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236 TRIAL OF JOHN W. WEBSTER.
Webster participated freely in the remarks which were made, and
answered several inquiries which were put to him,-particularly in rela-
tion to the interview between himself and Dr. Parkman on the Friday
preceding. The conversation at length changed. Other topics were
introduced,-among them the Harvard Branch Railroad, then in process
of construction. When they arrived near the residence of Mrs. Coleman,
Dr. Webster spoke of her, and of her having seen Dr. Parkman subse-
quent to the day when he was last seen by his family; and he proposed
that they should stop at her house, and make inquiries of her upon the
subject. But the proposal was not acceded to, and they continued to
go on. The conversation was resumed and was calmly and quietly kept
up all the way to the city. Nothing of particular interest was said, and
no peculiarity of appearance attracted the attention of the vigilant
officers who held him in custody.
Now, suppose that Dr. Webster had committed the crime with which
he is charged and had concealed the lifeless remains of the body of Dr.
Parkman in his own apartments. Upon this supposition, he knew that
the thorax and the thigh were hid in the tan in the tea chest standing
in his laboratory, and that the other parts of the body had been thrown
into the vault beneath it. He knew also, certainly, that, twice before,
his own apartments had been carelessly searched by the police, and that
they had then professed to have no suspicions against him. He now
finds three officers come for him late in the evening, to go there and
make a further search. The act and the proposal were too significant to
escape the notice of a guilty man,-of one whose apprehensions must
have been at all times painfully quickened, and who could not but have
understood from this unusual movement, that a discovery had been made,
or that such a search was then to be instituted as would certainly lead
to it. If he had been guilty, do you think that his nerves would have
upborne him then? I know not the man whose power of resistance
could have sustained him under such alarming and overwhelming cir-
cumstances. Innocence alone could have carried him through,-for he
would then have had nothing to fear; the consciousness of guilt would
have prostrated all his strength, because that consciousness would have
assured him that, if no discovery had already been made, he was being
carried to the place where his detection and exposure would be swift
and inevitable. And yet, on an occasion so certain to inspire a mind
conscious of guilt with irrepressible alarm and terror, he acted and
moved as calmly and tranquilly as when his united family were gathered
around his daily table.
As they were crossing the river, allusion was made by the officers to
the supposed discovery of a part of the garments of Dr. Pa,rkman; and
the place where they were said to have been found was pointed out. It
drew from him a simple reply, but produced no other effect upon him. The
carriage was driven past "Second" street, which turns to the right after
leaving the bridge: he observed that a mistake had been made, and said,
"You are going wrong; you have passed the street which leads to the
College." "No matter," said Mr. Clapp; "the driver is a green fellow, he
will get us there at last." This reply, though so equivocal and evasive,
satisfied a mind that was disturbed by no fear or distrust. His calm-
ness continued. They at length reached the jail, and halted at the door.
Mr. Clapp alighted, and immediately asked the persons within to descend
from the carriage, and stop there for a moment. They all went into the
outer room,-the common room of the jail. Mr. Clapp proceeded to the
inner apartment of the jailer, and requested the others to follow him
there. They all did so; and then for the first time, as Dr. Webster looked
round in the dim light which feebly broke upon the darkness of that
apartment vague apprehensions suddenly started up in his mind.
What he demanded, "does all this mean?" Mr. Clapp plainly and
coldly told him in reply, "It is no longer of use to deceive you. We have
been sounding in and about the Medical College; we have done searching
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