The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-12-10 00:00:00

. .
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that the two witneskS'Who'had not been'called in behalf
'of the prosecution Ifere deliberately kept back by Mr:-
Giffard, because, since giving their ddidence. before the
magistrates, they had formed n different Ojainidh to' the
one they gave upon that occasion.
Mr. Giffard said the initials of the grand jury -Were
called,
d, fixedwbietbo
itmh opslei e
dwti
btnaetss's e
xhaamd
inneodt
they hadnames notwh been examined
beide those gentlemen.
Sergeant Parri.---Witat difference does that make ?
What have I to ofo With trio Initials of the grand jury?
Weida it be an ornament to their names, so that they
might say, when they got back to Birkenhead that they
had (ken eleiated, because the initials of the. grand jury
were attached td theit naines-?‘ But,- gentlemen; why
were they not called? 174, b'ecatti§e they differed with
Dr. Lambert, or because they were frightened When they
saw I had the Lancet in my hand, and I might
accuse them of having published an article in
that paper. The learned sergeant afterwards proceeded
to remark that pymmia, which was the result of poison-
ing of the totd,%atose from cold only in persons who
were in a feeble state o, tbdy.. The child was of poor
parents—one of a latrilly of si* or seven,. who had all
died in infancy. It told a painful 'EA; bait it was a
substantial proof that the children held' all tem' into
the world .with diseased and debilitated constitntions;;
and the lathe/ being a poor , man, he might not hate
had the means that rich pbeple had to get the nourish-
ment and skill which was necessary to make the chil-
dren live. The constitution was et); bad that the
unhealthy matter. had formed and spread over the child's
body,. and told that it never would have a vigorous con'- .
1 stitation. He thought when they heard that the child
was in pain',on the Tne'sday, that on Wednesday it was
greater, end on' Tlintsclay and Friday still worse, they
must arrive al the Conclusion that
.somethin€, else was
the cause of death besides the' application of bandages.
He would call before them several Medital men, who
would tell them that the child could net have lived
long, and that the bandages had nothing whale-ter to' de
with the death of the child. How then were they to'
decide ?--medical testimony on the one side, and medical
testinionV in direct antagonism on the other side ; so
that it became d case of difference of opinion, and no
' man Ceuld' ever. lie deptited of his liberty under such
circutniterias. He the dorrtinned ten remark upon the
of privilege of &Unser to' Alin up' medical evidence,
which, he said, the wisdont the l'egislature had not
yet allowed a defending counsellor' t 6 do;; afi'd eon-
eluded by submitting that the evidence 100-tight against
the prisoner failed to show that he had been guilty of
.
enunnal negligence, and it would be their duty, there-
lore; to' send him home to his family at Liverpool,
' ihnead of to the, county gaol of Chester. A burst of
.
applaa'lallOWed en Sergeant Parry resuming his seat,
which Wai iminbdtately elrecked by the officers of the
court.
Hugh Thomas was then Caffect, anil examined Tarr Mr.
Welsby. He said : lam a member' of flit Royal` Col-
lege of Surgeons, and son of the prisoner at ite bat. I
am in practice with my father. I remember the aces,
sion erf Mr. Timlin bringing the child to my father's
eStablishrnent; in Liverpool. It was soon after eight in
the ederiingi. it is a rule of my father's that he goes
atiaf at eight o'cfock, and that all cases after that time
belong' to me. I` ntadp' examination of the child. I
found the thigh sWelledi atfct slightly inflamed. From
the examination I inticlei thought the injury had
taken place at the junction Of the toter part of
the thigh bone. I could not with Certainty have
ascertained whether there was a fraettite at the
thigh. Having looked at the case, I consulted with in/
fathet tipn it. I saw him apply the dresses and band-
ages. 'they consisted of tow applied to the skin, then a
few t'u'rns of the bandage, then light splints, then another
tah` Of the bandage, then light splints, then the bandages
turned round just fight enough to retain the dressing.
I was riot attniting partitularly to what my father was
doing, bUt so fat' at I &Ad observe I did not see him
do anything like the settlag of' a bone. What I mean
by particular attention is that I'ivas not assistitro'.
afterWaidi gave a prescription for the ehild. I
did not see it on Monday, but gave it upon
the representations of the parents. I offered to go and
see the child, but he said he did not consider it necessary
on Monday, but he said he would' come and see me on
Tuesday. I took his address down for tettfhe would not
come.
Cross-examined by Mr. Giffard—When I say I Con-
sulted my father upon the case, I mean that I told him
I thought there was an injury to the bone, and the
nature of the accident the child had received,
add We agreed that it was perhaps only an injury
to the atkiptysiS. Thete' was nothing said between
us about setting the tone. Of course I agreed
to the dressings my father had applied, but I did
not exactly tell him what to' do. fit the then
state. of my knowledge of the condition, of the thigh
bone, I think it was proper to apply the bandages,
and to use as much amount of extension as the case
would allow. I did not see my father take the legs of
the child between his legs, nor tell Garrity to hold the
kg, bat I saw a person assisting my father to put :the
bandages on.
Begetamined by Mr. Welsby—There were not many
patients hr at the tinte,—perhaps three or four at the
least. My father- lias been somewhere above thirty
years in practice on an extensive scale as a bonesetter.
John O'Donnell, a member of. the Royal College of
Surgeons, and in practice at Liverpool, was then called,
and examined by Mr. Aspinall ; but his evidence was a
corroboration of the last witness,—that the death of the
child was not accelerated at all by the application of the
bandages by the prisoner, but had been known to do the
patient good.
Mr. Giffard—Have you ever seen a book to that effect?
Witness—l don't remember one at present.
Sergeant Parry—Do you know a work by L'Atalon;
a French surgeon, translated by Mr. Atley, an English
surgeon ?
Witness—Yes ; I have seen it.
Sergeant Parry—lt is here, then, and with your lord-
ship's permission I may be allowed to read a paragraph
in it upon that point. The learned counsel then read
the paragraph, which was headed " Abscess of the leg,"
and stated that uniform compression was good for that
disease, and when it succeeded it dill so admirably ; but
it must be done by an experienced person, and at the
beginning of the abscess.
John William Roberts, a physician in practice at
Manchester, a member of the Royal College of Sur-
geons, formerly president of the Medical Society of
Wales, and brother-in-law of the prisoner, was then
called and examined : He had heard the evidence, and
thought the treatment of Mr. Thomas had nothing to
do with the.death of the child. The shortest fatal case
of pymmia he had ever had in his own experience,
was four days, but never heard of a -case being fatal
from Saturday to Tuesday. Thought that pyaimia
must have existed in the child before it was taken to
the prisoner. Agreed with Dr. Robert Bentley that
pymmia was caused by phlebites. Had heard of a
French king being saved by Ambrose Parry, by the use
of splints to an abscess which had formed in his system.
John Cooper, a member of the Royal College of
Surgeons, who had been in practice for 48 years, and
had a great deal of experience during a service of a
quarter of a century at the Liverpool Infirmary, was
then called, and said he agreed with the testimony of
the last witnesses, that death was not acclerated by the
treatment of the prisoner.
Robert Banner, a Fellow of the College of Surgeons,
and consulting surgeon at the Liverpool Northern
Hospital ; Robert Thomas Lodge, a physician and
member of the College of Surgeons ; and James Peel
Harris, a Fellow of the College of Surgeons; JoSeph
John Pope, a member of the College of Surgeons, and
a licentiate of the Apothecaries' Society, were called, and
corroborated the evidence of the previous witnesses.
Thomas Dickson, banker, Chester, and Mr. Frost,
ex mayor of Chester, were severally called, and gave the
prisoner an excellent character, as a kind, moderate,
and humaneiman, and in whose abilities they had much
confidence.
Mr. Giffard then replied upon the whole case, after
which
His Lordship summed up the evidence. After read-
ing to the jury Lord Lyndhurst's remarks win a similar
case, he said the two questions for them to consider.was
whether the cause of death was accelerated by the
treatment of the prisoner, and, secondly, supposing they
thought the treatment was the means of accelerating his
death, whether they thought he had been so negligent
and culpable in his treatment as to render himself liable
to criminal punishment.
The jury consulted about five minutes, after which the
foreman said they had agreed upon a verdict of "Not
Guilty."
Loud cheers and clapping of hands followed this
announcement, which, in spite of .the endeavours of the
officers in attendance, was continued enthusiastically for
about a minute and a-half. The prisoner—who had
throughout the trial, which lasted nearly seven hours,
sat in one position during the whole of the time, with
his eyes fixed steadfastly upon the ground, and seeming to
be indifferent to the proceedings that, were going on,
yet from his appearance he evidently felt his position
most acutely—now turned quickly
round and shook
hands with several of his friends.
Sergeant Parry called the attention of the judge to a
small bill which had, during the day, been circulated
throughout the city. headed " A full account of the
trial and sentence of Evan Thomas," remarking that the
person who had caused it to be printed had been guilty
of contempt of court.
His Lordship replied that his attention had already
been directed to the matter, but he thought it beneath
the dignity of the court to notice it.
The court rose at seven o'clock, p.m.

A NEW ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN BIRKENHEAD.
—On Saturday the foundation stone of a new Roman
Catholic chapel, to be called the Church of the Immacu-
late Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was
solemnly blessed and laid on a small piece of ground in
Price-street, at the south end of Birkenhead. The Right
Rev. Dr. Brown, of Shrewsbury, officiated on the occa-
sion and performed the ceremony, which was witnessed
by a considerable number of members of the above
community in Birkenhead. The weather was very
unpropitious. Mass having been celebrated, and the
other ordinances of the Roman Catholic Church having
been gone through, a procession was formed,—com-
prising• the bishop and three or four priests,—which
having arrived at the spot where the foundation was to
be deposited, the ceremony was commenced. The bishop
and the clergy were protected from the inclemency
of the weather by a temporary awning. Prayers having
been offered up, and the usual rites performed, the
right reverend prelate addressed a few observations to
the audience. He said that they had just performed a
most solemn and important duty. They had chosen
that lay for a sacred purpose. They . had met
to assist in erecting a work on that occasion which
generations and geerations yet to come, would he
deeply interested in. It was a work which would be
a means of grace to many, a blessing to themselves, and
the means possibly of converting not a few, when they
themselves had passed away. He then called upon them
and entreated them, specially those that were interested
in that object of the work, to join with him in thanking
that merciful God, who had brought them all together
by offering up to Him their Tratqude and homage.
At this point ho would, then, to a certain extent, leave the
work in their hands, and in the name of the Holy
Trinity,
so that the work they had begun might be sanctified, and
in Christ he hoped and trusted that what they had begun
would be, in due time, also accomplished. He would,
therefore, commend it to their love, commend it to their
support, and commend it to their prayers. It was the
work of God, .and therefore entitled to their sympathy
and support ; it was also their Father's house. In
,this
spirit he left it for them to carry to a final close
the holy work . that they had that day inaugurated.
He concluded his discourse with a fervent hope that the
work which they had
.then commenced and dedicated to
the service of the Deity would redound to the greater
glory and honour of the Lord of all. The collections
were then made, after which the congregation separated.