The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JULY 7, 186,z

Prime Minister addressed his constituents with so
little cause for congratulation as falls to the share
of the noble lord who appeals to his constituents
in the address before us.

While the past is arrayed before us, and, at the
bidding of Lord PALmERsToN, we seek in its re-
cords for some inkling as to the future course which
Ministers may be presumed to take, what reason
exists for us to think that we have gained anything
by the substitution of a Liberal for a Conservative
Government ? What cause have we to hope or
expect that they will do more in the future than
the past? it is very like the fable of exchanging old
lamps for new, so far as a Reform Bill is concerned.
Those zealous champions of popular rights and
sapient judges of public necessities might as well
have held their peace on the hustings in 1859 ;
while, if they had not been so meddling and officious
in Parliament, we should long before this have had
the representation of the people placed upon a better
footing, and the vexatious question would have been
settled for some time.

Lord PALMERSTON alluded with proper feeling to
the deplorable calamity which has occurred during
his recent tenure of office in the death of the Prince
Consort. The noble lord truly adds, that " the
nation duly appreciated the high and admirable
qualities of the Prince whom they mourn." " A
bright gleam of hope" has, however, cheeled the
country, in the happy marriage of the Prince of
WALES. It has, in truth, been an eventful epoch
in the history of the world, this period which has
elapsed since Lord PALMERSTON took office, and we
may safely affirm that the only stagnation to the
onward cause of progress has been the policy of the
Ministers themselves. Notwithstanding all this un-
propitious recollection, Lord P lam ERSTON confidently
appeals to the country, through his constituents, to
give him a majority in the new Parliament. It
rests with the constituencies of the country to
answer this appeal, but they will fall very short of
their duties if they do not earnestly impress upon
all the candidates of their favour that a better course
must be pursued for the future than that which has
been pursued in the past. Lord PALMERSTON'S
address would do very well for a private member to
have written, but it is quite unequal in its force and
significance when we regard it in its true light as
the signal of a political conflict which is given by
the Prime Minister of a great country like this, and
upon whose issue so much depends.

It is not surprising that universal indignation has
been excited throughout India by the tragedy of the
march from Mhow, and it is only to be hoped that
the sad experience of that journey will make the
commanders of divisions a little more careful in de-
spatching men on unnecessary expeditions during
the hot season. It does not seem to have been yet
decided with whom the blame chiefly rests, but a
full inquiry ought to be made, since, though there
is no doubt that every one concerned deeply regrets
the catastrophe, the carelessness and indifference
which led to it were totally inexcusable. If the
fault lay with the routine regulations they should be
immediately reversed. The head officer on the spot
should always have discretionary powers to arrest or
postpone a movement of this kind, when he receives
information of the presence of cholera or fever along
the route. It is probable that good may come out
of evil for the future, but not before many valuable
lives have been wasted—the lives of men who, by
their courage, fortitude, and obedience to orders in
a time of such fearful trial, showed what good ser-
vice they might have done their country at need.
An accident which has lately occurred to one
of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's
steamers in the Hooghly has given practical
evidence of the great necessity for the new
port on the Mutlah. When some of these new
arrangements are fully in working order, and, above
all, when the railway facilities are increased, the trade
and commerce of Bengal will receive a new stimulus.
In the sister Presidency of Bombay there is just
now a terrible reaction from the excessive specula-
tion and consequent failures. There is reason to
believe that when the first depression in the cotton
trade, consequent upon the cessation of the Ameri-
can war, has passed by, that matters will mend.
The restricted nature of the Indian currency, with
which our financial reformers seem unwilling or in-
competent to deal, has, of course, helped to compli-
cate matters still further, but we need not be sur-
prised at such a result in India when we willingly
submit to the same fetters on our trade here in
England. Altogether the aspect of affairs in India
is satisfactory, since it indicates the steady progress
of a nation which, through many difficulties and
drawbacks, is yet slowly but surely advancing on
the highroad of civilisation.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

HURRICANE AT THE CAPE OF GOOD
HOPE.
GREAT DESTRUCTION OF SHIPPING.

ALEXANDRIA, JULY 6.

Intelligence has arrived here of a fearful hurri-
cane at the Cape of Good Hope on the 17th May.
The English mail steamer Athens, from the Cape
to the Mauritius, was totally lost.

Seventeen other vessels were also wrecked.

CALCUTTA, CHINA, AND AUSTRALIAN

MAILS.

The following telegram has been received by
Reuter's Telegram Company (Limited) from the
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Com-
pany, July 7 :

SUEZ, JULY 6.
The Moultan, with the above mails, anchored at
4 p.m. this day.

FRANCE,

BOURSE, July 6.—A fair amount of business has
been transacted in the markets to-day. French
Three per Cents. have firmly maintained yesterday's
closing quotation, viz., 67f. 20c., and Italian Fives
have improved 52kc., the present rate being 67f.
90c. Mobilier shares, on the other hand, have re-
trograded 20f., and are now at 6821. 50c. The
Stock of the Mexican New Loan has likewise again
receded to 302 f. 50c., whilst that of the Old has
gone up to 46f. kc. The market closed as follows :

ti per Cents 96
DO. end month
3 per Cents. 67 171
Do. end month 67 22}
Credit Mobilier
Do. end month
Bank Shares 3565
Credit Foncier 1235
Italian Loan 64 75
Do. end month 64 80
RAIL'

Ditto Threes 64 75
New Mexican.
Do. Bonds —
Russian —
Austrian
Spanish Threes
Home Debt -
Deferred
Roman 73 75

,IYS.

Cash. AcLL
Orleans
Northern 1027 50 ... 1030
Lyons and Mediterranean: 842 50 ... 843 75
Southern 557 50 ... 557 50
Western 528 75 ...
Eastern

Sardinian , — ... 290
Austrian — ... 412 50
Lombard 485 ... 485
North of Spain 155 ... 156 25
Saragossa
Ditto to Barcelona

AMERICA.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)
(Via Crookhaven.)

NEW YORK, June 28 (Mcrning).

A deputation from South Carolina has had an
interview with President Johnson to reinest the
appointment of a civil governor. Johnscn replied
that no State could go out of the Union. He must
deal with restoration, not reconstruction. The people
of South Carolina could not be admitted to Con-
gressional representation until they called a Conven-
tion, and adopted the Federal and State Constitu-
tional amendment abolishing slavery. 11€ thought
if negro suffrage were now granted employers would
control it to the detriment of the poor whites. He
would, after consultation with his Cabinet, consider
the appointment of governor.
President Johnson has ordered the military autho-
rities at Charleston not to prohibit political assem-
blages of coloured people.
General Terry has issued an order at Richmond
that the negroes may enjoy the same personal
liberty and be subject to the same restraints as
whites.

The Virginia Legislature has adjourned, after
extending the franchise to those excluded by the
Alexandria Constitution.

The military authorities at Richmond have noti-
fied to the editor of the Richmond Times that unless
the tone of the editorials is changed the paper will
be suppressed.

General Hartsuff has suppressed the Petersburg])
Daily News.
Mr. Davis's health is reported to have improved.

The Damascus and Cuba have arrived out.
A serious mike has occurred at Charleston be-
tween the white and coloured troops. Several were
wounded on both sides. Order has since been
restored.

The New York Zouaves at Savannah have muti-
nied, and refused to do duty with the coloured troops.
Forty-three mutineers have been arrested and con-
fined in Fort Pulaski.

A riot between the Federaltroops and the coloured
population has taken place at Norfolk. The troops,
supported by the citizens, chased the negroes from
the city.

The municipal elections at Norfolk have resulted
in the success of the Secessionist ticket.,

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

NEW YORE, June 28 (Morning).
Money abundant. Gold, ma. Exchange on
London, 1541 ; on Paris, 3.634. Stocks slightly
firmer : New York Centrals, 93i ; Illinois, 129 ;
Erie, 761 ; Five-Twenties -United States Bonds,
1031. Cotton advancing : middling upland, 46c.
to 47c. Flour declining. Wheat dull. Corn and
provisions heavy. Coffee and sugar dull. Molasses
steady. Petroleum steady : crude, 351- ; refined, 53.

MARKETS—This Day.

MARK-LANE.

The arrivals of English wheat fresh up to our market
to-day were but moderate. Owing to the favourable)
weather for the growing orops, and the considerable
receipts of produce from foreign ports, the trade was slow,
and prices had a drooping tendency. Selected wheats,
however, steadily supported Monday's currency.
The supply of foreign wheat on offer was moderate.
For most descriptions there was only a moderate demand,
yet no change took place in prices from Monday.
Floating cargoes of grain were in fair request at full
currencies.

There was a fair supply of barley, chiefly foreign, on
offer. The barley trade ruled quiet at late rates.
Malt sold slowly at previous quotations.
Oats, of which there was an abundant supply on the
stands, were in slow request on rather easier terms.
Beans and peas moved off steadily at full currencies.
For flour there was a fair demand, and prices ruled firm.

ARItIVALS THIS Wxxx.
Wheat.l3arley. Malt, Oats. Flour.
English and S patch 1,370 10 1,820 410 770
Irish
Foreign 20,430 10,240

52,710 520 sks.
1,600 brls

NEWGATE AND LEADENHALL.

Fair supplies of meat are on sale at these markets. Good
and prime fresh qualities move off steadily at full prices ;
otherwise, the trade is quiet.
Per Blb by the Carcase.
sdsd
inferior beef 3 10 3 2
Middling do. 3 4 3 10
Prime large do. „ 4 0 4 2
Prime small do 4 6 4 8
Largo pork 3 8 4 6
Lamb, 5s 4

'dad
Inferior mutton 1 0 4 6
Middling mutton 4 8 5 2
Prime do 5 4 5 8
Veal 3 8 4 Li
6mall pork. 4 8 5 0
Ed to Si ad.

BOROUGH HOP.

The reports from nearly all parts of the plantations are
favourable. The demand for hops was inactive. The
supply of produce on offer being small, holders are unwill-
ing to make any concession in price, and the quotations are
unaltered from Monday.
?did and East Kent
Weald of Kent
Sussex .
Yearlings lOOB to 13t s
o.der hops . —a to —s
American —B :o -

THE TRIAL OF DR. PRITCHARD.

THURSDAY, July 6.

The proceedings in this remarkable cas 3 were re-
sumed this morning soon after ten o'clock, with the
evidence for the defence.

Dr. Michael Weistell Taylor, of Penrith, said he
was brother of Mrs. Pritchard and son of Mrs.
Taylor. Witness was in Glasgow two days after
his mother's death ; he had not seen his sister pre-
viously for about two years. When witness saw
Mrs. Pritchard in February she said Dr. Gairdner
had seen her, and she did not wish him to visit her
again. She had some prejudice against him, and
gave witness to understand that an intimation had
been given to him not to call again. Witness
strongly urged her to have a nurse, and she ob-
jected on the ground that it would create some con-
fusion in the house, and that she did not like
strangers about her.

Cross-examined—Witness and Mrs. Pritchard
were the only children of the late Mrs. Taylor.
John Simpson, druggist, of the firm of Duncan,
Flockhart, and Co., Edinburgh, said the firm had
an extensive dispensing business, and he had been
engaged in it about eleven and a half years. Wit-
ness saw the prisoner about four years ago, and
shortly afterwards a bottle was sent by the prisoner
to be filled with Battley's solution. The bottle was
frequently brought to be filled after that, down
to the beginning of the present year. Witness
frequently made up by prescriptions half an ounce
of aconite in a mixture.
Cross-examined—Witness received the solution
direct from Battley, the maker. There was neither
antimony nor aconite in it, and it was quite impos-
sible that those poisons could get into it, as they
were kept in separate places. The Glasgow Apothe-
caries' Company was an extensive establishment.
By the Court—The ba!f ounce of aconite in a
prescription would bear the proportion of one-fourth
of the mixture. Eight drops of such a mixture
would be equal to two drops of Fleming's tincture.
Thomas Fairgrieve, chemist, Edinburgh, said he
knew Mrs. Taylor, who was in the habit for years
of purchasing Battley's solution. When Mrs. Tay-
lor called, she paid for it ; when she sent, it was put
down. The account produced was rendered to Mrs.
Taylor. It contained items for two ounces of Bat-
ley's solution, furnished on each of three occasions,
in January and February. Witness knew Flem-
ing's tincture of aconite, and sold as much as 50oz.
in a year. It was generally used for liniments, and
he had made up a prescription containing as much
as 2oz. of that tincture. He would not be sur-
prised at a medical man purchasing an ounce of it
at a time.

Cross-examined—Medical men usually sent pre-
scriptions. It was rather uncommon for them to send
for aconite. When it had been obtained from witness
he should think it had been for outward application.
He had served as much as an ounce to a medical
man. Witness did not sell much tartar emetic ; the
quantity had been less since croton oils came more
into use. He sold tartar emetic to veterinary
surgeons. In the prescriptions he prepared witness
might use two ounces of tartar emetic in a year.
An ounce of Battley would contain 480 minims.

By the Court—There was an imitation of Battley,
but witness never sold Mrs. Taylor other than the
genuine solution. The imitation was perfectly safe.
Fleming's tincture of aconite was largely used in its
pure state in external applications for tic-doulourex,
and he had used it as a specific for toothache. It
was never administered internally in an unmixed
state.

James Thompson, commission agent, said he
knew Mrs. Taylor, and was for some time in her
husband's employ as clerk and assistant. He left
three years ago. Witness had taken the bottle
produced, and a written message for Mrs. Taylor,
to Duncan and Flockhart's frequently. He had
gone more frequently for Mrs. Taylor since he left
her husband's employ. The last time witness went
with the bottle was the night before Mrs. Taylor went
to Glasgow, in February. For a year before her
death witness went with the bottle every two or
three weeks.

Cross-examined—At first witness got the bottle
filled once every two or three months. Witness
once saw the message on the counter,but did not read
it. He asked for the medicine sometimes in the
name of Dr. Pritchard, as Mrs. Taylor said she got
it thereby half a crown cheaper.
By the Court—The bottle was always corked and
sealed at the druggist's, and witness gave it as he
received it either to Mrs. Taylor or the servant.
On the morning that she went to Glasgow witness
gave the bottle he obtained the night before to her
grand-daughter, Miss Pritchard.
James Fowler, of Glasgow, said he consulted the
prisoner in November for an affection of the ear.
The prisoner usually painted the ear inside and out,
and sometimes dropped something into it. Witness
did not know what was used, but it coloured the
ear, and produced a smarting sensation. Shortly
before he ceased consulting him the prisoner told
him to get some tincture of iodine and paint the ear
himself. He also gave witness some phials contain-
ing a white powder and a large bottle.
Cross-examined—Witness had brought with him
the large bottle, which was labelled with directions
and the word " poison." It was scarcely half full
when the prisoner gave it to witness, and it still
contained some of the liquid. Witness did not
know until Tuesday that he had it, for he thought
he had returned it, as he usually did when he had
emptied a bottle.
In answer to the Court, the counsel for the de-
fence said ' they did not wish the contents of the
bottle to be examined.

George Francis Kerr, clerk in the Clydesdale
Bank, Glasgow, said he knew the prisoner, who
attended witness in February or March for an affec-
tion of the ear. The prisoner gave witness a pre-
scription and a bottle labelled " glycerine and
strychnine." Witness only used the mixture twice,
by dropping it into the ear.
James Galbraith, writer, Glasgow, said he was the
prisoner's agent. Superintendent M'All handed to
him all the bottles found at the prisoner's house
which were not wanted for the prosecution, and wit-
ness handed them to Mr. M'ilattie for examination.

Alexander M‘Hattie said he was a doctor of philo-
sophy and an analytical chemist in Glasgow. After
the prisoner's apprehension witness went with the
police to his house, and examined the contents of the
consulting-room. His instructions were to select
anything he found that was of a poisonous nature.
Thirty-five bottles were left in the room, and the
rest were taken possession of by the police. The
last witness subsequently asked witness to examine
some of the 35 bottles. He did so, and found
nothing in them from which the prescription pro-
duced [that given by Dr. Paterson] could have been
made up—no chlorodyne, and no morphia.
Charles Edward Pritchard, the prisoner's son, said
he was 11 years of age, and lived with his father in
Glasgow when his mother died. They all lived
happily together. His father and mother were very
fond of one another.

Jane Frances Pritchard, the prisoner's daughter,
about 14 years of age, said she lived with her grand-
mother, who often spoke kindly of the prisoner and
he of her.
This concluded the evidence for the defence.
A brief adjournment followed, and the prisoner,
who had been somewhat affected by the appearance
of his children, required the assistance of the police
to go below.
On the return of the judges,

The Solicitor-General addressed the jury. He
said this case was so singularly aggravated that he
could not conceive of anything more atrocious. He
should press against the prisoner that he had mur-
dered two defenceless women in his own house,
with circumstances of extreme cruelty; and the one
was killed while with a mother's tenderness she was
nursing one whom he was slowly murdering by his
nefarious practices. There was no protection
against murder by secret poisoning except the cer-
tainty of subsequent detection and punishment.
It was, therefore, for the best interests of society
that the prisoner, if proved guilty, should not
escape. Upon the jury now devolved the solemn
and important duty of saying whether one or
both the charges against him were proved.
Upon himself (the Solicitor-General) it devolved
to prove his guilt, and he would proceed to consider
the evidence with all impartielity. The first que4-

tion was, whether the deceased were murdered by
poison by any one. He had to prove that they were,
and if he satisfied the jury that such was the case,
the only remaining question was—were the murders
perpetrated by the prisoner. Beginning with the
first question, in another form it was—did the ladies
die from poison, not taken in order to commit sui-
cide, nor by negligence. Taking the case of Mrs.
Pritchard first, although she died last, she was the
first victim, the poisoning having begun before Mrs.
Taylor went to Glasgow. The murder of the mother
was, in fact, an episode occurring during the murder
of the daughter. The first question then was, of
what did Mrs. Pritchard die ? Her husband said of
gastric fever ; the public prosecutor said of poison.
The question in fact admitted of only one answer,
for the whole of the evidence contained nothing to
justify a doubt that Mrs. Pritchard died on the 18th
March from the effects of poison. The evidence on
that point was singularly clear and conclusive. Ile
never met with a case of poison in his experience
that was so free from doubt; in short, all the evi-
dence went one way. The medical examination
showed there had been no fever—that the body was
that of a healthy woman ; but it was entirely im-
pregnated with poison, and the medical men were
satisfied that the poison was administered in small
doses, each insufficient in itself to kill, and spread
over a long period. Antimony was found diffused
through the entire body. The history of the
case, which the medical men said was necessary in
order to form an opinion as to the length of time
during which the poison had been administered,
showed that Mrs. Pritchard was well while in
Edinburgh, and returned home, not robust, but
much better. It was pitiable to hear of her com-
plaints that she was well when away from home,
and ill as soon as she returned home. She was
sick after her meals—continually vomiting and
purged. Were those symptoms, which were always
before the prisoner's eye, those of gastric fever ?
No; but they were symptbrns of slow poisoning by
antimony. With such symptoms, and the presence
of antimony in the body, the conclusion could not
be resisted that she died not of gastric fever but of
poison. Coming to Mrs. Taylor's case, she went to
Glasgow on the 10th February, and was not sick
until the 13th, after taking some tapioca. So far
as was known, she was not sick again until the 24th,
the last day of her life. She was a hale, healthy old
lady of 71 years, and was going about the house as
usual on the 24th. That evening she told one of
the servants she wanted to be sick, and was afraid
she was going to have the same disease as her
daughter. She was at tea, however, at seven
o'clock, and after writing some letters she went
to her own and her daughter's room about
nine o'clock. In about half an hour the bell
was rung and she was found ill, wanting to
vomit. Subsequently she became insensible,
and the prisoner sent for Dr. Paterson, who at once
thought she was suffering from the influence of a
strong narcotic. Opium would produce it, but the
effects would be increased by the use of aconite, and
her depression was like the effect of antimony.
After her death antimony was found in her body,
but no narcotics, which, being vegetable poisons,
were not detected by chemical analysis so readily as
metallic poisons. For narcotics they looked for the
symptoms during the illness. There were no signs
whatever of apoplexy.

Mr. Clark rose to address the jury for the defence. Ho
said—Gentlemen of the jury, in this indictment the pri-
soner is charged with the committing of two murders—the
one the murder of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Taylor ; the
other the murder of his wife. The annals of human crime
are, indeed, well filled with murders ; but if he is guilty of
the charges which are made against him, I do not hesitate
to say that he is the foulest of criminals that ever lived.
Gentlemen, he is a worthy member of an honourable pro-
fession, whose duty and whose pleasure it is to assuage
suffering and ward off the attacks of disease, and to do their
best to prolong human life ; and we all know how nobly,
how generously, how unselfishly that duty is discharged.
But here it is said that the physician became the
destroyer, and that he used his art of healing to
sap the foundations of life. That, indeed, would be a crime
for which the capital charge would in no degree indicate
the measure of the prisoner's guilt, if ho indeed be guilty.
He is charged with having murdered two defenceless,
trusting, devoted women, to the one of whom, to use the
expressive language of Dr. Cowan, he was the idol, and to
the other of whom ho was united by the most tender of
human ties, who was the mother of his children, and who
loved him with all a wife's trusting, devoted heart. He
cannot plead that it was passion, or that reason for
a time left its seat, and led him on to the com-
mission of the foul deed. Palliation cannot even
be pleaded. No ; for if he were truly the author
of the crime, we would have to accept the words
of the Solicitor-General, and say he is indeed
guilty. The crime with which he is charged is
the cold-blooded, deliberate poisoning of two loving,
trusting women. If he be guilty, his cruelty knew no
compassion ; for if it be true that he poisoned these women,
he did not resort to the use of drugs that in a few hours or
minutes would have put them beyond the reach of pain,
but choose to practise his devilish art by slow degrees, ad-
ministering poison that gradually sapped the life's blood of
his wife—poison which, if the charge against him be true,
was administered day by day, and week after week, and yet
during the two or three months that elapsed from the com-
mencement of her illness he is represented not as watching
over the tortures and agonies of his wife, but as endeavour-
ing to soothe those tortures and those agonies, and as hold-
ing lovingly in his arms, and as sleeping calmly by the
side of that woman whom we are told his infernal practices
had doomed to her death. This is the crime which is
charged. It is nothing less; it is, I believe, much greater, for
I have only attempted to pourtray those feelings which
must necessarily arise in every well-regulated mind in
conceiving a man guilty of so great a crime as that with
which the prisoner is charged. But I think that at least
I am well entitled to say that before you can hold him
guilty you must have overwhelming evidence of his guilt.
I say this, for I think it hardly conceivable that any being
made at the hands of the great God above, unless a person
utterly devoid of human sentiment and human feeling,
could practise atrocities so frightful as those which are
charged in the present instance. I make these rerna.rks
simply for the purpose of pointing out to you the
character of the charge, because, unless you have before
you the character of the charge which is named you can-
not well appreciate the endeavour which the Crown
is seeking to establish. In regard to that evidence, I
have to say that if there be any reasonable doubt in yow
mind as to the proof which has already been said by the
prosecutor, the prisoner is entitled to the benefit of that
doubt. But, gentlemen, I have yet to proceed to the con-
sideration of that evidence by which it is said so fearful a
crime has been proved against the prisoner, for I beg to say,
you must consider that the public prosecutor has not been
able to assign or suggest any motive for the commission of
such a crime. True it is that the Solicitor-General endea-
voured. to show he need not assign or suggest a motive,
and I am not here to plead that murder may not be
committed, though there be no motive for murder. But
still, gentlemen, in considering- whether there is evidence
sufficient, it is hard to throw out of view whether or not
there are considerations which might in any degree have
impelled him to the commission of these crimes. All the
Crown have been able to suggest is, I think, those trifles
arising from the alleged connection he had with Mary
M'Leod, and the expectation of some succession to be de-
rived through the death of the mother-in-law, Mrs. Taylor.
Gentlemen, if Mary M'Leod is to be believed, if without
corroboration whatever her statement is to be taken for truth,
if in the absence of proof, if any familiarity whatever ob-
served in that household between the prisoner and her—
and I cannot think there is a motive which could influence
the prisoner to the commission of these crimes—the motive
seems to be, if I understand it, a desire to marry that girl,
Mary M'Leod ; to marry a girl whose person he previously
possessed ; and to carry out that intention he should tread
over the dead bodies of these two defenceless women. That
may have been a motive for some one to commit the crime,
but it is impossible to conceive it to be a motive to him. In
the case of Mrs. Taylor, surely the motive 18 less. It ap-
pears the Crown have been at pains to show that this
unhappy man had his bank account overdrawn to the ex-
tent of £360 ; and that he had borrowed upon two policies
of insurance effected in 1851, and they tell you that, though
he was the idol of Mrs. Taylor, and was able, I dare say,
is receive anything that she could give him, notwithstand-
ing he obtained some chance of a succession of the will in
connection 'with which he hadnoidea of the existence. This
was a succession the benefit of which he only had when his
children obtained their majority. It is not in human nature
to believe that these motives assigned, as suggested by the
Crown, could in the least degree have actuated any human
being to the commission of offences so hideous as these. Now,
therefore, you must approach the consideration of the evi-
dence in this case, keeping full before you the fearful
crimes which are charged against the prisoner, and also
keeping before you that there is no assignable motive that
can be suggested to impel him to the commission of these
crimes. My learned friend says it was so like a doctor to
do all this, that probably you could trace therein the finger
of a medical man. Consider the likelihoods. You
heard in evidence that antimony was a poison
that could be traced in the body. Being a medical
man, the prisoner world not have used such a poison
if he had desired to hide his crime; be would have resorted
to occult poisons. The Crown said that he had opportunity
of committing this crime, and that ho was in possession of
the means. It is quite true that opportunity is a great topic
in this court; but it could a carcely be brought to bear in

this case ; for the place of a husband was the bedside of
his wife. If opportunity be pressed against the pri-
soner, facts much more strong than exist in this
case should be found. Was it remarkable he was
possessed of the means of killing by being in
possession of these poisons ? Why he was by
profession a doctor. No doubt he was in possession of a
large quantity ; but see how little you can trust to the
evidence of the Crownupon that point ; for witnesses woro
in the box to-day who said they sold less than nalf an ounce
at a time, and were in the habit of selling large quantities
of that strong tincture in the course of the year. No doubt,
however, he was in possession of these substances to the
extent shown, and the Crown were entitled to make
use of that fact. But how far is it possible to show he
had obtained poisons for tho purpose of committing murder?
I can hardly conceive of the prisoner being the poisoner.
It is a perfectly incredible suggestion to say that when he
was iu the course of administering the poison to his wife ho
should have suffered himself if he had, and taken no notice
of it. I think I shall be able to show that all the articles
of poisoned food in question could not have reached the
lips of Mrs. Taylor or Mrs:Pritchard without passing at
least through other hands than those of the prisoner's,
and it is odd enough that, in regard to each of these three
articles of poisoned food, the person who administered
or carried away this food was the girl Mary M'Leod.
Those are preliminary observations which I think it right
to make. It will not do, repeat, to proceed upon conjec-
ture, suspicion, and probabilities. You can only proceed
upon proof as distinct from conjecture, suspicion, and pro-
bability. It will not do for the Solicitor-General, in con-
ducting this case, to say, "I have established that one of
two persons must have committed this crime, and you
can probably have the finger of a medical man in the com-
mission of this crime." Probability will never establish a
conviction. It will not do for my learned friend to say that
only the prisoner or Mary M'Leod could have committed
the crime, and that it is not likely that a girl of fifteen
could have had the skill to do it. Did you not observe
that ho shrank from the onus of proving what ho said he
should at the commencement.

Mr. Clark concluded his address at half-past four, after
which the court rose.

VI.
Court firto •
Circular

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, July 6.
The Queen, accompanied by their Royal High-
nesses the Princess of Wales, Princess Helena, and
Princess Louise, walked in the grounds yesterday
afternoon.

Their Royal Highnesses afterwards took a drive.
The Marquis and Marchioness of Ailesbury had
the honour of dining with her Majesty and the royal
family.
Her Majesty, with their Royal Highnesses
Princess Helena, Princess- Louise, Princess Bea-
trice, and Prince Leopold, went to Frog,more this
morning.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, at-
tended by Major Grey, went to London.
Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales took
a carriage drive attended by the Countess of Mac-
clesfield.

The Queen held a Council to-day at one o'clock,
at which were present the Earl de Grey and Ripon,
Lord Stanley of Alderley, the Right Hon. Sir. G.
Grey, and the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone.
Mr. Helps, clerk of the Council, was in attend-
ance.