The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-20 00:00:00

CENTRAL a

URT, Aug. 19,

(Before the Lord Chief Baron.)
TRIAL OF DR. SMETHURST.—FIFTH DAY.
A portion of the following appeared in our impression of
yesterday
The prisoner, on being placed at the bar, said—My lord,
I wish to address a few words to the jury.
The Lord Chief Baron—l think you had better not now.
Prisoner—That is very true, but your lordship made
some observations which I wish to correct. It is simply in
reference to this question. In addressing the jury last
night you spoke of me as a medical man in practice. For
the last six years I have retired from practice.
The Lord Chief Baron—l know nothing of that, and
there is no evidence of it.
Prisoner—You spoke of it as if there was.
The Lord Chief Baron—lf there is any mistake about
that, the prisoner might correct it by giving some account
of himself and his practice. I spoke of him as a medical
man in practice, because on Monday morning, the day
after the will was executed, he wrote to his wife to say that
he probably should not return before a certain hour, his
medical aid being required in a case of illness. (The letter
was hero read.) In that letter he spoke of himself as one
of the three doctors, Dr. Julius and Dr. Bird being the
other two.
The Prisoner—That is just the point, my lord.
The Lord Chief Baron—lf he left the profession, there is
no evidence of it The evidence is that he attended Isabella
Bankes, and ho wrote to his wife to say that he could not
come home in consequence of his medical aid being required
In a case of illness. If he considers that an important fact,
he might easily have proved it.
Mr. Sergeant Parry—There is evidence that he was
living at a lodging-house 18 months without a surgery or
anything of the kind.
The Prisoner—l came from the continent only the year
before last.
The learned Judge then proceeded to read the evidence,
commenting on it as he proceeded. The first evidence
alluded to was that of Mrs. Smith. Having dwelt on the
fact of the residence of the parties at Rifle-terrace and Kil -
dare-place, he next referred to the circumstances connected
with the sickness of deceased, and the refusal of the prisoner
to the engagement of a nurse, after he had received the £7O
ss. belonging to Miss Bankes, and having at the same time
a considerable sum of money of his own also in his posses-
sion. The only solution of such a circumstance in his mind
was, that he had an objection to having any person present
in the sick room but himself. There was certainly his own
explanation of taking out the soup, viz., that it was
done to cool it, the doctor having ordered that every-
thing should be fresh and cool ; but it must also be
recollected that no person was allowed to enter
the room, and it never was properly cleaned out.
Mr. Sergeant Parry—Mrs. "Wheatley, my lord, said that
she cleaned the room every morning, and went in again

ev?xy evening.
The Lord Chief Baron—l have no note of that.
The Prisoner—My lord, it is quite correct. She always
had access to the room, and in the evening made the bed.
Any other statement is false.
The Lord Chief Baron—lt is a matter of little importance.
Mr. Sergeant Parry—As affecting the prisoner, it is all-
important. Mrs. Wheatley twice spoke to the fact I have
mentioned.
The Lord Chief Baron—All I can say is, I have no note
of it.
Mr. Sergeant Parry—l wish it to be fully in the know-
ledge of the jury that such evidence was distinctly given.
Mrs. Wheatley might be recalled.
The learned Judge then proceeded to allude to the letters
written to, and also tho evidence of, Miss Louisa Bankes.
His letters were calculated to show great affection; but his
conduct showed that, if he loved her, he loved her money a
great deal more, and avarice swallowed up his affection.
Then, if he was acting fairly and openly, what valid objec-
tion could he have had to Miss Louisa Bankes' more con-
stant attendance upon her dying sister. He said her pre-
sence so overpowered her that the worst consequences
might arise ; but. was the abrupt presence of an attorney
calculated to produce a soothing effect? And as regards
the will, what was the statement with respect to that docu-
ment ? He told Mr. Senior, the attorney, that the draft he
gave him to copy had been drawn up by a barrister. But
what was the fact ? why, it was all in the prisoner's hand-
writing, and by that document Smethurst became entitled
to the whole of the property of Miss Bankes. Now, taking
that circumstance, with the rest of the statements made to
Mr. Senior by the prisoner, into consideration, he did not
think the slightest reliance could be placed upon any of his
statements. Having read over the evidence given by Dr.
Julius and Dr. Bird, in reference to the prisoner having
been released on his own recognisances by the magistrates
at Richmond, on a charge of poisoning his wife, the learned
Judge said no blame could be attached to them, because
they were no doubt actuated by motives of humanity and
sympathy for himself and his supposed wife, and the jury
could not allow the circumstance of his returning to his
lodgings to operate to his prejudice, by showing that ho had
tho means of destroying bonistlilng which was not found.
All the bottles were seized, and no arsenic or antimony, or
other poison, was found;in them. It would by no means
be safe to presume anything against the prisoner because
he had an opportunity of destroying evidence, and the jury
must not act entirely on the evidence which had been
produced; but if they were satisfied that antimony and
arsenic had been administered by him to the deceased, some
light might be thrown on the circumstance that no poison
was found, by the fact of his returning to the house on the
Monday evening, and having access to the parlour and
bed room.

The court at one o'clock adjourned!or 20 minutes. On
the learned judge re-entering the court, he complained of
the great heat of the atmosphere, and suggested the open-
ing of the windows looking on to the courtyard, but as
these had been permanently closed by those in charge of the
ventilation of the building, the Lord Chief Baron's sugges-
tion could not bo carried out unless by breaking some of
the panes of glass, which was accordingly done by one of
the officers in attendance.
The learned Judge than resumed his reading of the evi-
dence of Dr. Taylor. His lordship entered at great length
on the point relative to the mistake made in the analysis of
bottle No. 21. It was a curious circumstance that it was
entirely owing to accident that a new fact had been dis-
covered in chemical science, viz., that chlorate of potass
would melt copper, and that of itself would, in some mea-
sure, account for the blunder ; but it was an undoubted fact
that Professor Brand, one of the greatest chemists living,
stated that Dr. Taylor had taken the means he
should have done had he been similarly placed.
It was not therefore because a mistake had been made in
one particular instaneo that the whole of the evidence was
to bo ignored. The jury would have to take it into their
consideration, and they could then judge the amount of its
value. The jury he felt certain would give that attention
to the evidence brought for the defence to which it was en-
titled ; but after that consideration, if they should have no
doubt about the guilt of the prisoner then they would re-
turn a verdict of guilty; but, on the contrary, if they did
entertain the slightest doubt, he need scarcely tell them it
was their duty to acquit the prisoner of the charge imputed

to him.
At the conclusion of the judge's summing up,
The Prisoner said, I wish to clear up some facts.
The Lord Chief Baron—l cannot allow you to do so, ex-
cept through your counsel.
The Prisoner—l wish to state that Mr. Sergeant Dalian-
tine is acquainted with the whole of the circumstances con •
nected with the marriage. I forwarded to him the whole
facts as early as I could after I was arrested, and it is now
in his hands. It shows that my wife (Isabella Banker)
had a reversionary interest in a large sum of money.
Tho jury then, at ten minutes to four o'clock, retired to
consider their verdict ; and after an absence of three-
quarters of an hour returned into court, and having an-
swered to their names,
The Clerk of the Arraigns said—Gentlemen, have you

agreed ?.
The Foreman of the Jury—We have.
The Clerk of the Arraigns—How say you, gentlemen, do
you find the prisoner guilty or not guilty ?
The Force an—We find bim
GUILTY.
The Lord Chief Baron then put on the black cap and
The Clerk of the Arraigns, in the usual form, asked the
prisoner if he had anything to say why judgment should
not be passed upon him ?
The Prisoner said he bad, and ho then commenced
addressing the judge and the jury. He said the
whole of the witnesses had distorted the true facts
of the ease in such a manner that his life had
been sacrificed. Dr. Julius he especially condemned,
and the assertion of the sister of the deceased, that she
was never able to se© her sister Isabella alone, except for
two or three minutes at a time, was totally and entirely
false. She knew, he said, that she had every opportunity
of being with her sister as often and as along as she
pleased, and had the witnesses spoke truth such would
have appeared in the evidence. With respect to
the non-engagement of a nurse, it had been put
as if he objected to such a proceeding, but nothing
could be so far from the truth. He had been taken into
custody, and placed before a magistrate, charged with poi-
soning, his wife, but not withstanding all that was said against
him, he was admitted to bail on the first occasion. In not
taking steps to procure a nurse ho was only
acting according to the direction of the magistrates,
as they prohibited him in any manner interfering with the
deceased on his return to his home, and it was certainly
time that he had said that those:persons who chose to engage
the nurse must bear the expense. With respect to the
motive fur the crime attributed to him—namely, wishing to
obtain possession of the money belonging to the deceased,
such \vas false and untrue, as he had no occasion to seek
the death of the lady, as ho could have obtained her
money, if such had been his object, without committing
murder. Great stress, he said, had been laid as to
his marriage with Miss Bankes, and throughout the
trial it had been said that it was not his intention to re-
main with Miss Bankes after he had obtained all she was
possessed of. Now, the truth was that his attachment to
her was strong, and his connection with her he hoped
would have been lasting ; • and the marriage at
Kennington Church: was as much the act of the de-
ceased as his, and it was only done in order that
she might appear to. her friends as a married woman, and