Chapter VI: Part 6

J. GURREY--The next morning I heard this party was in the
water; I sat up all night, and was fain to wait till my
daughter came down to look after the shop; and then I went to
see her, and she removed into the barn, and they were wiping
her face, closing her eyes, and putting up her jaws; and as I
came back these persons were walking, and I met Mr. Marson and
Mr. Stephens, and told them the news; said I, this person has
come to a sad accident: say they, so we hear; but nevertheless
we will be as good as our word, and go and see her. I went with
them and overtook Mr. Rogers; and Marson said we are going to
see Mrs. Stout. 'O landlord!' said Rogers, 'you may take up
that rogue' (pointing at Mr. Marson) 'for what he said last
night'; but I did not think, they speaking so jocularly, that
there was any suspicion of their being concerned in the murder.
A second time I went, the barn-door was locked; I knocked, and
they opened it, and let us in, and they uncovered her face to
let me see her, and I touched her; and looking about for them
they were gone, and I cannot say they see her or touched her:
Then Mr. Marson and they were consulting how to send a
great-coat to London, and I directed them to a coachman at the
Bell-inn; but I did not hear he went to enquire after the
coachman; then they went to your lordship's chamber, and I went
home; and about eleven o'clock I saw Mr. Marson and Mr.
Stephens coming down with Mr. Spencer Cowper.

MARSON--I did not go out that night after I came in.

JONES--No; we agree that. Did you see Mr. Cowper and these
gentlemen together?

J. GURREY--Only at eleven o'clock on Tuesday noon, Mr. Cowper,
Mr. Marson, and Mr. Stephens were coming down to the market
place.

JONES--Did not they take their leave of you when they went away
from you that forenoon?

J. GURREY--No; only in the morning they told me they would send
me word at noon if they intended to lodge there.

MARSON--I desire to know of Mr. Gurrey, if his sister was not
in the room when we came in?

J. GURREY--She was in our house that day; but whether when they
came in I cannot tell.

COWPER--Pray, have you not had some discourse with your sister,
the widow Davis, concerning some suspicion that you had of
Sarah Walker, that hath been produced as a witness?

J. GURREY--I do not remember any such.

COWPER--Then did not you say these words, We must not concern
ourselves with Sarah Walker, for she is the only witness
against the Cowpers?

J. GURREY--I cannot remember any such thing.

HATSELL, BARON--You may answer according to the best of what
you remember; if you say you have forgot when you have not, you
are forsworn.

COWPER--If your lordship pleases to give leave to Mr. Gurrey to
recollect himself, I ask him, Whether he did not talk with his
sister Davis about some suspicion his wife and he had about
Sarah Walker, the maid-servant of the deceased?

J. GURREY--I believe there might be some talk of a person that
was seen to go into the churchyard at some distance with Sarah
Walker.

COWPER--Did your wife say that she did suspect that person?

J. GURREY--Yes.

COWPER--Did your wife say they behaved themselves strangely,
and that she would have persuaded the widow Blewit to have
watched her?

J. GURREY--There was something of that.

COWPER--Was there not some such words, that they must not
meddle with Sarah Walker, for she is the witness against the
Cowpers?

J. GURREY--I said, Do not concern yourself with Sarah Walker,
for fear of taking off her evidence.

COWPER--Pray did not the widow Davis warm the sheets for these
gentlemen?

J. GURREY--She was with my wife, but I cannot say whether she
warmed the sheets.

COWPER--When they came home, had you any lodgers that wanted to
come home? Had not you one Gape?

J. GURREY--I cannot say whether he was in before or after them.

COWPER--Did not you say to your sister Davis, Now these
gentlemen are in bed, if Mr. Gape would come home, our family
would be quiet?

J. GURREY--I do not remember that.

COWPER--Pray, did not you go to look for Mr. Gape?

J. GURREY--Yes, I went to Hockley's.

COWPER--Who did you employ to speak to Mr. Gape?

J. GURREY--Mrs. Hockley.

COWPER--When you came home to your own house, and after you
had been at Hockley's to speak with Mr. Gape, what account did
you give of the time of night, and other particulars?

J. GURREY--I gave no account of the time.

COWPER--Not to Mrs. Davis?

J. GURREY--I cannot tell whether I did or no.

COWPER--Did not you say, Mr. Gape asked Mrs. Hockley what
a-clock it was?

J. GURREY--No, I do not remember that; but Mrs. Hockley went
in, and told him what time of night it was; it was eleven or
twelve of the clock, which I cannot say.

JONES--Call Martha Gurrey. (Who was sworn.) Which of these
gentlemen do you know?

MRS. GURREY--Mr. Marson, Mr. Rogers, and Mr. Stephens.

JONES--What time of the night was it when they came to your
house? give an account of it, and what you heard them say.

MRS. GURREY--It was a little after five, or thereabouts that
they came.

JONES--Who came?

MRS. GURREY--Mr. Stephens, and Mr. Rogers, and there was one
Mr. Gilbert, that married a first cousin of mine; he came and
asked me for my husband; and I asked him his business, and he
said he wanted to speak to him.

JONES--Pray come to these men; when did they come to your
house?

MRS. GURREY--They hired the lodging at five of the clock. When
they first came to see them I was not at home; Mr. Gilbert
brought them, and as I was coming along the street I saw Mr.
Gilbert walking off, and would not look at me.

JONES--When did they go out?

MRS. GURREY--They never staid there.

JONES--When did they come in again?

MRS. GURREY--Between eleven and twelve.

HATSELL, BARON--What did they do when they came again?

MRS. GURREY--I was laying on some sheets two pairs of stairs
when they came, and then there was three of them; so they saw
me a little after, and begged my excuse for bringing in
another, for they said it was so late that they could not get a
lodging any where else: and said, if I thought fit, the
gentleman should lie with them: And I told them I liked it very
well.

JONES--What firing had they?

MRS. GURREY--The firing I laid on in the morning, and they sent
for my husband to fetch them some wine.

JONES--What did you hear them talk on?

MRS. GURREY--They discoursed with my husband, and asked him if
he knew Mrs. Sarah Stout; and one of them said to Mr. Marson, I
think she was an old sweetheart of yours; Ay, said he, but she
turned me off, but a friend of mine is even with her: And Mr.
Rogers said he was in with her; and afterwards said, her
business was done. They had a bundle, that was wrapt up in pure
white cloth, like to an apron, but I cannot say it was an
apron; and there was a parcel hanging loose by it; and when he
laid it down he said, he would pass his word Mrs. Sarah Stout's
courting days were over; and I said, I hoped it was no hurt to
the gentlewoman; and then I looking upon Mr. Marson, saw him
put his peruke aside, and his head reeked, and he told them he
was but just come from London that night, which made him
disappointed of a lodging.

JONES--What did you hear them say about any money?

MRS. GURREY--I asked them how they would have their bed warmed?
And Mr. Marson answered, very hot: With that I went down to
send my daughter up, and she could not go presently; I told her
then she must go as soon as she could.

HATSELL, BARON--Pray, do not tell us what passed between you
and your daughter: What do you know of these gentlemen?

MRS. GURREY--I went to the next room, to see if every thing was
as it should be; I hearkened, and they had some discourse about
money, and I heard somebody (I do not know who it should be
except it were Mr. Stephens) answer and say, the use money was
paid to-night; but what money they meant I cannot tell.

JONES--What did you find when they were gone?

MRS. GURREY--Sir, I found a cord at the end of the trunk.

JONES--Was it there in the morning, or before they came?

MRS. GURREY--No, it could not have been, for I swept my room,
and wiped down the dust.

JONES--Was the cord white?

MRS. GURREY--No, it was more dirty than it is now, for my
husband and I have worn it in our pockets.

COWPER--Pray, who brought the cord down from above stairs?

MRS. GURREY--My daughter that lived with me, and she laid it
upon the shelf.

COWPER--Did not you hear there was a coroner's inquest sitting?

MRS. GURREY--The next day at night I did hear of it.

COWPER--Why did not you go to the coroner's inquest and give an
account of it there?

MRS. GURREY--I told my husband of it, and I asked my husband if
he did not hear what they said concerning Mrs. Sarah Stout? And
he answered, yes, they ought to be taken up for the words they
said last night: Why, saith I, do not you take notice of it? I
think you ought to take them up. But he went out of doors, and
I saw no more of him till the afternoon. When I heard the
words, I thought somebody had stole away and got to bed to her.

COWPER--Pray, if your husband heard these words, why did not he
go to the coroner's inquest?

MRS. GURREY--I did speak to him to have them taken up.

COWPER--Why did he not do it?

MRS. GURREY--He said he would not do it, he did not know but it
might cost him his life.

JONES--How came you after this to discover it?

MRS. GURREY--Because I was so troubled in mind I could not rest
night nor day; and I told him if he would not tell of it, I
would tell of it myself, for I was not able to live.

_Elizabeth Gurrey was sworn._

JONES--Pray, do you know Mr. Rogers, Mr. Stephens, and Mr.
Marson?

E. GURREY--I know Mr. Marson, and these are the other
gentlemen, I reckon.

JONES--What discourse did you hear from them?

E. GURREY--Mr. Marson asked the other gentlemen how much money
they had spent? the other answered, what was that to him? you
have had forty or fifty pounds to your share. Then the other
asked him, whether the business was done? And he answered, he
believed it was; but if it was not done, it would be done
to-night. Then, my lord, he pulled a handful of money out of
his pocket, and swore he would spend it all for joy the
business was done.

JONES--Was Mr. Cowper's name mentioned?

E. GURREY--I heard them mention Mr. Cowper's name, but not Mrs.
Sarah Stout's.

JONES--What condition was the gentleman's shoes in?

E. GURREY--I think it was Mr. Marson, his shoes were very wet
and dirty; one of them was very hot, and he wiped his head with
his handkerchief.

JONES--Now, my lord, we have done as to our evidence. Mr.
Marson pretended he was just then alighted and come from
London, and was in a great heat, and his shoes were wet: for
when he was examined, he said, he came to town about eight of
the clock, and went to the Glove and Dolphin inn, and stayed
there till he came to his lodging. Now it was a wonderful thing
that he should come wet shod from a tavern, where he had been
sitting four or five hours together.

_Then the Examination of Mr. John Marson was read_:

The Examination of JOHN MARSON, taken before me, this 27th day
of April, 1692.

'Who being examined where he was on Monday the 13th of March
last, saith, That he was at the borough of Southwark (he being
an attorney of the said court) till past 4 of the clock in the
afternoon; and saith, that he set out from Southwark for
Hertford soon after, and came to Hertford about eight the same
afternoon, and put up his horse at the sign of , an inn
there, and then went to the Hand and Glove, together with
Godfrey Gimbart, esq., Ellis Stephens, William Rogers, and some
others, where they stayed till about eleven of the clock at
night, and then this examinant went thence directly to the
house of John Gurrey, with the said Stephens and Rogers, who
lay together in the said Gurrey's house all that night. And
being asked what he said concerning the said Mrs. Sarah Stout,
deceased, this examinant saith, that on Sunday the 12th of
March last, this examinant being in company with one Thomas
Marshall, and telling him that this examinant intended the next
day for Hertford, with the marshal of the King's Bench, the
said Thomas Marshall desired this examinant and the said
Stephens, who was then also in company, that they would go and
see the said Sarah Stout (his sweetheart). He confesseth, that
he did ask the said Gurrey, if he would shew this examinant
where the said Stout lived; telling the said Gurrey that his
name was Marshall, and asked him if he never heard of him
before; and jocularly said, that he would go and see her the
next morning, but doth not believe that he said any thing that
any friend was even with the said Sarah Stout, or to such like
effect. And doth confess, that he did the next day, upon the
said Gurrey's telling him that the said Stout was drowned, say,
that he would keep his word, and would see her. And saith, that
meeting with Mr. Cowper (who is this examinant's acquaintance)
he believes he did talk with him concerning the said Stout's
being drowned, this examinant having seen her body that
morning.

JOHN MARSON.

'_Cogn. Die et Anno antedict.
Coram J. Holt._'

JONES--All that I observe from it, is this: That he had been
five hours in town, and when he came to his lodging, he came in
wet and hot, and said he was just come from London.

MARSON--I had rid forty miles that day, and could not be soon
cold.

HATSELL, BARON--They have done now for the king; come, Mr.
Cowper, what do you say to it?

JONES--If your lordship please, we will call one witness more,
Mary Richardson. Mrs. Richardson, do you know Mr. Marson, or
any of these gentlemen?

MRS. RICHARDSON--They came on Tuesday night to the Bell at
Hoddesdon, and lay there, and one of the gentlemen, when I was
warming the sheets, asked me if I knew Mrs. Sarah Stout? And I
said Yes. He asked me if I knew which way she came to her end?
And I told him I could not tell.

JONES--Is that all? What did they say more?

MRS. RICHARDSON--They did desire and wish it might be found out
how it came about; and one gentleman took no notice of her at
all. They had a little bundle, but what was in it I cannot
tell, but there I saw it bound up in some coloured stuff or
other, but what it was I cannot tell.

JONES--Is that all you can say?

MRS. RICHARDSON--Yes, that is all.

JONES--Then we have done.

HATSELL, BARON--Come, Mr. Cowper, what do you say to it?

COWPER--Now they have done on the part of the king, my lord,
and you gentlemen of the jury, I must beg your patience for my
defence. I confess it was an unfortunate accident for me (as
Mr. Jones calls it) that I happened to be the last person (for
aught appears) in the company of a melancholy woman. The
discourse occasioned by this accident had been a sufficient
misfortune to me, without any thing else to aggravate it; but I
did not in the least imagine that so little, so trivial an
evidence as here is, could possibly have affected me to so
great a degree, as to bring me to this place to answer for the
worst fact that the worst of men can be guilty of.

My lord, your lordship did just now observe, that I have
appeared at the bar for my clients; but I must say too, that I
never appeared for myself under this, or the like
circumstances, as a criminal, for any offence whatsoever.

He then goes on to point out that there is no positive evidence against him, but only suppositions and inferences--what to-day would be called circumstantial evidence; and that even admitting the evidence of the prosecution, it is as strong to show that the deceased woman was not murdered as that she was. Even if the evidence proved that Mrs. Stout was murdered, there was nothing to show that he or his fellow-prisoners were guilty of the murder. The body was not floating when it was found, as could be shown by the parish officers who were employed by the coroner to take it out of the water. It in fact had sunk, and had then been carried by the force of the stream sideways up the stakes which were about a foot apart pointing down stream; and yet the alleged fact that the body was floating was the only evidence produced to prove that the woman was not drowned. Evidence would be given to prove that the fact that the body contained little or no water was immaterial, for drowning takes place when only a very little water is received into the lungs; and in a case of suicide it is probable that water would enter the lungs sooner than it would in cases of accident. As to the evidence derived from the examination of the body after exhumation, it ought not to have been given, as the exhumation was itself an offence; 'but as it is I have no reason to apprehend it, being able to make it appear that the gentlemen who spoke to this point have delivered themselves in that manner either out of extreme malice, or a most profound ignorance; this will be so very plain upon my evidence, that I must take the liberty to impute one or both of these causes to the gentlemen that have argued from their observations upon that matter.'

It had been suggested that he had an interest in the death of the deceased by reason of holding money of hers which he had received as her trustee or guardian. He had been concerned in investing some L200 in a mortgage for the deceased the previous December; he had paid over this money to the mortgagees, and the mortgage had been found by the prosecutors among the papers of the deceased after her death. This was the only money transaction he had ever had with her. The prosecution had proved that there was no concealment of shame to induce him to murder her; and that, though they had no inclination to favour him.

He would produce evidence to show that the dead woman committed suicide, though he only did so most unwillingly and under compulsion. The prosecution had shown that she was melancholy, and he could show that she had reason for making away with herself. This he would do by producing letters of hers, which were he alone concerned he would not allude to; but as he was in honour bound to make the best defence he could for his fellow-prisoners, he had no choice in the matter.

The maid Walker was the only person who gave any direct evidence against him, and she said that she heard the door shut at a quarter past eleven, and that on going downstairs directly afterwards she found that both he and the deceased had left the house. But he would prove that he had entered the Glove Inn as the town clock struck eleven, that he had stayed there a quarter of an hour, that after he had done several things at his lodgings he had gone to bed by twelve, and had not gone out again that night. He had sent to fetch his horse from Mrs. Stout's house on Tuesday morning, as was only prudent, but he had told the man whom he sent that he would not want it till the next day, when he was going into Essex with the rest of the circuit, which he did.

He had not heard that his name was connected with Mrs. Stout's death till two months after the event; and the prosecution had in fact been set on foot by the Quakers, who were scandalised at the idea of one of their number committing suicide, and the political opponents of his father and brother in the town.

Cowper went on to explain that he always had the offer of a share in his brother's lodgings, which were some of the best in the town, whenever the latter went circuit, 'which out of good husbandry I always accepted.' At the time of the last circuit, when the present case arose, Parliament was sitting, and his brother 'being in the money chair,' could not attend. As Cowper had been invited to lodge with Mrs. Stout during the assizes and wished to accept the invitation, he asked his brother to ask Barefoot, the keeper of his lodgings, to dispose of them if he could. The brother said he would do so 'if he could think on it,' and accordingly Cowper went down to Hertford intending to lodge with Mrs. Stout unless his brother had failed to write to Barefoot. On arriving at Hertford he found that his brother had not written to Barefoot, and that the rooms there were ready for him. He accordingly stayed there, sent to the coffee-house for his bag, and took up his lodging at Barefoot's as usual. As soon as he had done this, the maid Walker came round from Mrs. Stout's to invite him to dinner there. He accepted the invitation, and also a further invitation to come again in the evening; but he did not agree to sleep there. When he came the second time he paid the deceased the interest on her mortgage, some six pounds odd, in guineas and half-guineas, which money was found in her pocket after she was drowned. He wrote a receipt for the money, which she refused to sign; she pressed him to stay there that night, which he refused to do.

He then went on:--

'My lord, I open my defence shortly, referring the particulars
to the witnesses themselves, in calling those who will fully
refute the suppositions and inferences made by the prosecutor,
whom first, my lord, I shall begin with, to show there is no
evidence of any murder at all committed; and this I say again,
ought to be indisputably made manifest and proved, before any
man can be so much as suspected for it.

HATSELL, BARON--Do not flourish too much, Mr. Cowper; if you
have opened all your evidence, call your witnesses, and when
they have ended, then make your observations.

MR. COWPER--Then, my lord, I will take up no more of your time
in opening this matter. Call Robert Dew. (Who appeared.) When
Mrs. Sarah Stout drowned herself, was not you a parish officer?

DEW--I was. I was next house to the Coach and Horses; and about
six o'clock came a little boy (Thomas Parker's boy), and said
there was a woman fallen into the river. I considered it was
not my business, but the coroner's, and I sent the boy to the
coroner, to acquaint him with it, and the coroner sent word by
the boy, and desired she might be taken out; so I went to the
river, and saw her taken out: she lay in the river (as near as
I could guess) half a foot in the water; she was covered with
water; she had a striped petticoat on, but nothing could be
seen of it above water. I heaved her up, and several sticks
were underneath her, and flags; and when they took her out, she
frothed at the nose and mouth.

COWPER--How was she? Was she driven between the stakes?

DEW--She lay on the right side, her head leaning rather
downwards: and as they pulled her up, I cried, 'Hold, hold,
hold, you hurt her arm'; and so they kneeled down and took her
arm from the stakes.

COWPER--Did you see any spot upon her arm?

DEW--Yes, sir.

COWPER--What sort of spot was it?

DEW--It was reddish; I believe the stakes did it; for her arm
hit upon the stake where she lay.

COWPER--Pray, how do these stakes stand about the bridge of the
mill?

DEW--I suppose they stand about a foot asunder; they stand
slanting, leaning down the stream a little.

COWPER--Could you discern her feet?

DEW--No, nothing like it, nor the striped petticoat she had
on.

COWPER--Might not her knees and legs be upon the ground, for
what you could see?

DEW--Truly, if I were put upon my oath whether they were so, or
not, I durst not swear it; sometimes the water there is four
feet, sometimes three and a-half; I believe her feet were very
near the bottom.

COWPER--Are not the stakes nailed with their head against the
bridge?

DEW--They are nailed to the side of the bridge.

COWPER--Pray, describe the manner in which they took her up.

DEW--They stooped down, and took her up.

COWPER--Did they take her up at once?

DEW--They had two heavings, or more.

COWPER--What was the reason they did not take her up at once?

DEW--Because I cried out, 'They hurt her arm.'

COWPER--Was she not within the stakes?

DEW--No, this shoulder kept her out.

COWPER--When you complained they hurt her arm, what answer did
they make you?

DEW--They stooped down and took her arm out from between the
stakes; they could not have got her out else.

COWPER--After she was taken out, did you observe any froth or
foam come from her mouth or nose?

DEW--There was a white froth came from her, and as they wiped
it away, it was on again presently.

COWPER--What was the appearance of her face and upper parts at
that time?

DEW--She was so much disfigured, I believe that scarce any of
her neighbours knew her, the slime of the water being upon her.

COWPER--Did you see her maid Sarah Walker at that time?

DEW--No.

HATSELL, BARON--Mr. Cowper, do you intend to spend so much time
with every witness? I do not see to what purpose many of these
questions are asked.

COWPER--I have done with him: call Young.

HATSELL, BARON--Mr. Cowper, I would not have you straiten
yourself, but only ask those questions that are pertinent.

COWPER--Pray, give an account of what you know of the matter.

YOUNG--On Tuesday morning between five and six o'clock, last
assizes----

COWPER--What officer did you say?

YOUNG--I was constable.

COWPER--Was you employed by the coroner?

YOUNG--Not by him in person. Between five and six o'clock some
of the men that came into my yard to work, told me a woman was
drowned at the mill; I staid a little and went down to see, and
when I came there, I saw a woman, as they had told me, and I
saw part of her coat lie on the top of the water to be seen,
and I looked strictly and nicely within the bridge and saw the
face of a woman, and her left arm was on the outside the
stakes, which I believe kept her from going through; so I
looked upon her very wishfully, and was going back again; and
as I came back I met with R. Dew and two of my neighbours, and
they asked me to go back with them, and said they were going to
take her up; and being constable, I told them I thought it was
not proper to do it, and they said they had orders for it; so I
being constable went back with them, and when I came there I
found her in the same posture as before; we viewed her very
wishfully; her coat that was driven near the stakes was seen,
but none of her coats, or her legs; and after we had looked a
little while upon her, we spake to Dell and Ulse to take her
up, and one of them took hold of her coat till he brought her
above water; and as her arm drew up, I saw a black place, and
she laid sideway, that he could not take her up till they had
let her down again, and so they twisted her out sideway; for
the stakes were so near together that she could not lie upon
her belly, or upon her back; and when they had taken her up,
they laid her down upon a green place, and after she was laid
down, a great quantity of froth (like the froth of new beer)
worked out of her nostrils.

HATSELL, BARON--How much do you call a great quantity?

YOUNG--It rose up in bladders, and run down on the sides of her
face, and so rose again; and seeing her look like a
gentlewoman, we desired one Ulse to search her pockets, to see
if there were any letters, that we might know who she was; so
the woman did, and I believe there was twenty or more of us
that knew her very well when she was alive, and not one of us
knew her then; and the woman searched her pockets, and took out
six guineas, ten shillings, three pence halfpenny, and some
other things; and after that I desired some of my neighbours to
go with me and tell the money; for when it came to be known who
she was, I knew we must give an account on it, and I laid it
upon a block and told it, and they tyed it up in a
handkerchief, and I said I would keep the money, and they
should seal it up to prevent any question about it; and during
all this while of discourse, and sealing up the money, the
froth still worked out of her mouth.

COWPER--Have you measured the depth of the water? What depth is
it there?

YOUNG--I measured the water this morning, and it was so high
that it ran over the floodgate, and the height of it was about
four foot two inches; but sometimes it is pent up to a greater
height than it is to-day.

COWPER--Was it higher to-day than when the body was found?

YOUNG--To the best of my remembrance, it was as high to-day as
it was then.

COWPER--Was any part of the body above water?

YOUNG--No, nor nothing like the body could be seen.

COWPER--Could you see where her legs lay?

YOUNG--No, nor nothing but her upper coats, which were driven
against the stakes.

COWPER--Pray give an account how long she lay there, and when
she was conveyed away?

YOUNG--I stayed a quarter of an hour, and then I went and
sealed up the money at my own house, so that I did not see her
removed.

JONES--Was anybody there besides yourself at this time?

YOUNG--Yes; twenty people at the least.

JONES--Now here is ten of them that have sworn that the body
was above the surface of the water.

HATSELL, BARON--No, her cloaths, they say, were, but the body
was something under the water.

COWPER--Now I will trouble your lordship no more with that
fact, but I will give you an account of the coroner's inquest,
how diligent they were in their proceedings, and produce a copy
of the inquisition itself, that she was found to have drowned
herself.

HATSELL, BARON--Mr. Cowper, that is no evidence if it be
produced in order to contradict what these witnesses have said,
that have been examined for the king; but if you will prove
that they have sworn otherwise before the coroner than they now
do, then you say something, otherwise the coroner's inquest
signifies nothing as to the present question.

COWPER--Call Thomas Wall. I am loth to be troublesome; but, if
you please to favour me, I desire to know of them whether they
do admit there was an inquisition, and that she was found _non
compos mentis_ and did kill herself.

JONES--We do admit it.

JURYMAN--We desire it may be read.

HATSELL, BARON--Why, will not you believe what they agree to on
both sides?

JURYMAN--If they do agree so, I am satisfied.

_Wall_ was one of the coroner's jury, and saw the marks on the body which he described; Mr. Camlin and the younger Dimsdale were requested to examine them, which they did, and reported that they were no more than were usual in such cases. Wall refreshed his memory from his notes, and said that Sarah Walker had said that it was about eleven when she had taken the coals up to warm Cowper's bed, but she could not say when it was that Cowper went out, for she took up some more coals, and then tarried a little, and then went down and found that Cowper and her mistress had gone out.

HATSELL, BARON--The woman said the same thing.

COWPER--It is necessary in this particular as to time.

HATSELL, BARON--She told you the clocks did differ.

_Bowden_ and _Shute_ gave evidence as to the finding of the body and as to its state when found, corroborating the other witnesses.

COWPER--My lord, I am very tender how I take up your lordship's
time, and therefore I will not trouble you with any more
witnesses on this head; but with your lordship's leave I will
proceed to call some physicians of note and eminence, to
confront the learning of the gentlemen on the other side.

_Dr. Sloane_[48] said he had not heard the other witnesses very distinctly, because of the crowd; but that cases of the present kind were very uncommon, and that none of them had fallen under his own knowledge. It was plain that a great quantity of water might be swallowed without suffocation;

drunkards, who swallow freely a great deal of liquor, and those
who are forced by the civil law to drink a great quantity of
water, which in giving the question (as it is called) is
poured into them by way of torture to make them confess
crimes,[49] have no suffocation or drowning happen to them.

But on the other hand, when any quantity comes into the
windpipe, so it does hinder or intercept the inspiration, or
coming in of the air, which is necessary for the respiration,
or breathing, the person is suffocated. Such a small quantity
will do, as sometimes in prescriptions, when people have been
very weak, or forced to take medicines, I have observed some
spoonfuls in that condition (if it went the wrong way) to have
choaked or suffocated the person.

He took drowning to be when water got into the windpipe or lungs, and believed that whether a person fell into the water alive or dead, some quantity would find its way there. He inclined to believe that the general condition of the body was consistent with the woman having been drowned.

_Dr. Garth_ gave reasons for disagreeing with the doctors called for the prosecution in considering that the general state of the body proved that the woman had not been drowned, pointing out that it was as unnatural for a human body to float on its side, as for a shilling to rest on its edge, or for a deal board to float edgewise rather than otherwise. In spite of what had been said about the seamen, he believed that dead bodies would generally sink.

HATSELL, BARON--But you do not observe my question; the seamen
said that those that die at sea and are thrown overboard, if
you do not tye a weight to them, they will not sink; what say
you to that?

DR. GARTH--My lord, no doubt in this they are mistaken. The
seamen are a superstitious people, they fancy that whistling at
sea will occasion a tempest. I must confess I have never seen
anybody thrown overboard, but I have tried some experiments on
other dead animals, and they will certainly sink; we have tried
this since we came here hither. Now, my lord, I think we have
reason to suspect the seaman's evidence; for he saith that
three-score pound of iron is allowed to sink the dead bodies,
whereas six or seven pounds would do as well. I cannot think
the commissioners of the navy guilty of so ill husbandry; but
the design of tying weights to their bodies, is to prevent
their floating at all, which otherwise would happen in some few
days; therefore what I say is this, that if these gentlemen had
found a cord, or the print of it, about the neck of this
unfortunate gentlewoman, or any wound that had occasioned her
death, they might then have said something.

_Dr. Morley_ was called, and supported the view that a drowned body need not necessarily have much water in it, and that it need not float. He had tried experiments on two dogs the night before; he drowned them both, and dissecting one found no water in its stomach, while the other sank to the bottom of the water.

_Dr. Woollaston_ and _Dr. Gelstrop_ both gave evidence to the same effect as the preceding witnesses.

COWPER--Now, my lord, I would call Mr. William Cowper; and
because of his name, I must acquaint your lordship that he is
not at all acquainted with me, though I should be proud to own
him if he were so; he is a man of great learning, and I
believe, most people admit him to be the best anatomist in
Europe. Mr. Cowper, will you give your opinion of this matter?

_Mr. W. Cowper_[50] accordingly, premising that he would not only 'speak, from reason,' but give an account of experiments, stated that the symptoms described were consistent with drowning;

this is a truth that no man can deny who is acquainted with any
thing of this nature, that when the head of an animal is under
water, the first time it is obliged to inspire (or draw in air)
the water will necessarily flow into its lungs, as the air
would do if it were out of the water; which quantity of water
(if the dimensions of the windpipe and its branches in the
lungs be considered), will not amount to three inches square,
which is about three ounces of water.

And this quantity of water would be sufficient to cause suffocation, and after suffocation, swallowing would become impossible. This he said, not by way of conjecture or hypothesis, but as the result of experiment.

I shall by the bye, tell you how fallacious the first
experiment was, when I proposed to satisfy myself whether a
dead body would float in water. It happened that a spaniel,
that had a great deal of long hair was hanged for this purpose,
which I found to float on the surface of the water; but when I
considered that his hair might buoy him up, I caused another
dog, which had shorter and less hair, to be hanged and put into
the water, which (according to what I had always conceived of
the human body) sunk directly to the bottom. In order to
satisfy myself what quantity of water was necessary to enter
the body of an animal, and cause suffocation in water, I caused
three dogs, when alive, to be suddenly plunged under water till
they were stifled; the result was that about three ounces of
water were found in their lungs, and none in their stomachs.
Dead bodies generally sank; weights were attached to dead
bodies, not so much to make them sink at the time, as to
prevent them floating afterwards.

COWPER--With your lordship's favour, I now think it a proper
time to make this observation. The witnesses that have given
evidence for the king do say they believe she was not drowned;
but they have not pretended to say how she died otherwise.

HATSELL, BARON--That is very true.

_Dr. Crell_ was generally of the same opinion as that expressed by the last witness, and, in spite of the suggestion of the judge that he should confine his evidence to matters within his own experience, quoted the opinion of Ambrose Parey ('who was chief surgeon to Francis the 1st, employed by him in most of his sieges and battles against emperor Charles the 5th, and consequently must observe, and could not be ignorant of such like casualties in such great bodies of men'), as expressed in his chapter of Renunciations, to the effect that the certain sign of a man being drowned was an appearance of froth about his nostrils and mouth. Altogether his firm opinion was that the woman was drowned.

_Mr. Harriot_, who had been a surgeon in the Fleet; and _Bartlet_, who had been in several naval engagements, both swore that dead bodies when thrown overboard sank at first, though they floated again afterwards.

_Mr. Camlin_ was called at the coroner's inquest, and examined the body. He found certain marks on the head and breast which Mr. Dimsdale said were only the result of drowning; he had seen more decided marks on the body of the child that was drowned. He saw no indications that Mrs. Stout had been strangled.

BOWD--It was much about this time twelvemonth I had some
business in London; and she [Mrs. Stout] sent to me, to know
when I should go to London; and I waited upon her before I
went, and she desired me to do some business for her; and when
I returned, I acquainted her with what I had done; and sitting
together in the hall, I asked her, what is the matter with you?
Said I, there is something more than ordinary; you seem to be
melancholy. Saith she, you are come from London, and you have
heard something or other: said I, I believe you are in love. In
love! said she. Yes, said I, Cupid, that little boy, hath
struck you home: she took me by the hand; Truly, said she, I
must confess it; but I did think I should never be guilty of
such a folly: and I answered again, I admire that should make
you uneasy; if the person be not of that fortune as you are,
you may, if you love him, make him happy and yourself easy.
That cannot be, saith she: the world shall not say I change my
religion for a husband. And some time after I had been in
London, having bought some India goods, she came to my shop and
bought some of me for a gown, and afterwards she came to pay me
for it; and I asked her, How do you like it? have you made it
up? No, said she, and I believe I shall never live to wear it.

COWPER--Pray how long is it since?

BOWD--It was about February or January before her death. I
asked her, why she did not come to my house oftener She said,
she had left off all company, and applied herself to reading;
and company was indifferent to her.

Several other witnesses were then called to prove that they had recently seen the deceased woman in a state of melancholy, and that she had admitted that she was in love, though she would not say with whom.

COWPER--Mrs. Cowper, what do you know of Mrs. Stout's
melancholy?

COWPER--My lord, this is my brother's wife.

MRS. COWPER--About spring was twelve month, she came to London,
and I believe it was not less than once or twice a week I saw
her; and I never had an opportunity to be an hour alone with
her at any time, but I perceived something in her melancholy. I
have asked her the reason of it several times, and sometimes
she seemed to dislike her profession, being a Quaker; and
sometimes she would say, that she was uneasy at something that
lay upon her spirits, which she should never outlive; and that
she should never be well while she was in this world. Sometimes
I have endeavoured to persuade her out of it seriously, and
sometimes by raillery, and have said are you sure you shall be
better in another world? And particularly I remember I have
said to her, I believe you have Mr. Marshall in your head:
either have him, or do not trouble yourself about him; make
yourself easy either one way or another; and she hath said no,
in an indifferent way, I cannot make myself easy: Then I have
said, marry him: no, saith she, I cannot. Sometimes with
company she would be diverted, and had frequently a way of
throwing her hands, and shewed great disturbance and
uneasiness. This time twelvemonth, at the summer assizes, I was
here six days, and I saw her every day; and one time, among
other discourse, she told me she had received great disturbance
from one Theophilus, a waterman and a Quaker, who coming down
to old Mrs. Stout, that was then lame, she had gathered about
20 or 30 people together to hear him preach; and she said he
directed his discourse to her, and exasperated her at the rate
that she had thoughts of seeing nobody again, and said, she
took it heinously ill to be so used, and particularly, that he
had told her that her mother's falling outwardly in the flesh
should be a warning that she did not fall inwardly; and such
'canting stuff,' as she called it; and she said, that
Theophilus had so used her, that she was ashamed to show her
head. Another time, the same week, she had a fever, and she
said, she was in great hopes it would end her days, and that
she neglected herself in doing those things that were necessary
for her health, in hopes it would carry her off, and often
wished herself dead. Another time, which I think was the last
time I saw her, it was at my sister's lodgings, and I sent for
her to drink a dish of tea with us, and she came in a great
toss and melancholy: Said I, what is the matter? you are always
in this humour. Saith she, I cannot help it, I shall never be
otherwise. Saith my sister, for God's sake keep such thoughts
out of your head as you have had, do not talk any more of
throwing yourself out of window: Saith she, I may thank God
that ever I saw your face, otherwise I had done it, but I
cannot promise I shall not do it.

HATSELL, BARON--What is your name, madam?

COWPER--It is my brother's wife, my lord. I desire Mrs. Toller
may give an account of what she knows as to her being
melancholy.

MRS. TOLLER--My lord, she was once to see me, and she looked
very melancholy, and I asked her what was the matter? and she
said, something had vexed her that day; and I asked her the
cause of it, and she stopped a little while, and then said, she
would drown herself out of the way.

HATSELL, BARON--How long ago was this?

MRS. TOLLER--About three quarters of a year ago.

JOHN STOUT--I desire to know whether she has always said so, or
not told another story.

MRS. TOLLER--I told you no story; it may be I did not say so
much to you, but I said she talked something of drowning. I
have been with her when Mr. Cowper's conversation and name has
been mentioned, and she said she kept but little company; that
sometimes she went to Mrs. Low's, and that she kept none but
civil modest company, and that Mr. Cowper was a civil modest
gentleman, and that she had nothing to say against him.

COWPER--This is Mrs. Eliz. Toller, my lord.

ELIZABETH TOLLER--My lord, she came to see me some time after
Christmas, and seemed not so cheerful as she used to be; said
I, what is the matter? Why are you not so merry as you used to
be? Why do you not come often to see me? Saith she, I do not
think to go abroad so much as I used to do, and said, it would
be as much a rarity to see her go abroad, as to see the sun
shine by night.

COWPER--Mrs. Grub, what do you know concerning Mrs. Stout's
pulling out a letter at her brother, Mr. John Stout's? Give an
account of it, and what she said upon that occasion.

MRS. GRUB--I have a daughter that lives at Guernsey, and she
sent me a letter, and I prayed Mrs. Sarah Stout to read the
letter; and while she was reading it I cried; saith she, why do
you cry? said I, because my child is so far off. Said she, if I
live till winter is over, I will go over the sea as far as I
can from the land.

HATSELL, BARON--What was the occasion of her saying so?

MRS. GRUB--I was washing my master's study, Mrs. Sarah Stout
came in, and I had a letter from my daughter at Guernsey, and I
prayed Mrs. Sarah Stout to read it, and she read my letter, and
I cried, and she asked me, why I cryed? Said I, because my
child is so far off: Saith she, if I live to winter, or till
winter is over, I will go over sea as far as I can from the
land.

COWPER--Now, my lord, to bring this matter of melancholy to the
point of time, I will call one witness more, who will speak of
a remarkable instance that happened on Saturday before the
Monday when she did destroy herself.

Call Mr. Joseph Taylor. Pray will you inform the court and jury
of what you observed on Saturday before the Monday on which
Mrs. Stout destroyed herself.

JOSEPH TAYLOR--I happened to go in at Mr. Firmin's shop, and
there she sat the Saturday before this accident happened, the
former assizes, and I was saying to her, Madam, I think you
look strangely discontented; I never saw you dressed so in my
life: Saith she, the dress will serve me as long as I shall
have occasion for a dress.

COWPER--In what posture did she appear in the shop?

JOSEPH TAYLOR--She appeared to be very melancholy.

COWPER--What part of her dress did you find fault with?

JOSEPH TAYLOR--It was her head cloaths.

COWPER--What was the matter with them?

JOSEPH TAYLOR--I thought her head was dawbed with some kind of
grease or charcoal.

COWPER--What answer did she make?

JOSEPH TAYLOR--She said, they would serve her time.

COWPER--As to this piece of evidence, if your lordship pleases,
I desire it may be particularly taken notice of; it was her
head-dress that she said would serve her time.

Pray, Mr. Taylor, was you at Mr. Barefoot's when I came there
on Monday morning?

JOSEPH TAYLOR--Yes; I went up stairs with you into your
chamber.

COWPER--Pray, what did I say to Mr. Barefoot?

JOSEPH TAYLOR--You asked him if they had received a letter from
your brother, and he said, No, not that he knew of, but he
would call his wife, and he did call his wife, and asked her if
she had received a letter, and she said, No; then said you, I
will take up this lodging for mine; and accordingly you went up
stairs, and I went with you, and staid there about four times
as long as I have been here.

COWPER--Are you very sure that I said, I would take up my
lodgings there?

JOSEPH TAYLOR--Yes, I am very sure of it.

HATSELL, BARON--What time of the day was it?

JOSEPH TAYLOR--It was the fore part of the day; while I was
there, my lord, Mrs. Sarah Stout's maid came to invite Mr.
Cowper to her house to dinner.

COWPER--Did you know anything of my sending to the
coffee-house?

JOSEPH TAYLOR--You sent to the coffee-house for your things.

HATSELL, BARON--Did Mr. Cowper use to lie at Mrs. Barefoot's?

JOSEPH TAYLOR--His brother did, but I do not know whether this
gentleman did, but at that time he took up that place for his
lodging; and said, it was all one, my brother must pay for it,
and therefore I will take it up for myself.

COWPER--Call Mrs. Barefoot and her maid.

[But they not presently appearing,]

COWPER--My lord, in the meantime I will go on to the other part
of my evidence, in opening of which I shall be very short.