Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1850-10-12

advise your Excellency in determining upor
time for the Execution, and they name
FRIDAY, THE THIRTIETH DAY OF
AUGUST NEXT, as the day; and recon-
mend to your Excellency to decide upon thai
day as the time for the Execution of John w
Webster. JOHN REED, Chairman.
Council Chamber, July l9, 1850.
After the conclusion of the Report, His
Excellency, Governor Briggs, read to the
Council the following
ADDRESS:
To the Honorable Council:
The Council having considered and acted
on the case Of John w. Webster, a convict
under sentence of death, it becomes my duty
as the Chief Executive Magistrate of the
Commonwealth to make final decision on a
question involving the life Of the prisoner.
feel the weight of its responsibility. But il
is responsibility found in the path of official
duty, and | am not disposed to evade it, or to
shrink from it. For eight months past this
extraordinary case has created deep and
painful interest among the people of Massa-
chusetts, and of the whole Union Its his.
tory is as brief as it is terrible and instruc-
tive; every new development in its progress
has been more strange, and has increased
that interest
On the 23d day of November, lS49, DIR.
George Parkman, a well known and highly
respectable citizens of Boston, left his house
and family on business, as was usual for
him, and never returned to them. His un-
expected absence alarmed his family and ex-
cited the attention ofthe people in and around
Boston. In the course of day or two il
was understood that the prisoner had said
that DR.. Parkman met him at his rooms in
the Medical College in the west part of the
city, not far from halfpast l o'clock on the
day of his disappearance, and that he then
and there paid him sum ofmoney, which he
DR.. Parkman, took into his hands and hastily
rushed towards the outer door.
DIR. Parkman was also seen by other per.
sons about the same time of day within forty
feet of the door of the College, and walking
quickly towards it. These, with other cir.
cumstances, directed the public mind towards
the College buildings. The next Friday
one week after the disappearance of DR.
Parkman, the dismembered parts of human
body were found in different places in and
under the rooms occupied by the prisoner in
that College, some ofthem in furnace near.
ly destroyed by fire, some Of them packed
in tea chest, and other parts in the vault ol
a privy attached to his laboratory.
Suspicious were strongly fixed on him, and
he was arrested and committed to Levereti
street Jail. A coroner's inquest was called
and after long examination into the facts
of the case, conducted in secret, the jury re-
ported that the remains found were parts OF
the body of the late DR.. George Parkman,
that he came to his death by violence in the
Medical College in Boston, on Friday, the
23d day of November, and that he was killed
by John W. Webster. The evidence taken
before the inquest was not given to the pub
lie. In January, 1850, the case was laid be-
fore the Grand Jury for the County of Suffolk
and the investigation before that body re-
suited in finding an indictment against the
prisoner for the murder OF DR.. Parkman.
plead not guilty. Two of the most able and
distinguished lawyers of the Commonwealth
were, upon his own selection, assigned to.him
as counsel by the Supreme Court, and his
trial before the full bench Of that Court fixed
on the 18th day of March. Some time be-
fore the day of trial the Attorney General
furnished the counsel Of the prisoner, not
only with list of the names of the witnesses
to be called against him, which is required
to be done in all capital cases in this Com
monwealth, but also with a copy of the testi-
mony taken before the Coroner's inquest,
and which had been produced against him
before the Grand Jury.
The time appointed for the trial arrived,
when four Judges ofthe Supreme Court were
present, and sat during the trial. In pursu-
ance of the provisions Of law, sixty Jurors
had been drawn from the Jury box in the
County of Suffolk. BY law, the prisoner had
a right peremptorily, without giving any rea-
son, to challenge twenty Jurors, ,and for good
reasons to object to any others whose names
might be called. In empannelling the Jury
who tried him, the prisoner exercised his
peremptory right of challenge in only four
teen instances.
The trial was one of surprising interest
and solemnity, and lasted eleven days. On
the part ofthe prisoner, the case was argued
with great earnestness, candor and ability,
by the Hon. Pliny Merrick, his senior coun-
sell After denying that the evidence on the
part of the Government was sufficient to
prove that the prisoner killed DR.. Parkman
at all, the counsel took the ground that if in
any event the jury should come to the con-
clusion that he did kill him, then the circum-
stances of the case were such as to satisfy
them that the killing could not have been
premeditated, but was the result of an un-
expected conflict between the parties and Of
sudden passion.
This position he endeavored to maintain
by an ingenious and powerful appeal to the
jury. The case was closed on the part of
the Commonwealth by the Attorney General,
by an address of singular point and effect
After the Attorney General had finished his
argument, the Court informed the prisoner
that he had the right, which he might exer-
else or not, as he pleased, to make such re-
marks to the jury as he saw fit. The pris-
oner rose and for some time addressed the
jury in his own behalf. An elaborate, clear,
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