered by Sir George Giey, was based. As tlie prisoner is at least an accessory after the fact according to her own tale, we must pre&urae that some strong corroborative testimony must be required by Sir George Grey before lie will listen ; to' 1 the charge against Uie old lAan. " It may be mentioned tha,t t^e task of -inquiring 'into the case was ' con^rijitijed t,Q a Mr Younj* who has been, taking'" evMense iiov some time past. The result, o,3'^rsady feiated, is n respite ofthepirisoneraiiyiaj 'her Majesty's pleasure. " 'Oa the fiicis of the case," says the 'limes, '-vie hnve, ot course, no wish to pronounce an opinion. If Jessie M'J.achlau's extraordinary nanative be true, by all means kt her sentence be commuted to such a one as she will deserve for abetting the murderer and stealing the victim's goods, and let the okl luaa. be bronght to trial. Hut what we t2.,in^ ts a 'matter of general interest to the ccumvy ' is' 'that suo'h an inquiry cho:;id be- committed to a, single, unknown, and irresponsible person, whose opinion thus outweighs that of judge and jury. Heexnnines witnessed respecting facts that are alleged to have transpired before or after the trial ; he takes down their evidence in private, and sends it to the Home-office ; and after a duly constituted tribunal, bae spent three days on the trial, its decision ftsst, a&le tiuiply on the oi>inbn of Olis" one ' 'man. In the present instance'the' anomaly is still more striking, because it is a oase of alternative. If the woman did not commit the murder, then Fleming did, and the inquiry which may end in substituting the one for the other ought surely to bo made by a competent authority. 1 1 is a qu stion of the gravest importance, and seems to show the necessity of a Court of Appeal on the facts in capital cases, if in no other. It tue \'tifrt^t of a jury is to be set a^dc, it o^ght" to" be by a iribuunt of ttie highest authouty, and not by the opinion of any single lawyer, or doctor, or policeinspector, who nmy happen to be employed as the deputy of the Hoinn-office." On the 7th November the Governor of Glasgow pii^on received a co-nmunicaUon from the Grown a»ent at the Edinburgh station that Je^ie M'Lach- | lon's sentence of death had been commuted, into pei nalseivitvulefor life. ' l

THE. DOINGS OF THE ALABAMA. The IVew Yqpk Times of JNTovember 5, gives an interesting account of the doings of the Confederate war steamer Alabama. We quote the greater portion, preserving the complimentary phrases applied to the Alabama and her commander : —

" The brig Baron de Castine, of Boston, Captain Sanders, from Bangor on the 19th of October, for Cardenas, arrived at Boston on. Sunday. JShe had been overhauled by the rebel pirate Alabama, or JS'o. '29d, Captain Semites, aud compelled t ! o put into that port. ls The Baron de' Castine reports that on the 29tli,'in lat. 39 deg. X, long. 69 deg. W., she was captured, according to the report of Captain Sanders, by the British pirate Alabama. Captain Semmes agreed to liberate the brig for a bond of 6,000 dollars, payable to the President of ilio 1 Confederate States 30 days ulter^ peace is ueblarefl.' Captain Sanders gave the liond, and was then informed that he must take as passengers the crews, numbering 45 in all, of several American vessels which had been previously captured and burnt by the Alabama The crews were scut on board the, brig, but extra provisions were refused, and Captain Sanders bore 'away for the nearest port to land them. '* The following is a list of the vessels taken,

burnt, or bonded by tiie pirate Scmmes, as reported by Captain Snider--: — The barque Limpijrrhter, of Boston, Harding, master, from Xew York, for Gibraltar, captured Oct. 10, in lat. 40 30 X.. lon-. 59.17 W., and burnt. The Lampli»bfer w.-h a vessel of 370 tons, rating .V 14, and was owned by Lombard and Co, of Hoitoa. "The ship Lafayette, of jSow Haven, Small, master, from JS T ew York, for Belfast, Ireland, witli a cargo of wheat and corn, captured October 2:5, in Lit. 40 N., Ion;. 64 W., aud burnt. The Lifayette was a vessel of 945 tons, built a1;a 1 ; L-'iveport, Maine, in 18.38, and rating A 1^;. schooner Crenshaw, of Xew York, Nelson, master, from New York, for Gla-^ort-, with a cargo of Hour, captured October 26, in iat. 40 X., Jong. Ci W., and burnt. One of the crew of the Crenshaw joined the Alabama. The Crenshaw was a vessel of 278 ton?, built in Baltimore, and rating Al . She was formerly owned in Richmond, Virginia. "■the barque Luimette, of Boston, Welles, mister, from X'ew York, for Madeira, captured Oct. 28, in Int. 39.45 A 7.,A 7 ., long. 68 \V., aud burnr. The Lauriette was a vessel of 284 tous, built in Damariscotta, aud rating Al. °

''Captain Semmes informed the prisoners that on October 10, he captured the packet ship Tonawanda, of and from Philadelphia for Liverpool, with passengers on board, "and detained her for live days, then releasing her for a bond of 80,000 dok, payable as above. He also captured the ship Manchester, of and trom New York for Liverpool, and the brig Dunkirk, from ]Sfe\v York for Lisbon, and i burnt them, putting the crews on board the [ Tonawanda. The Tonawanda is a vessel of 1,300 ton?, built in Philadelphia in ISSO for Ileury Copes, and rated AU, l> The Manchester was a vessel of 1,075 tons, built in Portsmouth, Xew Hampshire, in 1861, and rated Al. " The brig Dunkirk, of Ellsworth, Maine, was a vessel of 298 tons, built in Ellsworth, Maine, 1858, and rated A 2. " Captain Harding, of the barque Lamplighter, make 3 the following report: — 'On the 18th ult, at daylight, in latitude 41 deg. 30 miv. north, longtitude 59 deg 17 mm. west, wind south, with thick weather, saw a ship standing to the southward. In half an hour the weather cleared up a little, and she altered her course and stood across our bows with the British flag flying. I then made her out to be a steamer. When within a mile he fired a gun, hauled down the British flag, and ran up the Confederate flag. I hove to, and he sent a boat on board, demanded niy papers, and declared me a prize. We were sent on board the steamer. I was allowed to take one trunk and my officers and crew one bag each. Captain Semmes ordered his first lieutenant to go on board of the barque and burn her immediately. I begged him to save my ship, but he replied, v T hope to be able to serve yon a sight worse yet," They then went on board to bum my ship. I was permitted to go with them. When they Avent into the cabin they asked for liquor. I gave them all 1 had. They drank some, and emptied tie remainder on the floor. Then they took the oil cans out of the locker, and poured oil on the floor, and then at 3 o'clock in the morning they set the vessel on fire. We were then transferred to the steamer and put in irons, an 4 almost starved. The pirate then continued ta cruise under sail, but with steam up, until she captured all the p<bove vessels. The crews were "all put in irons as soon as captured. Those on board of the Alabama had full files of the New York Herald and pictorial papers containing an account of the former captnres by the A.la.b:-,ma.' Captain Harding was inforn\ed by the second lieutenant and several petty officers that their next destination was Ivew York, as they meant to throw a I'ovf shells into that city. Captain Haw} ing represents the Alabama as very formidable, but he does not think she is as fast as has been reported. When he left her the crew was mounting two large pivot givn3, one forward and the other aft. lie thinks they were 100-pounders. "The following is the Jist of vessels captured and destroyed by the Alabama, as far as heard from;— 1, the ship Oomulgee ; 2, the ; shi,p Ocean Rover; 3, the ship Benjamin Tucker ; 4, tile ship Brilliant ; 3, the ship Lafayette; 6, the ship Manchester; 7, the barque Alert ; 8, the barque Ocela ; 9, the the barque Virginia; 10, the barque £lisha, Dunbar ; 11, tbe barque Lamplighter. ; 12, barque Laurictte ; 13, the tyig J>iin,kirk.; U,\ the schooner Altarqafya; 15, tb,e schooner] Weather Gag?; 16, th,e schooner Starlight; 17, the schoprier Courser; 18, the schooner Crejdhaw ; 19, the schooner Ocean Cruiser. Vessels bonded and released: 20, the bri«Baron de Castine ; 51, the ship Tonawanda. Vessels released : 22, the ship Emily Farnham. " Recapitulation. — Bpstrayed:- Sams, 6 ; barques, 6 ; brig, 1, ; schooners, 6. Bonded and released: Ship,' 1, ; brig, I, Released, Ship, 1. Tojal captured., 22, "T.he AJubajpft waa last seen on the 29th October^ in iat. 39, long. 60. steering northwest. She was then under a full head of steam and sail,and the wind was blowing from, the south.