Star.
London, England, 1817-04-03 00:00:00

$2. 24.
52. 40.

that her mother was toga worse, that Dr. Edwards
!tad been sent for, and was then in the house. The
witness dressed himself, and met th- •r-isomer at the
outside of th,: door of the decease:!. 'king asked
why he had called in Dr. Edwards ? the prisoner said,
that at about three o'clock, he became alarmed by
the failing of Mrs. Downing's pulse. The :theta,
found her in a slumbering state, which. tn? Ffl..oier
observed, was a farther cause of war tar her safety.
The deceased died at about eight o'clock on Monday
morning. The prisoner then left the house, and the
witness did not see him again until eleven o'clock I
when he remarked, that the body would probably
swell. that a shell should be prepared, and that it
should be buried without delay ; lie had already ob.
served a discharge at the nostrils, and the body could
not be kept longer titan Wednesday. The witness,
and his brother William, were sotrprozed a: this Intel.
ligence. On Tuesday morning theopiisoner came
into Mrs. Downing's lions?, and said, that as he was
going to Helstord or Monackan, to visit some pa-
tients, it would be as well for him to call at the
church-yard at Nauman, only abarit • a mile out of
his way, to see how the workmen went on with the
vault ; but the witness said, that he did not think it
was necessary to hasten them. Helsford and Mo.
nackan are about six miles from Filmouth, on the
other side of the river, and unless tt:e ferry be crossed
by the boat, the distance round is more than thirty
miles. The prisoner. however, went ; and. returning
about four in the afternoon, he stated that be had
been at Heisiord, and that in his way he had called
at Mawnau, and hastened the wroltint.n. On Wed.
nesday the prisoner did not leave Falmouth, and on
Tliursday he came to the house of the deceased, ac-
companied by Mr. Jordsn. On the previous evening
the .witness had receiv::d from Mr. Bull, the Mayor
trf Falmouth, an anonymous letter, of which the fol.
lowing is a copy :
" Sta—l shall, without apology, demand yew most serious
attention to a circutti,tanee Which has cited cou,iderable notice
m this town; and which, from the tact I shall mention, makts a
minute and immediate investigation ercesiary. Mrs. Downing
thank tea with her son-in law on miuilly evening, and rvurned
home ill: after violent retching, and pains in her stomach, it +ton
ended in death. Something of the same kii.d she exper:enced
before, when she drank tea at the same place• You will, I am
sure, notice the similarity of her complaints to those of persons
wl.o have swallowed some corrosive substance; and the -sympa
I torts were the lime, though nut so violent, when she drank tea
i with her son-in-law before.**

This letter was addressed to the Mayor, and the
copy he had received the witness put into the hands
of the prisoner in the presence of Mr. Jordan : while
the prisoner was reading it his hand trembled vio-
lently; and before he had finished it, it dropped
Irma his hand upon the floor : he said, " It is a vit.
lainous 0141 g, and has been done on purpose to ruin
me in the town, and my practice will be broken up
in constquence." At about two o'clock on the same
day the body was opened : the witness remained
down stairs, and the prisoner brought word that the
heart and liver were found peifectly sound, though
there was an appearance i f a little inflammition to
the stomach. The deceased was buried on the Satur.
day following, and the funeral was attended by the
prisoner. The Coronet's Jury continued to sit after
the funeral ; and just before the witness's brother I&
ward was caned before .t, the prisoner observed, " I
-etas eat. present when the fist • cep of -cocoa was
handed: Edward, you know I was not present. You
had better say that you gave your mother the first
cup." They had been previously talking on the
subject, none of the party being able to remember
who handed the first cup: Edward admitted that he
gave the second, and left the hou,e without answer.
ing the observatitri of the prisoner. The next morn-
ingthe prisoner called. upon the witness to speak of
the long examination be bad undergone at the Town.
Hall; saying, that the witness and Mrs. Jordan
would probably be called upon : the witness observed,.
that the verdict had been already returned, that Mrs.
Downing died by poison ; at which the prisoner did
not seem surprized, but merely observed that it was
a mistake.
When cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant PaLL, (who'
led on behalf of the prisoner), the witness said, that
he was not present at the Town.hall when his bro.
ther Edward was examined. lie did ,not know of
the anonymous letter until Wednesday night. The
prisoner was getting into gond buiiness in Falmouth s
the witness and he had always been most intimate
mends, and bad never had any dispute. The de-
ceased was 64 years old; and un Sunday, the Sd of
November, ate rabbit smothered with oinions for
dinner, and drank beer. The room where the party
drank tea was small and oblong: When the prisoner
returned to the company, after lie had been called
away, he said that he had been to draw a tooth. The
witness did not know what became of.tbe bread and
butter in the plate alter his mother had taken a piece.
Helm& no reason to look for an anonymous letter;
and when he gave it to the prisoner he had no suspi.
cion of him. When the prisoner said it was done to
ruin him in his busineis, the witness observed, that he
believed it to.be a malicious thing. • The deceased
had been in habit of drinking cocoa latterly. Dr.
Edwarals wa•talled in by the prisoner.
Mrs. Jordan, the next witness, did not add many
material circumstances. She did not know who
handed the first cup to
,Mrs. 1)ow • g ; but it must
have been !lauded, as she did not sit near enough to
the table to reach it. She complained of great pain
in bee stomach, which was accompanied by retching,
diarrhaer, and cramp. Before Dr. Edwards arrived,
cloths dipped in hot brandy were applied to the :to.
mach of the'deceased, by direction of the prisoner.;
and in the course of the evening she drank some tea.
Cron-examined.—She said, that the prisoner was
called out of the room, on the Sd of November, be-
fore Mrs. Downing had had her second cup of Mee,.
motMhret. he
Mr. Edward Downing Di
pon the uof
d o oewuning swore,ttootuer
t- heebgav:
buthis
he did not know from whom she received her first.
The prisoner had n Ad him, that he had better inform
the Coroner's Jury the t he (the. witness) had handed
the first cup l. to which the witness,made no answer.
The prisoner had previdusly remarked, that Mrs.
Downing had-st6oo Xi year.. •
Cross.examined —His mother had asked him to
come and occupy the chair next to her, because her
son Samuel was entering the room. He saw the
out
pri-
soner hand the bread and butter to the deceased. 'f
he
witness had never admitted that he handed the first
muchi)oure cocoad
cupboth
theto Mfitrits.aDod iecowninolgi: Donni
t itte took herself the witness did not know : she drank
cocoa. When, the servant did not wait, she prisoner
all I

•

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