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extracts of some of the more curious old laws of Scotland, while it was yet a separate and independent kingdom, which we intend to transfer to our pages, to such as involve either of these subjects. It may be proper to premise, that we quote from President Balfour's Practicks of Scots Law. Will the reader believe that in 1494, so little was education attended to the Schoolmaster, it appears, was not then even "at home"-that it was found necessary to pass an act requiring that "all baronnes and freeholders of substance sould put their airis to the schulis,” under a penalty of " twentie pound.” Yet in 1579, nearly a century later, an act for what nowadays may be deemed even a more singular purpose, received the sanction of James VI., "and his thre estatis," to wit, that,

"All gentilmen, houshaldaris, and utheris, worth 300 markis of zeirlie rent or abone, and all substantious zemen or burgessis, likewise househaldaris, estemit worth 500 pundis in landis or gudis, be halden to have ane bybill and psalme buik in vulgair language in thair housis, for the better instructioun of thameselfis, and thair famileis, in the knawledge of God, within zeir and day efter the dait heirof, ilk persoun under the pane of ten pundis."

The old system of "burrow lawis," as we have them digested by the President, presents many curious particulars. The bakers and brewers seem to have been under the special

surveillance of the law :

"Gif ony Baxter in baiking of the breid, or ony brouster in brewing of the aill, committis ony fault, na persoun sould mell thairwith bot the Provest and Baillies; and gif ony of thame failzeis twyse, thay sall be twyse correetit thairfoir; and gif thay faill the third time, they sall suffer punishment in thair bodie: that is, the Baxter sall be put to the pillorie, and the Bronster upon the tumbrell or cokstuill."

pleasis; and the gait may be eschete be him, swa that he may slay and eit the samin at his pleasour."

The doing skaith to a man's dog seems to have been a very serious matter:

and aganis the law, slayis ane uther man's dog, he sall walk his "Item, It is statute and ordanit, gif ony man of set purpois, midding [dunghill be the space of xij monethis, and ane day, or than sall content and pay to him all his skaithis sustenit be him within that xij monethis and day, for want of his hound or dog."

With how much gravity is the following case put! Yet it is tameness itself when compared with that which imme diately follows, and which the worthy President, in a marginal note, justly entitles, "a merrie questioun anent the burning of a miln.”

and ane horse, or uther beist, in his hand, or leidand the samin "Gif ony persoun havand na burding nor uther thing, is hald on ane brig, or ony strait passage, or ony uther perilous or dangerous place, meitis and rancounteris ony uther persoun, calland or drivand twa or ma horse or beistis befoir him, or leidand in his hand ane horse, or uther beist, chargit with ane laid or burding, upon the samin brig or place, in the quhilk, throw the straitness of the passage, the ane may not pass by the uther without damnage and skaith; in this caís, he quha has na uther thing bot ane horse, or uther beist, sould return back agane, and said horsis or beistis, or the said laidnit horse or beist: And gif give place to the uther to come fordwart quha is drivand the he dois not return, bot cumis ford wardt, and thairthrow ony harm or skaith happinis to be done, he is haldin of the law to amend and repair the samin; because he quha is chargit with quha has care of divers beistis, or of ane beist laidnit with ony ane beist allanerlie, sould saif himself, and give place to him thing."

"Gif it happin that ony man be passand in the King's gait or be chance ane horse, havand ane sair bak, is lying in the said passage, drivand befoir him twa sheip festnit and knit togidder, gait, and ane of the sheep passis be the ane side of the horse, and At a time when the necessaries of life were scarce, and the uther sheep be the uther side, swa that the band quhairthe supply uncertain, it would seem that a greater punish- with they are bund tuich or kittle his sair bak, and he thairby ment than a pecuniary loss was necessary for the govern-thair, untill at last he cumis and enteris in ane mile havand ane movit dois arise, and carryis the said scheip with him heir and ment of those to whom the supplying of the citizens was fire, without ane keipar, and skatteris the fire, quhairby the intrusted.

The very number of assistants which a baker should employ at his oven was rigidly laid down. We fear, in the present day, more than the legal number of knaves are too frequently allowed.

"Gif a man hes ane oyne (oven) cf his awin, he sall keip in the samin the Kingis lawis maid thairanent be the the honest and wyse men of the burgh, viz. he sall not hald ma servandis nor four, viz. ane maister, twa servandis, and ane knaive. The maister or lord of the oyne sall have for his oyne, at ilk tyme, ane peny; the twa servandis, ane peny; and the knaive ane farding."

On the subject of a wife's dowery, "the wisdom of our ancestors" seems to have taken a very common-sense view. In an act passed to oblige "ilk husband to give ane reasonable dowrie and tierce to his wife," it is declared that "the quhilk [that is the dowery] is gevin to the wife, to the effect that gif it happen hir husband to deceis before her scho may the mair easilie be maryit with ane uther man." We presume a modern dower is ostensibly given for a different purpose. A very singular enactment was made in the reign of William, with regard to the damage or "skaith" done to the property of ane person by the hens, geese, or goats of another. Does not the provision regarding the goat point out that it must at that time have been a much more common animal in Scotland than at present? The object in "stikking the nose in the zeird," [earth] we can scarce comprehend:

Gif ony man findis and apprehendis ane uther man's hennis, geis or gait, doand him harm and skaith, he may tak and cut off the heid of the geis and of the hennis, and stikth the nose in the zeird, and may tak and eit the bodies thairof, gif he

miln, horse, sheep, and all, is brunt : Quæritur, Quha sall pay the sheip, because his horse sould not have been lying in the the skaith? Respondetur, The awner of the horse sall pay King's hie street, or commoun passage; and the miller sall pay for the miln, and the horse, and for all ut her damnage and skaith, because he left ane fire in the miln, without ane keipar."

How strongly does the following enactment resemble the barbarous policy practised toward the poor negro in our slave colonies in the present day!

"Gif ony man is fund within the King's land, havand na proper lord or master, he sall have the space of xv. dayis to get him a master: And gif he, within the said time, findis na lord nor master, he sall give ane unlaw of viij ky to the King's Justice: And, mairover, the King's Justice sall put his persoun in presoun, and keip him to the King's behove, till he get ane lord

and master."

A man from whom it was possible to levy a fine of eight cows might have passed, one would think, pretty well for his own master.

Shade of Croker-the land-surveyor, we mean, not the Secretary with how much ingenuity is the passage to be allowed at the centre of a stream, marked out in the fol. lowing enactment! The idea is excellent. We question i the Boundary Commissioners the fabricators of schedule M of the great charter of our liberties-were aware of such a mode of admeasurement.

"It is statute and ordanit be King Alexander at Perth on Thursday, betoir the feist of Sanct Margaret, with consent of the Erlis, Baronis, and Judges of Scotland, that the midst of the water sall be fre, in sa mekill that ane swine of thre zeir auld and weill fed, is of lenth, and may turn him within it, in sic ane maner, that nather his grunzie [mouth] nor his tail tuich ony of the sides of the cruives that ar biggit on ilk side of the water."

tuiching the buikes contenand the lawes of this Realme” will be found at the end of Skene's "Exposition of the termes and difficill wordes conteined in the foure buikes of Regiam Majestatem."

STATISTICAL VERSES.

The “Chalmerlane of Scotland” in the "Air,” (or circuit court?) which he is directed to hold, is enjoined to summon before him the various functionaries connected with the burgh, and to "challenge them on particulars which are set forth at length. From the challenge which he is directed to make, as well as from various enactments in the course of the statute-book, it appears that there were persons appointed as "gusteris and tasteris," and "prysouris," THE following verses were sent to Sir John Sinclair by the to see that the "baxters," "brouster-wiffis," and "flesh- eccentric, benevolent, and pious minister of Lochcarron on ouris" not only offered for sale goods of proper quality, but the west coast of Ross-shire: a man of whom many droll that they (the prysouris) should also fix the price at which stories are told, and who is most affectionately remembered such articles were to be sold, and to which price the traders by his parishioners by the name of "The GOOD MR. LAUCHwere obliged to agree "under the pane of ane unlaw." The LAN." After stoutly resisting the "Whig Ministers," as the sign or signal by which the "brouster-wiffis" gave notice Evangelical preachers were long called by Highlanders, this to the "gusteris and tasteris of aill that they come and parish submitted, about the middle of the last century, or taist it," appears to have been a stick or staff denominat- rather earlier, to an apostle militant, named ENEAS SAGE; ed an "aill wand," which they were obliged to display whom, after attempting to burn, they came almost to worwhenever their ale was ready for the inspection of the ship. He attacked the vices of his parishioners with the "guster." The "guster and taster was then bound to arm of flesh; fought Seaforth's factor on a Sunday with repair to the said "brousteris," and to remain on the "mid-claymore and dirk, and put him to flight; and expelled, streit," and send ane of his company into the house along with the strong hand, the mistress whom Malcolm Roy, with "thair serjand to elect and cheise the barrel or pitcher another of his flock, kept in the house with his wife. He quhairof they will taist." From the form of challenge, it was very passionate, but made his parishioners “warm appears to have been matter of complaint against the "gus- Christians." His successor, the eccentric poet we are about teris" that "they drank in ilk hous quhair they sould bot to quote, says quaintly of the people," They have a strong anis taist, quhairthrow they tine their gust and ar maid attachment to religion, yet would be the better for a little drunke." The particular manner by which the "baxteris" more. They are hospitable, charitable, engaging and obligand fleshouris" gave notice to the "prysour" is not men- ing; but it must be owned, very few of them would refuse tioned a dram." Mr. Lauchlan was at deadly feud with female neck-frills, and with the combs with which the girls began to tuck up their hair, instead of the primitive suood.

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As a specimen of the "challenges," it may perhaps be sufficient to select that of the tailors, shoemakers, and wea

vers.

CHALLENGE OF TAILZEOURIS.

In the first, thay mak refuse and skreidis in men's claith, sumtimes for haist, and sometimes for ignorance. Item, That thay tak pieces and skreidis to sleives, and uther small thingis. Item, That thay mak men's garmentis and claethis utherwayis than men biddis thame. Item, That they sew with false threid and graith.

Item, That thay keip not thair day to ilk man.

Item, That thay mak thame masteris or thay can knaw the craft, in greit skaithing of the King and pepill.

Item, That thay work on haly-dayis, aganis the law of

God.

CHALLENGE OF SOUTERIS,

In the first, that thay bark and mak schoone utherway is than law will; that is, thay buy not sic hides as has the horn and the eare of equal lenth.

Item, That thay mak schoone, butes, or uther graith, of the ledder befoir it be barkit.

Item, That thay sew with false and rotten threid, throw the quhilk the schoone ar tint befoir thay be half worn.

Item, That quhair thay sould give thair ledder gude oyle or taulch, thay give it but water and salt.

Item, That thay mak schoone and work of it or it be wrocht or curreit, in greit prejudice of the King's lieges.

CHALLENGE OF WEBSTARIS.

In the first, that thay mak over lang thrumis, in skaithing of the pepil.

Item, That quhair thay tak in with weichtis, quhen thay give out the claith thay mak it donk and wet, castand water on it, and uther thingis, to cause it to wey, and thairthrow haldand to thameselfis ane greit quantitie out of it.

Item, That thay tak ane man's zairn, and puttis in ane uther man's web for haist.

Tailors have been long proverbial for the fidelity of their promises; but we were not aware that it dated so far back. The object in making it illegal for shoemakers to buy such hides as had the horns and ears of unequal length, we are at a loss to divine. To such as are curious in the old laws we recommend the perusal of the curious and well-known collection of Murray of Glendook :-they will there find much to amuse. It is unfortunate, however, that his collection begins only at the reign of James I. For the many curious enactments previous to that reign, should the inquirer wish to push his researches farther, it will be necessary to refer to such compilations as that to which we have been indebted for the above extracts. "Ane admonition

This same statistical account
Is sent to please Sir John,
And if it be not elegant,

Let critics throw a stone.
We have not fine materials,

And our account is plain;
Our purling streams are well enough,
But we have too much rain.

In Humbay there's a harbour fine,
Where ships their course may steer;
Such as are building villages
Might build a village there.
From Castle Strom there is a road
Straight down to Kessock Ferry,”
And by this road the men of Skye

Do all their whisky carry.

Our girls are dressed in cloak and gown,
And think themselves right bonny;
Each comes on Sunday to the Kirk,
In hopes to see her Johnny.

A drover, when the sermon's done,
Will ask the price of cows,
But the good, honest Christian
Will stick to Gospel news.
We call for tea when we are sick,

When we want salt we grumble;
When drovers' offers are not brisk,
It makes our hopes to tumble.
The parson has no horse nor farm,
Nor goat, nor watch, nor wife:
Without an augmentation,† too,
He leads a happy life.

Now, good Sir John, it was for you
I gathered all this news;
But you will say that I forgot

To count the sheep and cows.
Of these we have a number, too;

But then, 'twixt you and I,
The number they would never tell,
For fear the beasts should die.

Kessock, the Ferry at Inverness, from whence a Parliamentary road goes across the island to Lochcarron.

The stipend of Lochcarron was then worth little more than L.50, with a glebe reckoned at L.3 or L.4.

+ This superstition is common to Highlanders, and to other people.

THE STORY TELLER.

A FEMALE MONSTER.

EFFECTS OF IGNORANCE AND SUPERSTITION.

frequently to visit him, and who soon conceived a liking for his wife, which Gesche did not leave unreturned. Their intimacy always continued to increase, and presents passed between them. Gesche was desirous to present to Kassou a breast-pin enclosing a lock of her hair, but did not well know how to express a note which she wished to send along with it. She, therefore, applied to Miltenberg, telling him that she wished to make a present to one of her female friends, and requesting him to write a note to be sent along with it, which he accordingly did. This she copied and sent to Kassou along with the pin.

In 1808 she had a still-born child, and after her confinefewer than thirteen pairs of stays, to improve her form. This was not discovered till her arrestment. She now began to be tired of Miltenberg; calumniating him to her parents, and directing her passions sometimes to Gottfried and sometimes towards Kassou. She was obliged to sell several articles of household furniture to pay some of her secret debts, telling her husband she wanted the money to send to her brother, who was then a soldier in the army of Napoleon, and representing to her mother that her husband had sold them.

GESCHE MARGARETHE GOTTFRIED, living in Bremen, was, in March, 1828, accused of having caused the death of a number of persons by poison. Before this accusation, she had lived in apparently easy circumstances in the middle ranks of life; her house was elegantly furnished, and her dress and demeanour that of a lady; her reputation was untainted; and the frequent deaths which occurred in her house were ascribed to heavy visitations of God. Her father was a tailor in Bremen; active and indus-ment, began, on account of her thin appearance, to wear not trious, but stingy, selfish, and inclined to superstition. His religion was of a kind that influenced him as long as its practice did not interfere with his own interests; and he attended church only when he had no work to do at home. Gesche Margarethe, and her twin brother, were born in March, 1783. These were the only children of their father, and, when about four years old, were both sent to school, where they remained till they were nearly twelve. The commencement of Gesche's career in sin may be dated from her seventh year, and was partly owing to the avarice of her parents. Being allowed no pocket-money, she was unable to appear on an equal footing with her school companions, and she began to steal from her mother small sums at first, but afterwards to a larger amount. This did not remain long concealed from her mother, who, however, ascribed it to the son, who was of a silent bashful disposition, rather than to the daughter, whose manners were frank; and although the mother had afterwards occasion to suspect her daughter, still she could not be certain, so artfully were the crimes concealed. Her father was accustomed to sing a hymn every morning before commencing work, and it frequently happened that his daughter was moved to tears by it. She was, however, of a very contradictory spirit, and her mother had frequent occasion to complain of her conduct. As she became older, she was sent to learn dancing, an accomplishment in which she greatly delighted. She also attended a French class, where, to appear the first of her class, she employed a young man, one of her acquaintances, to write her lessons for her, which she then copied and passed for her own.

Thus her life passed on with little variety till she was twenty years of age, although, when sixteen, she had already received three offers of marriage, which she, or rather her father, declined. She was beautiful, and almost everywhere beloved and well received.

When about twenty, she received an offer of marriage from a saddler of the name of Miltenberg, which she was induced to accept. This marriage proved far from happy. Miltenberg had formerly been married to a woman who rendered his house a scene of misery and discord, and to avoid her society he always took refuge in the taverns, and so acquired a propensity to liquor which he could never overcome. He was induced to marry again chiefly by his father; for he had been so thoroughly disgusted with marriage by his former experience, that he had little desire to enter into another contract, and frequent quarrels took place between him and his father on the subject. Gesche had evinced no great love towards him, but the riches of the suitor had a powerful influence over the mind of her father, who prevailed on her to accept of the offer.

Miltenberg, however, loved his wife, and the more he had been ashamed of his former wife the more he seemed to doat upon this one; but he still frequented the taverns, and she was often left without his society or guidance.

They had been four months married when Gesche met Gottfried, her future husband, at a ball; and from that day all her wishes were directed towards him. She now began to colour her cheeks with rouge; hours were spent before her glass; and from her toilet she hurried to her kitchen window, and remained there to see him pass to his count ing-room; but Gottfried took no notice of her.

It was about this period, namely, in September, 1807, that her first child was born. About the same time Miltenberg became acquainted with one Kassou, who used very

In 1810 she had another child, and had no sooner recovered from her confinement, than, being short of money, she resolved to open her husband's desk. To accomplish this she pretended to have lost one of her own keys, and sent for a smith to get the desk opened; she observed narrowly how he proceeded, and after he was gone went and opened it and abstracted ten dollars. Not content with this, she proceeded afterwards to open the desk of a gentleman who lodged in her house, and took away ninety dollars. She remained, however, unsuspected, and a favourite with all her acquaintances; and was for some time cured of stealing by a fright which she got by a very narrow search being made on the desks being broken open.

Her passion for Gottfried increased more and more, and the habits and sickness of her husband gave them many opportunities of meeting. Her husband was intimate with Gottfried, and used to have him very often at his house. But her passion was not confined to Gottfried, it extended also to Kassou; and the necessity of keeping her love for the one concealed from the other brought her into many petty scrapes. Her fourth child was born in 1813.

Miltenberg was still in her way. She had never loved him, and now that he crossed her path, she began to wish him dead, that she might give free vent to her passion for Gottfried. Miltenberg's father had lately died, and she had observed nothing particularly fearful in death, so that by degrees she accustomed herself to the thought of Miltenberg dying. As he was always in bad health, she began to think that, as his life was only an encumbrance to himself, and an impediment to her, it would be no great sin to help him out of the world. In this state of mind she went to a fortune-teller, who prophesied that her whole family would die before her. She knew that her mother had some arsenic which she kept for poisoning mice. She accordingly went to her, and saying that she was troubled with mice in her house, asked if she knew of any means of destroying them, pretending that she knew nothing of poison. Her mother put some arsenic on bread, and placed it in the room said to be infested with the mice, warning her daughter at the same time to keep the apartment locked for fear of mischief to the children. A day or two after this, Gesche went into the room and took away the poison, which she scratched from the bread as if the mice had taken it, with the intention of giving it to Miltenberg. Some time afterwards her mother said that she would go and see if the mice had taken the poison. "Oh yes !" exclaimed the daughter, "pray bring me some more ;" which her mother did.

She was now in possession of the means of death, but could not for several weeks bring herself to the resolution of administering it to her husband.

At last she gave him some, one morning, to breakfast, and afterwards another dose in some water-gruel. She could not, however, approach the bed of the sick man ; it appeared to her as if he knew that she was his murderer ;

but this was far from being the case, as he recommended might make sure of the property. Thus had she poisoned her to Gottfried before he died. The corpse was dreadfully father, mother, brother, and children, in order to be put in swollen, but no suspicion was excited. possession of Gottfried, and at length we find him also in the list of her victims.

After Miltenberg's death, she received an offer of marriage; but her thoughts being directed to Gottfried, she refused it. Her parents suspecting this to be the cause of her refusal, told her that her marriage with Gottfried should never take place with their consent. Gottfried loved her, but did not wish to marry a person with children. She now again consulted a fortune-teller, and received the same an-pointment. swer. Thus, although she had got quit of her husband, there still remained serious obstacles to her union with Gottfried; first her father and mother, and then her children. She hoped also to get possession, by the death of her children, of a legacy of about 650 dollars, left them by old Miltenberg.

She seemed now to delight in murder, and the slightest cause was sufficient to decide upon the life or death of any of her relations. She was disappointed, however, as to Gottfried's riches, for, instead of wealth, he left her debt, and it required all her secretiveness to conceal her disapNow that she was alone, she occasionally felt severely the loss of her children; often when she thought of them, she shut herself up in her garret, and wept bitterly. She carefully avoided schools, and every place where children were to be met; and seemed to be particularly conscientious in paying off the debts of Gottfried. for its own sake, as because it afforded her the means of She loved money, not so much making a figure among her acquaintances, and so of grati

In April 1815, her mother was rather unwell, and came to live in her house, when she (Gesche) happening to light upon the packet of arsenic, part of which she had saved andfying her vanity. locked up, it immediately occurred to her to poison her mother. As her mother seemed likely to recover, she gave her the poison in her favourite beverage of lemonade; and while mixing it, she burst into loud laughter, so that she shuddered at herself; but it instantly occurred to her, that God made her laugh as a sign that her mother would soon be laughing in heaven. A witness afterwards said that sheriage, which she refused. She had one child by Gottfried, appeared happy at her mother's death.

Death now followed death with fearful rapidity. The very first day after her mother's burial, Gesche was sitting in a room with her second youngest child on her knee; the thought of poisoning it occurred to her, and without hesitating a moment, she administered to the child some arsenic on a piece of the cake which had been presented at the burial of its grandmother. This was on the 10th of May, and on the 18th, without the least remorse, she poisoned her eldest child. In the agony of death, it clasped its arms round the mother's neck, but Gesche remained unmoved. Two weeks afterwards, she poisoned her father. About ten weeks after these events, while her son was sitting on her knee, he asked her why God took away all her children? This pierced her to the heart, and she immediately resolved that he also should die.

Thus, in the short interval between May and September, she murdered both her parents and her children. But the death of so many in so short a space of time, naturally excited some suspicion, and to silence this, she was advised by her friends to have the body of the child opened. This she readily consented to, and the child was declared to have died of inflammation of the bowels.

In this manner, as she thought, was every obstacle to her marriage with Gottfried removed; but Gottfried himself did not show any particular desire to marry her, although he liked her company; and so the winter of 1815-16 passed free from murder. It was on a Saturday in May 1816, that her brother returned home a cripple and in rags, having lost the use of his feet in the Russian campaign. then, might be another obstacle to her marriage; at all Here, events, he must share her father's property with her. This was motive enough for his death. As already mentioned, he arrived on Saturday, or, as some say, on Friday, after a long absence; he was poisoned on Sunday, and, to avoid suspicion, she passed a great part of the time at his bedside. On every occasion, she had the precaution to employ a different physician. Seldom or never did any of them attend two of her patients.

Another obstacle, however, arose; Gottfried would not marry her. But this also she overcame, by the interest of some of his friends. His original refusal had hurt her, and she began to dislike him, and came to the resolution of poisoning him also. But she thought him rich, and therefore determined at all events first to marry him, in order to be made his heir, and then to execute her purpose. Monday morning, she and Gottfried had resolved to make a One pleasure party to a little distance out of town; and she seized this opportunity of poisoning him, that his sickness might appear the more unexpected. While he was on his deathbed, she sent for a priest to marry them, so that she

Yet, in spite of all these murders, she was not unhappy; she became acquainted with H (the name is not given,) and in his company forgot all her sins, and, in her own words, believed herself the happiest in the world. She rejoiced in her reputation, especially as, after the death of Gottfried, she again immediately received an offer of marbegotten before marriage. We find at this period another instance of her hypocrisy; some one requested from her the loan of sermons, which she delivered, with the request that great care of them should be taken, as they were the only means by which she was able to sustain so many judgments. She never read any of them. read the Bible, she thought the perusal of it of no use, Whenever she attempted to and immediately closed the book.

found means of borrowing; often obtaining it from one in
She was now often ill supplied with money, but always
order to pay another. After the death of Gottfried, she
during that time to have had little to occupy her mind ex-
seems to have rested for some years from her murders, and
cept the care of preserving her reputation untainted. In
1822 she went to Stade to spend a few weeks with some
she was too proud to own it, and could get none from
friends. Here, before she was aware, her money failed her;
home; she knew no person from whom she might borrow,
and had recourse to falsehood. She broke the key of her
drawer in the lock, threw it away, and then raised an alarm
that somebody had stolen her money out of the drawer.
The drawer was forced open, and no money appeared, and
bed. Being obliged to take an oath before a magistrate
nothing could be more obvious than that she had been rob-
that this was the case, she did not scruple to commit per-
jury; after which she got a supply of money from her
friends.

which she turned to good account, by extorting money
From time to time she received offers of marriage, all of
lief her admirers readily yielded to her requests.
from her admirers. She was reputed rich, and in this be-

One of them, named Zimmermann, was thus induced to advance her very considerable sums, which she repaid with he too was doomed to swell the list of her victims; after a great shew of tenderness. She was betrothed to him, but extracting all the booty in her power, she poisoned him by degrees, that she might have an opportunity of shewing her tenderness to him during his sickness, and thus lull suspiwhich he had advanced on her word alone, without taking cion. By his death she was free of the money due to him, a legal obligation.

visible motive:—a child came to congratulate her on her
She now began to poison her acquaintances, without any
birth-day, and received a dose on a piece of biscuit: a friend
called one forenoon, and also received a dose; and she tried
face it caused blotches to appear.
the strength of her poison on another of her friends, on whose

sickness, she might plunder his pantry. Zimmermann had
She gave a dose to one of her lodgers, that, during his
ceeded in borrowing 800 dollars, but he became impatient
a cousin named Kleine, in Hanover, from whom she suc

for repayment, and she had only 300 to give him. In this predicament she set out for Hanover, with the intention of poisoning Kleine, thinking by his death to gain delay. She accomplished her end, and after his death affirmed that she had given him a double Louis d'or the day before he died; but the whole story was a falsehood. She committed also several other murders for purely selfish ends, but the soul sickens in reporting them.

She was now often in want of money, and therefore could not keep up a large establishment, so that she was obliged to sell her house to a person named Rumpff, at the same time reserving a room or two for herself. Rumpff was fond of her, and used to call her aunt, but he had not been more than eight weeks in the house when his wife died, and he himself fell into bad health. He could do nothing but run about searching the whole house, from the garret to the cellar, for the cause of his trouble.

It chanced that he kept a pig; and wishing to have it killed, he sent for a butcher for that purpose. The butcher, with the view of pleasing him, brought to his room a choice bit of the pork, of which Rumpff partook, putting the remainder into his pantry. On the morrow he went to cut a slice from it, but he was surprised to find it in a different position from that in which he had left it the day before, and he perceived also that it was covered with a white powder. This excited his suspicions; he had the substance examined, and detected poison. Gesche's motive for this crime was to endeavour to regain possession of her house. She was arrested on suspicion.

The work before us, from which these particulars have been derived, gives no account of the trial or execution, which, as we are informed, is reserved for a separate publication; but it mentions that, in prison, she was tormented by dreams, in which she saw her victims sitting in the churchyard and beckoning to her; and she was often so much afraid, that, immediately on awakening, she could not remain longer in bed.

The following judgment was pronounced by the High Court of Bremen, on 17th September, 1830:

"The Court of Justice, in terms of the law, and after the inquiries have been conducted according to the decree of the 224 May last, find the widow of Michael Christopher Gottfried, Gesche Margarethe, formerly Timm, accused of poisoning, and of several other offences, to be guilty of the following crimes, as proven, besides several robberies, frauds, and perjuries, and attempted abortion of her offspring, viz.

1. To have poisoned both her parents, her three children, her first and second husbands, her suitor Paul ThoHa Zimmermann, Anne Lucie Meyerholtz, Johann Mosses, the wife of Johaan Rumpff otherwise Mentz, the wife of Frederic Schmidt otherwise Cornelius, and Frederic Kleine of Hanover; and also to have caused the death of Eliza, the daughter of the said Schmidt, by poison, although this is not proven to have been intentional.

"2 Several times to have given poison to the said Johann Rumpff, with the intention of killing him, and thereby causing to him a severe illness.

3. To have given poison to several other individuals, without any proven intention, but which was more or less mjurious to their health.

the offender stands accused with the poisoning of both her parents, three children, one brother, two husbands, one suitor, two pregnant women, friends male and female, helpless children, and domestic companions; though accused of adultery, false-witnessing, perjury, theft, calumny, and swindling, she seems endued with a singular mildness of temper, appears to possess a decided inclination to kind and benevolent acts, and betrays outward susceptibility for what is noble and generous." The article from which we have copied solves this riddle on the principles of the Phrenologists; but for the solution we must refer to the Journal itself, No. XXXII.

BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH OF

HELEN WALKER, A GENTLEWOMAN OF HEAVEN'S

MAKING.

HELEN WALKER was the daughter of a small farmer, or labourer at Dalwhairn, in the parish of Irongray. From whence her parents came is not known, but it is generally believed that they were what are called "incomers" into the parish of Irongray, and were in no way connected with the Walkers of Clouden, a race alike distinguished for respectability and longevity, and who have flourished time out of mind upon the fertile banks of the Cairn. At her father's death, his widow, who was then well stricken in years, became dependant for support on the industry of her daughters, Nelly and Tibby Walker. But this the former was far from viewing in the light of a hardship- she who was so rich in sisterly, could not be deficient in filial affection-and I have been informed by Elizabeth Grierson, housekeeper to Mr. Stott, optician, Dumfries, who, when a "lassie," knew Helen well, that though sometimes constrained to dine on dry bread and water, rather than pinch her poor old mother, she consoled herself with the idea that a blessing flowed from her virtuous abstinence, and that "she was as clear in the complexion, and looked as like her meat and work as the best of them." Helen Walker at this time, that is at least "sixty years since," was much, as the phrase goes, about Elizabeth's father's house; nursed her mother during her confinement, and even acted as the leading gossip at all the christenings; was respected as a conscientious auxiliary in the harvest, and uniformly invited to share the good things of rural life, when the mart happened to be killed, or a melder of corn was brought from the mill. Her conversational powers were of a high order, considering her humble situation in life; her language most correct, ornate, and pointed; her deportment sedate and dignified in the extreme. Many of the neighbours regarded her as "a little pensy body"—that is conceited or proud; but at the same time they bore willing testimony to her exemplary conduct and unwearied attendance on the duties of religion. Wet or dry, she appeared regularly at the parish church, and even when at home, delighted in searching the Scriptures daily. On a small round table the "big ha' Bible" usually lay open, and though "household affairs would often call her hence," it was observed by her visitors that when she lacked leisure to read continuously, she sometimes glanced at a single verse, and then appeared to ponder the subject deeply. A thunder storm, which appals most females, had on her quite an opposite effect. While the elemental war con

"The Court of Justice, therefore, according to the penaltinued, it was her custom to repair to the door of her cotcode, Art. 130, and taking into consideration the milder principles of the present usages of the law, condemn the accused, the widow of Michael Christopher Gottfried, as her well-merited punishment, and to serve as a warning to others, to death by the sword, and intrusts to the criminal court the execution and publication of the sentence, and also the adoption of all necessary measures: all the expenses caused by the inquiries, judgment and punishment, to be paid from the funds which she leaves, so far as they shall be sufficient."

For these strange particulars, we are indebted to the Phrenological Journal.]

A correspondent of the Athenæum, an admirable literary Tuper, in inentioning this woman, says, "that her case Tesents the most unprecedented riddle on record. Though

tage, the knitting gear in hand, and well-coned Bible open before her, and when questioned on the subject by her wondering neighbours, she replied, "That she was not afraid of thunder, and that the Almighty, if such were his divine pleasure, could smite in the city as well as in the field." Helen, though a woman of small stature, had been rather well-favoured in her youth. On one occasion she told Elizabeth Grierson that she should not do as she had done, but "winnow the corn when the wind blew in the barn-door." By this she meant that she should not hold her head too high, by rejecting the offer of a husband when it came in her way; and when joked on the subject of matrimony herself, she confessed, though reluctantly, that she once had a sweetheart-a youth she esteemed, and by whom she imagined she was respected in turn; that her lover, at

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