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and stated a story, which he said was verified, that, through certain
mesmeric operations, it was discovered that Dr. Parkman's body was
found, and that it had been carried off in a cab, upon which there
was some blood. This he stated on Friday, the day of the arrest.
That box he was very anxious to have made very strong, and in
such a manner that he could solder it up himself perfectly tight.
The particulars of that interview, and the fact that Dr. Webster had
never had such a box made before for him, by the mechanic, Mr.
Waterman, although he had had a long account with him for a series
of years, will be put in evidence before yon. He gave orders, in rela-
tion to it, which were somewhat inconsistent. The cause of it, how-
ever, the Government cannot explain. I trust that he may.
Then, there is another branch of this case, to which the Govern-
ment will_ask your intelligent attention. Much has been said, and
I think it has approached, Gentlemen, almost to a degree of cant,
about moral evidence, of late. There is, doubtless,a species of moral
evidence which should have the greatest weight upon the human
mind, which should have the strongest effect in producing conviction
and belief of innocence ; and all that is proper and legitimate on be-
half of the prisoner will be put in here, and you will give it its due
weight. On the other hand, I hope you will give heed to a class of
evidence going to show, that, in the progress of these events, Nature
has spoken out in this, prisoner himself, ejaculations have transpired,
when he intended to have kept his mouth sealed and locked ; that
inquiries have been made by him which imply much more than an
innocent consciousness; and these will be shown not only with the
circumstances connected with his arrest, but continuing through a
period of time which followed it.
On Thursday, Gentlemen, certain steps were taken, in conse-
quence of certain suspicions which had before been conceived in the
mind of Mr. Littlefield, the janitor of the College, to make an inves-
tigation, which had hot been made by the police, of the vault of the
privy connected with Dr. Webster's laboratory. I have already
stated to you the circumstances under which he had made allusion
to that. The officers on that day went down and examined that
vault, and it will be made apparent to you that there was no mode of
access to this except through the privy above, of which Dr. Webster
himself kept the key.
Well, Gentlemen, you will have to consider the testimony which
bears upon the finding of those remains in connection with other
branches of this case, and you may be very liable, you will allow me
very respectfully to say to you, confiding as I certainly do in your
manifest intelligence, which I see in your countenances, to be misled
in weighing that testimony, unless you do it in connection with the
other branches of the case, which it would not be proper for me now
to advert to. I do not intend to ask you in advance what degree of
weight you will give to the testimony, but I do ask you not to give
a premature judgment of any evidence put into this case either by
the government or the prisoner.
I think you will find, by this evidence, that, as early as the declara-
tion made by Dr. Webster to Mr. Littlefield on Sunday evening, Mr.
Littlefield conceived the suspicion that Dr. Webster knew something
more than others about the murder of .Dr. Parkman ; that he commu-
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