The curious and painful case at Brighton, iu which Miss
Christiana Edraunds was charged with having poisoned several persons in Brighton with chocolate drops mixed with arsenic and strychnine, one of whom, a little boy, died, ended yesterday week in the accused being committed for trial and her solicitor reserv- ing her defence. The evidence went to show not only that Miss Edmunds, by repeatedly exchanging poisoned chocolate drops for ordinary drops of a slightly different kind which were in Mr. May- nard's shop, managed to get a not inconsiderable supply of poisoned sweetmeats into Mr. Maynard's ehop, by one of which a little boy was killed, but that she distributed some of the arsenicized drops to children in the street, causing them great sickness and pain. The theory of the prosecution is that she did all this simply to spread an opinion in the town that Maynard had had a supply of poisoned sweetmeats, and so to acquit herself with Dr. Beard of the imputed crime of having attempted to poison his wife ; but, as we have intimated elsewhere, this theory seems a little extra- vagant, supposing the lady to be sane at all. It is creditable to Brighton that the case has not produced a panic of popular rage and suspicion.
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