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TRIAL OF JOHN W. WEBSTER. 135
The most important peculiarities in the "Civis" letter, which I
have noticed, are,--the small d, at the end of a word, which he writes
differently from the same letter in the middle of a word: at the end of
a word, it generally resembles his; but rarely so, at the beginning or
middle of one.-There is also a peculiarity about the character, &,
which it is difficult, to define, but which I consider important: he
sometimes writes the word in full, sometimes uses the character. Here
is one, [pointed out by the witness,] which it evidently seems to me,
he began to make in his usual way, and then altered.-The letter a,
also, is made in an unusual manner. It is separated from the preceding
letter, and joined to the succeeding.
I think, that there is an attempt to disguise his hand, in this letter,
in several particulars. I cannot specify which letter is the most
disguised, without going a great deal into minutia, and taking a great
deal of time. I should not say, en the whole, that it was very much
disguised; else, I should not be so confident in my opinion, that it is his.
I should say, that it has two airs about it; a disguised air, and an air
of similarity.
I don't know, that I have omitted any reasons for the opinion,
which I have formed and stated; but if I were permitted to refer to
m=; memoranda, and took more time, I could go more into detail.
[The three letters to Marshal Tukey, were now read by Mr. Bemis,
and put into the case. Of the East Cambridge letter, a fac-simile is
subjoined. The two others are as follows:-]
[That, inclosed in the yellow envelope, post-marked, "Boston, Nov.
36th." was directed, on the outside, to-]
FRANCIS TITKEY,
CITE MARSHALL, [and read, on the inside--]
Dear Sir,
You will find Dr. Parkman
Murdered on Brooklyn heights.
Yours truly,
M.-, CAPT OF THE DARTS.
[The "Civis" letter bore the address, "Mr. Francis Tukey, City
:Marshal, Boston, Mass.;" and the post-mark, "Boston, Nov. 30th." It
was not inclosed in an envelope, like the other two. Its contents were
as follows:]
Boston, Nov'r 31., '49.
MR. TUKEY,
Dear Sir,
I have been considerably interested in the recent affair of Dr.
Parkman, and I think I can recommend means, the adoption of which;
might result in bringing to light, some of the mysteries connected
with the disappearance of the aforementioned gentleman.
In the first place, with regard to the searching of houses, &c., I
would recommend, that particular attention be paid 'to the appearance
of cellar-floors; do they present the appearance, of having been recently
dug into anal covered up again; or, might not the part of the cellar,
where he was buried, have been covered by the piling of wood?
Secondly, have the out-houses and necessaries been carefully
examined: have they been raked sufficiently?
Probably, his body was cut up and placed in a stout bag, containing
heavy weights, and thrown off one of the bridges, Perhaps, Cragie's.
And, I would recommend the firing of cannon, from some of these
bridges, and from various parts of the harbor and river, in order to
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