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TRIAL OF JOHN \Z'. WEBSTER. 29
gave him a check- for $200; and, again, on the 3d of August, one for
$400; for which also I have his receipts. (Produced.) He then said
that there was some of the minerals included in the catalogue, which
he should like to keep, if I had no objection. I told him that if he
would pay the interest, as it fell due, he could do so. He did not,
however, pay it, and I have never called upon him for it.
Subsequently to this, I was walking with Dr. Parkman one day
in Mount Vernon street, when we met Dr. Webster. I asked Dr. Park-
man, after we passed, what salary Dr. W ebster was receiving at Cam-
bridge.* He replied, $1,200. I then said, "that is not half enough to
support his family," and went on to speak of his application to me for
money, and of this sale to me of his minerals. Dr. Parkman said.
" they are not his to sell; I have a mortgage on them, and if you will
come to my house, I will show it to you." He took me to his house;
and on comparing his mortgage with my bill of sale, they corresponded
throughout. He then said that he would :=ee Dr. Websser, and give
him a piece of his mind; that it was a downright froğd, and lie ought
to be.punished.
(The mortgage was here produced by he witness, and road to the
Court and jury, by Mr. Bemis. It iao,'a date. January 22d, 1847, and
ran from John W. Webster to George .Parkinan. It embraced in its
terms, "all my personal property, including, among all other, my whole
household furniture, all my books, minerals, and other objects of natural
history and knowledge, and all utensils and apparatus of chemistry,
mineralogy, and geology; including with the rest, all artlclea, a schedule
of which may be delivered with, or appended to, these Presents; and
wherever the said property may be, whether in said Cambridge, .Bos-
ton, or elsewhere." Its condition was for the payment of $2,432, in four
years from date, according to the tenor of the note accompanying. it;
and it had been recorded in the Cambridge City Registry, February
13th, 1847.)
Dr. Webster, after this, wrote me a long letter of explanation, Ms I
suppose,) which I never read; my eyes being poor, I laid it away after
opening it, and no one else saw it. At a subsequent period, I was told
that Dr. Webster was proposing to give his minerals to llarvo,rd Col-
lege, on a certain sum being made up by subscription to enable him to
do so. The subscription-paper for that object was handed to me: and
I put my name down for $500, on the understanding, that so riuch of
my debt should be reckoned as a subscription. The requisite amount
was raised, and soon after, a Mr. Smith called on me from Dr. Webster.
and paid me the balance of my debt. I then told him to take back the
letter and bill of sale, &c., to Dr. Webster, and to tell him that I was
perfectly satisfied. I know that Dr. Parkman was not paid off by this
arrangement.
Dr. Parkman left a wife and two children, a, son, and a daughter.
The daughter has been an invalid for several years. I know that he
was always anxious to procure delicacies for her, suitable to her state
of health.
He was the most punctual man that I ever knew. I should call him
over-punctual. He was also a very domestic man. Nothing would
induce him to stay away from home, twenty-four hours, if he could
avoid it.
Cross-examined by Mr. Sohier.-The Doctor's punctuality extended
to every thing;-business-appointments, as well as others. He was
so particular, as to be in the habit of fixing beforehand, to his family,
the hour of his return.
If I had not known of Dr. Parkman's being missed, I should not
* This evidence was objected to by counsel for the defence: but. as its pur-
port was all before them in the transcript of the coroner's minutes, and as
its introduction was really desirable in one aspect of the defence, the
objec-
tion was not pressed, and the witness was allowed to proceed in his own way.
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