Part 11

DIMSDALE--I was desired to look upon the face and arms, and breast, because they said there was a settling of blood there.

COWPER--When you returned to the Coroner's inquest, what did you certify as your opinion?

DIMSDALE--I did certify that there was a settling of blood; but how it came I could not tell.

COWPER--I ask you, Sir, did not you say it was no more than a common stagnation usual in dead bodies?

DIMSDALE--I do not remember a word of it.

COWPER--Sir, I would ask you; you say the spot was about the collar-bone; was it above or below?

DIMSDALE--From the collar-bone downwards.

COWPER--Had she any circle about her neck?

DIMSDALE--No; not, upon my oath.

_Sarah Kimpson_ saw the body examined; she saw a great bruise behind the ear, as big as her hand, and another under her collar-bone.

JONES--Did you see nothing about her neck?

KIMPSON--Nothing round her neck; on the side of her neck there was a mark.

JONES--Was there any other part bruised?

KIMPSON--Only her left wrist, and her body was very flat and lank.

She saw the body the day it was found; it was not swollen; she did not see any water about it. She had seen a child which was drowned in the same place about ten weeks before; it was drowned at night and found the next morning; it was found at the bottom of the river, the eyes were shut, and the body was very much swelled.

_Sarah Peppercorn_ saw the body of Sarah Stout when it was brought to Mrs. Stout's house. She saw bruises on the head and near the ear. Mrs. Stout asked her whether her daughter had been with child, and she said she had not; she was a midwife.

_Elizabeth Husler_ was sworn.

JONES--Had you the view of the body of Mrs. Sarah Stout the day you heard she was drowned?

HUSLER--She was not drowned, my lord; I went thither and helped to pull off her clothes.

JONES--In what condition was her body?

HUSLER--Her body was very lank and thin, and no water appeared to be in it.

There was no water about her mouth and nose; there were bruises at the top of the collar-bone and upon both her ears.

_Ann Pilkington_ saw the body, and gave the same evidence as to its general condition as the other witnesses.

COWPER--Had she any circle about her neck?

PILKINGTON--No, not that I did see.

COWPER--Pray, did you not make some deposition to that purpose that you know of?

PILKINGTON--Sir, I never did, and dare not do it.

COWPER--It was read against me in the King's Bench, and I will prove it; was not Mr. Mead with you at the time of your examination?

PILKINGTON--Yes.

COWPER--Did he not put in some words, and what were they?

PILKINGTON--Not that I know of.

COWPER--But you never swore so, upon your oath?

PILKINGTON--No, I do not believe I did; if I did it was ignorantly.

JONES--Here is her examination, it is 'cross her neck.'

_Mr. Coatsworth_, a surgeon, was called and deposed that in April he had been sent for, by Dr. Phillips, to come to Hertford to see the body of Mrs. Stout, who had been six weeks buried. Various parts of the body were examined; the woman had not been with child; the intestines and stomach were full of air, but there was no water in them, or the breast, or lobes of the lungs; there was no water in the diaphragm.

Then I remember I said, this woman could not be drowned, for if she had taken in water, the water must have rotted all the guts; that was the construction I made of it then; but for any marks about the head or neck, it was impossible for us to discover it, because they were so rotten.

The inspection was made on the 28th of April, and the woman was drowned on the 13th of March. The doctor had offered to examine the skull, to see if it had been injured, 'but they did not suspect a broken skull in the case, and we did not examine it.' All the other parts were sound.

JONES--Call John Dimsdale.

COWPER--My lord, I would know, and I desire to be heard to this point; I think where the Coroner's inquest have viewed the body, and the relations have been heard, and the body buried, that it is not to be stirred afterwards for any private inspection of parties, that intend to make themselves prosecutors; but if it is to be taken up, it is to be done by some legal authority; for if it should be otherwise, any gentleman may be easily trepanned: for instance, if they should have thought fit, after the Coroner's view, to have broken the skull into a hundred pieces, this was a private view altogether among themselves. Certainly, if they intended to have prosecuted me, or any other gentleman upon this evidence, they ought to have given us notice, that we might have had some surgeons among them, to superintend their proceedings. My lord, with submission, this ought not to be given in evidence.

HATSELL, BARON--Mr. Cowper, I think you are not in earnest; there is no colour for this objection: if they did take up the body without notice, why should not that be evidence? unless you think they had a design to forswear themselves.

COWPER--Had you a _Melius Inquirendum_, or any lawful warrant for making this inspection?

COATSWORTH--No, there was not.

HATSELL, BARON--Suppose they did an ill thing in taking up the body without some order, though I do not know any more ill in taking up that body than any other; but, however, is that any reason why we should not hear this evidence?

COATSWORTH--Mr. Camblin, sir Wm. Cowper's surgeon, was there by.

_Mr. Dimsdale, senior_, a surgeon, was sworn and deposed that he had been sent for on the 28th of April by Mrs. Stout, to view the body of her daughter.

Finding her head so much mortified, down to her neck, we thought all the parts were seized, and had a consultation, whether we should open her or not; but Mrs. Stout was very enraged, because a great scandal had been raised, that her daughter was with child; and she said she would have her opened to clear her reputation.

The body was examined, with the same result that the other witness had described, no water being found either in the stomach or the lungs.

After this we had a consultation, to consider whether she was drowned or not drowned; and we were all of opinion that she was not drowned; only Mr. Camblin desired he might be excused from giving his opinion whether she was drowned or not; but all the rest of us did give our opinions that she was not drowned.

The grounds for this opinion were the absence of water from the lungs and intestines; and this was a sign which would show whether she had been drowned or not weeks after her death. In answer to Cowper he admitted that he had never seen a body opened which had been drowned six weeks. If a body had been drowned a fortnight, the bowels would be so rotten that it would be impossible to come near it.

_John Dimsdale, junior_, believed that the body had not been drowned, and signed a certificate to that effect after looking at the body; he believed it, because he found no water in the body. He had seen the child that was drowned the morning after it was drowned, and had found abundance of water in the body then.

_Dr. Dimsdale_ saw the body after it was opened, and on finding no water in the thorax or abdomen, signed the certificate. Had the woman been drowned he would have expected to find water in the thorax.

COWPER--Is it possible there should be water in the thorax according to your skill?

DIMSDALE--Yes, we did think there would have been, if she had been drowned.

He would have expected to find traces of it after six weeks.

COWPER--Pray by what passage does the water go into the thorax?

DIMSDALE--It will be very difficult for me to describe the manner here; but we should have found some in the stomach and intestines.

COWPER--Pray, sir, how should it go into the thorax?

DIMSDALE--By the lymphæduct, if carried by any means.

No water would come into a body after it was dead, but he questioned whether or not it might come into the windpipe.

COWPER--Sir, I would ask you, was you not angry that Mr. Camblin would not join with you in opinion?

DIMSDALE--No.

COWPER--Did you not tell him that you were a graduate physician, and was angry he would not join you?

DIMSDALE--Suppose I did?

HATSELL, BARON--But did you so or no?

DIMSDALE--Yes, my lord, we had some words about it.

JONES--Swear Dr. Coatsworth. (Which was done.) Now, my lord, we call these gentlemen that are doctors of skill, to know their opinions of them that are found floating without water in them, how they came by their death.

DR. COATSWORTH--I have not seen many drowned bodies to make observation upon; but it is my opinion, that every body that is drowned, is suffocated by water passing down the windpipe into the lungs upon respiration; and at the same time, the water pressing upon the gullet, there will be a necessity of swallowing a great part of it into the stomach; I have been in danger of being drowned myself, and I was forced to swallow a great quantity of water. If a person was drowned, and taken out immediately, as soon as the suffocation was effected, I should not wonder if there were but little water in the stomach and guts; but if it lay in the water several hours, it must be very strange if the belly should not be full of water; but I will not say, it is impossible it should be otherwise.

COWPER--I desire to know, whether this gentleman attempted to drown himself, or was in danger of being drowned by accident?

DR. COATSWORTH--It was by accident: I was passing up the ship-side, and took hold of a loose rope instead of the entering rope, which failing me, I fell into the water.

COWPER--But you struggled to save yourself from drowning?

DR. COATSWORTH--I did so; I have seen several persons that have been drowned, and they have lain several days, until by fermentation they have been raised; but I never made my observations of any persons that have been drowned above six hours.

JONES--Did you ever hear of any persons that, as soon as they were drowned, had swam above water?

DR. COATSWORTH--I have not known such a case.

COWPER--Did you ever know, Sir, a body that was otherwise killed, to float upon the water?

DR. COATSWORTH--I never made any observation of that.

HATSELL, BARON--Dr. Browne has a learned discourse, in his _Vulgar Errors_, upon this subject, concerning the floating of dead bodies; I do not understand it myself, but he hath a whole chapter about it.[46]

_Then Dr. Nailor was sworn._

JONES--We ask you the same question that Dr. Coatsworth was asked, What is your opinion of dead bodies? If a body be drowned, will it have water in it or no?

DR. NAILOR--My lord, I am of opinion, that it will have a quantity if it be drowned; but if there be no water in the body, I believe that the person was dead before it was put into the water.

COWPER--I would ask the doctor one question, my lord, Whether he was not a constant voter against the interest of our family in this corporation?

DR. NAILOR--I never did come to give a vote but sir William Cowper, or his son, opposed me, and said I had no right to vote.

COWPER--I would have asked the same question of the Dimsdales, if I had remembered it; they are of another party, as this gentleman is.

HATSELL, BARON--It is not at all material, as they are witnesses. Then call Mr. Babington. (Who was sworn.)

JONES--Pray, what is your opinion of this matter?

BABINGTON--I am of opinion, that all bodies that go into the water alive and are drowned, have water in them, and sink as soon as they are drowned, and do not rise so soon as this gentlewoman did.

COWPER--Pray, what is your profession, Sir?

BABINGTON--I am a surgeon.

COWPER--Because Mr. Jones called you doctor.

HATSELL, BARON--Did you ever see any drowned bodies?

BABINGTON--Yes, my lord, once I had a gentlewoman a patient that was half an hour under water, and she lived several hours after, and in all that time she discharged a great quantity of water; I never heard of any that went alive into the water, and were drowned, that floated so soon as this gentlewoman did; I have heard so from physicians.

HATSELL, BARON--I have heard so too, and that they are forced to tye a bullet to dead bodies thrown into the sea, that they might not rise again.

COWPER--The reason of that is, that they should not rise again, not that they will not sink without it. But I would ask Mr. Babington, whether the gentlewoman he speaks of went into the water voluntarily, or fell in by accident?

BABINGTON--By accident, but I believe that does not alter the case.

_Dr. Burnet_ was called, and expressed an opinion that if a person jumped into the water or fell in by accident they would swallow and inhale water as long as they were alive, but not afterwards; and that they would sink.

_Dr. Woodhouse_ expressed the same opinion. If a person had swallowed water in drowning, signs of it would be visible some time afterwards.

JONES--Call Edward Clement. (Who was sworn.) Are not you a seaman?

CLEMENT--Yes, Sir.

JONES--How long have you been so?

CLEMENT--Man I have writ myself but six years, but I have used the sea nine or ten years.

JONES--Have you known of any men that have been killed, and thrown into the sea, or who have fallen in and been drowned? Pray tell us the difference as to their swimming and sinking.

CLEMENT--In the year '89 or '90, in Beachy fight, I saw several thrown overboard during the engagement, but one particularly I took notice of, that was my friend, and killed by my side; I saw him swim for a considerable distance from the ship; and a ship coming under our stern, caused me to lose sight of him, but I saw several dead bodies floating at the same time; likewise in another engagement, where a man had both his legs shot off, and died instantly, they threw over his legs; though they sunk, I saw his body float: likewise I have seen several men who have died natural deaths at sea, they have when they have been dead had a considerable weight of ballast and shot made fast to them, and so were thrown overboard; because we hold it for a general rule, that all men swim if they be dead before they come into the water; and on the contrary, I have seen men when they have been drowned, that they have sunk as soon as the breath was out of their bodies, and I could see no more of them. For instance, a man fell out of the _Cornwall_, and sunk down to rights, and seven days afterwards we weighed anchor, and he was brought up grasping his arm about the cable, and we have observed in several cases, that where men fall overboard, as soon as their breath is out of their bodies they sink downright; and on the contrary, where a dead body is thrown overboard without weight, it will swim.

JONES--You have been in a fight; how do bodies float after a battle?

CLEMENT--Men float with their heads just down, and the small of their back and buttocks upwards; I have seen a great number of them, some hundreds in Beachy-head fight, when we engaged the French. I was in the old _Cambridge_ at that time. I saw several (what number I will not be positive, but there were a great number, I cannot guess to a score) that did really swim, and I could see them float for a considerable distance.

JONES--Have you seen a shipwreck?

CLEMENT--Yes; the _Coronation_, in September 1691. I was then belonging to the _Dutchess_, under the command of captain Clement; we looked out and see them taking down their masts; we saw the men walking up and down on the right side, and the ship sink down, and they swam up and down like a shoal of fish one after another; and I see them hover one upon another and see them drop away by scores at a time; and there was an account of about nineteen that saved themselves, some by boats, and others by swimming; but there were no more saved out of the ship's complement, which was between five and six hundred, and the rest I saw sinking downright, some twenty at a time. There was a fisherman brought our captain word, that in laying in of his nets he drew up some men close under the rocks that were drowned belonging to the _Coronation_. We generally throw in bags of ballast with them.

JONES--I suppose all men that are drowned, you sink them with weights?

CLEMENT--Formerly shot was allowed for that purpose; there used to be threescore weight of iron, but now it is a bag of ballast that is made fast to them.

JONES--Then, you take it for a certain rule, that those that are drowned sink, but those that are thrown overboard do not?

CLEMENT--Yes; otherwise why should the government be at that vast charge to allow threescore or fourscore weight of iron to sink every man, but only that their swimming about should not be a discouragement to others?

_Then Richard Gin was sworn._

JONES--You hear the question; pray what do you say to it?

GIN--I was at sea a great while, and all the men that I see turned overboard had a great weight at their heels to sink them.

JONES--Then will they swim otherwise?

GIN--So they say.

JONES--Are you a seaman?

GIN--I went against my will in two fights.

JONES--Then, gentlemen of the jury, I hope we have given you satisfaction that Mrs. Stout did not drown herself, but was carried into the water after she was killed. That was the first question; for if it be true that all dead bodies when they are put into the water do swim, and the bodies that go alive into the water and are drowned do sink, this is sufficient evidence that she came by her death not by drowning, but some other way. Now, my lord, as to the second matter, and that is to give such evidence as we have against these gentlemen at the bar. Mr. Cowper, it appears, was the last man that any one give an account of was in her company. What became of her afterwards, or where they went, nobody can tell; but the other witnesses have given you evidence that he was the last man that was with her. I shall only give this further evidence as to Mr. Cowper, that notwithstanding all the civility and kindnesses that passed between him and this family, when the bruit and noise of this fact was spread abroad, Mr. Cowper did not come to consider and consult with old Mrs. Stout what was to be done; but he took no manner of notice of it, and the next day he rode out of town, without further taking notice of it. Call _George Aldridge_ and _John Archer_.

_John Archer was sworn._

JONES--Do you know anything of Mr. Cowper's going out of town about this business of Mrs. Stout's being drowned?

ARCHER--Yes, I did see him go out of town afterwards.

JONES--Which way did he go?

ARCHER--He went the way back from the Glove; I suppose he came that way.

COWPER--What day was it I went? Is it not the way that I used to go when I go the Circuit into Essex?

ARCHER--Yes, I believe so.

COWPER--I lodged at Mr. Barefoot's, and he has a back-door to the Glove, where my horse was, and I went the direct way into Essex, and it was Wednesday morning: What day was it you see me go?

ARCHER--It was on the Wednesday morning.

COWPER--That was the very day I went into Essex.

_Then George Aldridge was sworn._

JONES--When did Mr. Cowper go out of town the last assizes?

ALDRIDGE--On Wednesday.

JONES--Which way did he go?

ALDRIDGE--He went the way to Chelmsford.

JONES--Did you not fetch his horse from Stout's?

ALDRIDGE--Yes, sir.

JONES--How often did you go for it?

ALDRIDGE--Three times.

JONES--When?

ALDRIDGE--On Tuesday night I sent once, and went twice myself; the first time there was nobody at home to deliver the horse; so I went to Mr. Stout's, and asked him about the horse, and he said he could not deliver him till the maid went home; and then I went about eleven o'clock and had the horse.

HATSELL, BARON--Was it eleven at night?

ALDRIDGE--Yes, my lord.

COWPER--When I sent you to fetch my horse, what directions did I give you?

ALDRIDGE--You gave me directions to fetch your horse, because you said you should have occasion to go out next morning betimes with the judge.

COWPER--The reason I sent for my horse was this; when I heard she had drowned herself, I think it concerned me in prudence to send a common hostler for him, for fear the lord of the manor should seize all that was there as forfeited.[47]

HATSELL, BARON--There was no danger of that, for she was found _Non compos mentis_.

COWPER--No, my lord, I sent before the verdict.

JONES--It seems you did not think fit to go and take horse there yourself, though you put your horse there.

Now, my lord, we will go on, and give the other evidence that we opened concerning these three other gentlemen that came to town; two of them took lodgings at Gurrey's at five in the afternoon, but did not come in till between eleven and twelve, and then they brought another in with them; and though he had been in town five or six hours, his feet were wet in his shoes, and his head was of a reeky sweat; he had been at some hard labour I believe, and not drinking himself into such a sweat.

Call _John Gurrey_, _Matthew Gurrey_, and _Elizabeth Gurrey_.

_John Gurrey was sworn._

JONES--Do you know any of the gentlemen at the bar?

J. GURREY--Yes.

JONES--Name who you know.

J. GURREY--There is Mr. Stephens, Mr. Rogers, and Mr. Marson.

JONES--Pray do you remember when they took lodging at your house?

J. GURREY--The last assizes; when they first came, there was only Mr. Stephens and Mr. Rogers.

JONES--At what time did they take it?

J. GURREY--I was at church, and cannot tell that, they hired the lodgings of my wife.

JONES--What can you say more?

J. GURREY--I was in at night when they came; there came three of them at eleven at night, whereof Mr. Marson was the third person and he said he was destitute of a lodging and he asked for a spare bed; my wife told him she had one, but had let it; whereupon Mr. Stevens and Mr. Rogers said he should lodge with them; so they went up altogether, and they called for a fire to be kindled, and asked for the landlord, which was I, and they asked me to fetch a bottle of wine, and I told them I would fetch a quart, which I did, and then they asked me to sit down and drink with them, which I did; and then they asked me if one Mrs. Sarah Stout did not live in the town, and whether she was a fortune? I said Yes. Then they said they did not know how to come to the sight of her; and I said I would shew them her to-morrow morning, not questioning but I might see her sometime as she was coming down the street; so they said they would go to see her. Mr. Rogers and Mr. Stephens charged Mr. Marson with being her old sweet-heart; saith Mr. Marson, she hath thrown me off, but a friend of mine will be even with her by this time.

HATSELL, BARON--What o'clock was it then?

J. GURREY--I reckon eleven of the clock when they came in.

HATSELL, BARON--Did you observe in what condition Mr. Marson was in?