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crashing weight upon the prisoner, and the °' net-work of complicated cir-
cumstances " seemed to encircle him, felt strongly the need of " that wisdom
which cometh from above," to guide and direct their minds aright, in their
most momentous and responsible situation.
It was then that our worthy Foreman (whom we all must highly respect, and
whom we shall ever remember with pleasure) proposed to the Jury that they
should have religious services every evening. The proposition was most
cheerfully responded to, and ever after that time, the voice of praise. and
prayer ascended, as we trust, from sincere hearts, to the throne of Infinite
Wisdom and Mercy. I need not say that the burden of every prayer was for
wisdom to guide and direct unto a right decision, and for blessings most
rich
and precious to descend upon the prisoner and his afflicted family.
I now come to the closing part of this momentous trial. When the wit-
nesses for the defence had given in their testimony, and the Counsel for the
prisoner announced the evidence on their part closed, a feeling of pain and
anguish must have come over the mind of every Juror. 11 What! can no
more be said, - no more be done in behalf of the unhappy prisoner ? Is
that the evidence-the only evidence on which we are to place our verdict
of I Not Guilty ?' "
At that very time, with the light which the able charge of the Chief Jus-
tice afterwards gave us on several points of " the law and the evidence," I
think I speak the sentiments of nearly, if not quite, all the Jury, when I
say,
that they were as fully prepared for their verdict as they were when they
retired to the Jury-room, after listening to the most able and eloquent
pleas
of the prisoner's senior Counsel and the Attorney General, so strongly, so
fully, had the evidence pointed to the prisoner as the guilty man, AND To NO
ONE ELSE. After the Jury had gone to their room,-with the various evi-
dences of guilt spread out on the table before them, and the door locked
upon
them, shut out, as it were, entirely from the world, with nothing but the
eye
of the Omniscient God upon them,-so painful was the sense of responsi-
bility, so unwilling were they to come to the result which all felt they
must
come to, that thirty to forty minutes were spent ere anything was done ;
when at last the voice of the Foreman was heard calling them to order, and
reminding them of duty, however painful. And, when they had all taken
their seats around the table, then it was that one of the Jurors rose and
said,
" Mr. Foreman, before entering upon the further consideration and decision
of this most important matter, I would propose that we seek for Divine wise
dom and guidance." The proposition met with a cordial response, and the
Foreman called upon a Juror to offer prayer. This was done, most feelingly
and sincerely. We then proceeded to the most trying and painful part of
our arduous duty. The various articles which were put into the case were
examined by the Jury, and particularly those things which seemed to bear
most strongly against the prisoner. The final decision of the question was
resolved into three parts:
First. Are the remains of a human body, found in the Medical College, on
the 30th Nov., 1849, those of the late Dr. George Parkman?
Second. Did Dr. George Parkman come to his death by the hands of Dr.
John W. Webster, in the Medical College, on the 23d November, 1849?
Third. Is Dr. John W. Webster guilty, as set forth in the indictment, of
the wilful murder of Dr. George Parkman?
When the vote on the first question was put, twelve hands arose immedi-
ately. Some little discussion then took place when the second question was
tested, and twelve hands at once arose The third-the most important
question of all -was next to be tried. Quite a pause ensued. One Juror- in
his sympathies of kindness for the prisoner (who was his personal acquaint-
ance, or friend) and his afflicted family-shrunk from the "fiery ordeal."
" Can't we stop here?-can't the law be vindicated, and justice satisfied, if
we pause here? Must we take the life of the unhappy prisoner? " Some
discussion ensued; the mind of the Juror seemed more calm, and he expressed
his readiness to vote on the final question, which was then put, and twelve
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