Mr. Rogers. We came down with the marshal of the King's-bench, it rained every step of the way, so that my spatterdashes and shoes were fain to be dried; and it raining so hard, we did not think Mr. Marson would have come that day, and therefore we provided but one bed, though otherwise we should have provided two, and were to give a crown for our night's lodging. We went from the coffee-house to the tavern, as Mr. Marson has said, and from the tavern the next way to our lodging, where there was some merry and open discourse of this gentlewoman; but I never saw her in y life, nor heard of her name before she was mentioned there. Mr. Stephens. We never stirred from one another, but went along with the marshal of the King's-bench, to accompany my lord chief justice out of town, as is usual. Baron Hutsell. I thought it had been as usual for him to go but half the way with my lord chief justice. Mr. Rogers. They generally return back after they have gone half the way, but some of the head officers go throughout. Mr. Stephens. It was the first circuit after the marshal came into his office, and that is the reason the marshal went the whole way. Baron Hutsell. Did not you talk of her courting days being over? Prisoners. Not one word of it; we absolutely deny it. house in Lincoln's-Jun-fields, as we used to Baron Hatsell. Mr. Rogers, what do you say to it? Mr. Stephens. I never saw her. Mr. Jones. Mr. Marson, did you ride in boots? Mr. Jones. How came your shoes to be wet? Call Mr. Heath, Mr. Hunt, and Mr. Foster. Mr. Marson. Mr. Hunt, will you please to acquaint my lord and the jury with what discourse we had on Sunday night before the assizes, at the Old Devil tavern at Temple-bar? Hunt. On Sunday night I happened to be in company with Mr. Marson, and three or four more of Clifford's-inn, and there was a discourse of the marshal's attending my lord chief justice out of town to Hertford, and Mr. Marson said, 'It may be the marshal may reIquire my waiting upon him too;' and the whole company being known to Mr. Marshall, and there being a discourse of Mr. Marshall's courting of Mrs. Stout, saith one of the company, If you do go to Hertford, pray enquire after Mr. Marshall's mistress, and bring us an account of her.' Mr. Jones. Who was in company? Hunt. There was Mr. Heath, Mr. Foster, Mr. Marson, Mr. Stephens, Mr. Bever, and Mr. Marshall. Mr. Marson. Now it was this discourse that gave us an occasion to talk of this woman at Gurrey's house, which we did openly and harmlessly. Mr. Foster, do you remember any thing of our talking of this gentlewoman on Sunday night? Foster. Yes; I and they were talking, that they should go to Hertford the next day, to wait on the marshal, in compliment to my lord chief justice, and go as far as Hertford; and there being a report, that Mr. Marshall courted this woman, we put it in a jesting way, Pray, enquire after Mr. Marshall's mistress, how the match goes on; for there was some wagers between him and the company, who 'should be married first ?' And so, in a jocular way it went about, and Mr. Marson or Mr. Stephens said, They would do their endeavour, and they would enquire after the lady, and give as good an account of her as they ' could.' Mr. Stephens. If you please, my lord, we will call another to this purpose. Baron Hutsell. No, I think you need not, for it seems not material. (Then Mr. Hanks was called.) Hunks. I came as far as Waltham's-cross to wait upon my lord chief justice; I stayed there till about four or five o'clock, and then set out for London; and I met with Mr. Marson, who importuned me to go back with him to Hertford; and accordingly I did so, and we came in about seven or eight at night, and we enquired after the marshal of the King's bench, and where he had set up his horses, and we found him in the coffee-house just by the court, and we went and set up our horses, and came again to him; from thence we went to the Glove and Dolphin tavern; these three gentlemen and the marshal, and one Mr. Rutkin came afterwards to us, and we staid till about eleven at the Glove and Dolphin. Mr. Marson. Do you remember how we rid? Baron Hatsell. What time did you come into the tavern? Hanks. Between seven and eight, as I remember. Baron Hatsell. And did you stay there till past eleven? Hanks. Till about eleven, little more or less; we went away together in order to drink a glass of wine with them at their lodging; but Mr. Rutkin considering that he was to drink a glass of wine, and lie with the marshal, thought it would disturb the marshal; So,' saith he, 'I will not go in ;' but we saw them go into their lodgings, and returned to the Bull, where we eat part of a fowl, and I was never out of Mr. Marson's company all that time. Mr. Marson. When you took your leave of me, do not you remember that the door was clapped to?-Hanks. I cannot remember that. Mr. Murson. Mr. Gurrey saith, I never went out after I came home. Mr. Rutkin, pray, give an account to my lord, and the gentlemen of the jury, of what you know of my coming to Hertford? Rutkin. My lord, I came to wait on the marshal of the King's-bench to Hertford, and when we were come to Hertford we put up our horses at the Bull, and made ourselves a little clean; we went to church, and dined at the Bull, and then we walked in and about the court, and diverted ourselves till about seven o'clock; and between seven and eight o'clock came Mr. Marson and Dr. Hanks to town, and then we agreed to go to the Dolphin and Glove to drink a glass of wine: the marshal went to see an ancient gentleman, and we went to the Dolphin and Glove, and staid there till past ten o'clock, and after the reckoning was paid we went with them to their lodging, with a design to take a glass of wine; but then I considered I was to lie with the marshal, and for that reason I resolved not to go in, but came away, and went to the Bull inn, and drank part of a pint of wine, and afterwards went to the next door to the Bull-inn, where I lay with the marshal. Mr. Jones. What time did the gentlemen go to their lodging? Rutkin. I am not positive as to that, but I believe it was about eleven o'clock. Mr. Marson. If your lordship pleases, now will call some persons to give an account of me. Mr. Cox. I Cor. I have known Mr. Marson a long time, and had always a good opinion of him; I do not believe 5,000l. would tempt him to do such a fact. Mr. Marson. Captain Wise, I desire you would please to speak what you know of me? Mr. Cowper. My lord, because these gentlemen are strangers in the country, I think, if in taking an account of any evidence for myself there is any thing occurs to me that they may have a just advantage of, I think I ought not to conceal it, for I am as much concerned to justify their innocence as my own. The principal witness against them is one Gurrey; and I will prove to you, that since he appeared in this court, and gave his evidence, he went out in a triumphant manner, and boasted, that he, by his management, had done more against these gentlemen than all the prosecutor's witnesses could do besides. To add to that, I have another piece of evidence that I have been just ac quainted with my lord, it is the widow Davis, Gurrey's wife's sister, that I would call. Major Lane. My lord, I have known Mr. Marson ever since he was two years old, and never saw him but a civilized man in my life; he was well bred up among us, and I never saw him given to debauchery in all my life. Baron Hatsell. Where do you live? Major Lane. In Southwark, my lord. Baron Hatsell. Well, what do you say, Mrs. Davis? Mrs. Davis. I came to the house where these gentlemen lodged; I was in about half an hour, and my sister asked me to air two or three pair of sheets: when I had aired the sheets, she asked me to go up and help to lay them on; and before I had laid them on, these gentlemen came into the room. Baron Hatsell. What hour? Mrs. Davis. By the time of my going out again, I believe it might be about ten, or some thing better, and they drank three quarts wine, and they had some bread and butter and of cheese carried up, and so they went to bed; and after my brother went to fetch Mr. Gape, that lay at his house, from Hockley's. Mr. Cowper. I only beg leave to observe, that Gurrey denied that he went for him. Baron Hatsell. Ay; but this signifies very little, whether it be true or false. Mrs. Davis. The next day after, these gentlemen were about the town; and she said, she did believe they were come to clear a young man (a minister's son) that was tried at the bar for robbing the mail: I asked why she thought so? She said, she was sure of it: and I asked her, How she could be sure of it, when she was never told so? Why, said !, do they accuse these gentlemen? They ought rather to take up the gentleman that was with Mrs. Stout's maid; and she said, If they took up Mrs. ■Stout's maid, they should have never a wit ness. clerk, and he behaved himself very honestly with me. And since that, I have kept a correspondence with him, and I believe he would not do such a thing for all the world. Baron Hatsell. Call somebody to speak for Mr. Rogers, if there be any. Evans. My lord, Mr. Rogers hath a general character in Southwark, for a very honest man. Mr. Rogers. Pray call Mr. Lygoe. Sir,' please to give my lord and the court an account what you know of me. Lygoe. My lord, I have known all the three gentlemen at the bar, but particularly Mr. Rogers and Mr. Stephens, from their infancy. I have employed them both in business several times, and always found them fair practisers ;* and believe neither of them would be guilty of doing an ill act. Mr. Rogers. Call Mr. Thurlby. Sir, pray give the court an account how I behaved my Baron Hatsell. Who was that that was talk-self in your service. ing with Mrs. Stout's maid? Mrs. Davis. I do not know, but she said she did not like their actions; and therefore she ought to have been examined who she was with. Capt. Wise. I have known Mr. Marson several years, and he is a person of as fair reputation as any in the Borough. Baron Hatsell. Come, Mr. Thurlby, what do you say of Mr. Rogers? Thurlby. My lord, Mr. Rogers lived with me about eight years, in which time I frequently trusted him with very great sums of money; I ever found him just and faithful, and cannot believe, that any money could tempt him to do an act of this kind. Reading. I have been acquainted with Mr. Marson 20 years, he lives near the house where I now do: he has a general good character among his neighbours, for a fair man in his practice, an honest man, and a man of good conversation. Baron Hatsell. Well, Mr. Stephens, what do you say? Stephens. I desire sir Robert Austin to give an account of me. Sir R. Austin. I have known Mr. Stephens many years; his brother is captain in a neighbouring country; he is reckoned not only an honest man in his practice, but has the general character of a good-natured man; and he is so far from being a person likely to do such an action, that, for a younger brother, he was very well provided for; his father left him 1,000l. and he is clerk of the papers, which is reputed worth 1007. a year, and is in good practice besides. Juryman. I have known him several years, and he has the same reputation sir Robert has given him. Sir J. Shaw. I know Mr. Stephens, and his brother captain Stephens: as to this gentleman, he hath always behaved himself well in our country, and hath the character of an honest gentleman. Evans. I have known him for these eight years, and to be a very civil person, and well educated, and never heard but a good eharacter of him: 1 have also known Mr. Marson these ten years, and never saw any ill by him, and do believe, that he or the other would not have done such an ill thing to have gained this Country. Menlove. My lord, Mr. Stephens was my Mr. Jones. My lord, we insist upon it, that Mr. Cowper hath given a different evidence now from what he did before the coroner; for there he said he never knew any distraction, or love-fit, or other occasion she had to put her upon this extravagant action. Now, here he comes, and would have the whole scheme turned upon a love-fit. Call John Mason. (Who was sworn.) Baron Hatsell. What do you say, Sir, to this matter? Mr. Stout. When Mr. Cowper was examined before the coroner, he was asked, If he knew any reason why she should do such a thing? and he said, she was a very modest woman, and he knew no cause why she should do such a thing as this. John Mason, was you by when Mr. Cowper gave evidence before the coroner?-Mason. Yes. Mr. Jones. What did he say? Mason. He said he did not know any thing was the cause of it, but she was a very modest person. Mr. Jones. Was he upon his oath? Baron Hatsell. When did he say this? Mason. It was the same day she was found. Mr. Jones. Did they ask him any question, if he knew any person that she was in love with? Mason. He said he knew but of one, and his name was Marshall, and Mr. Marshall told him, That he was always repulsed by her. Mr. Stout. I desire John Archer, may be asked the same question. (Who was sworn.) Mr. Jones. Was you present with the coroner's inquest? J. Archer. Yes. Mr. Jones. Was Mr. Cowper examined by them ?-J. Archer. Yes, he was. Mr. Jones. What did he say concerning Mrs. Stout then? J. Archer. They asked him, If he knew any occasion for Mrs. Stout's death? And he said, he knew nothing of it, or of any letters. Mr. Cowper. Then I must call over the whole coroner's inquest to prove the contrary. Baron Hatsell. Did they ask him concerning any letters? J. Archer. They asked him, If he knew of any thing that might be the occasion of her death? Baron Hatsell. I ask you again, if they asked him if he knew of any letters? J. Archer. My lord, I do not remember that. Mr. Stout. I would have called some of the coroner's inquest, but I was stopped in it. Juryman. We have taken minutes of what has passed: If your lordship please we will withdraw. Baron Hatsell. They must make an end first, Mr. Jones, If your lordship please, we will call one witness to falsify one piece of their evidence, and that is one widow Larkin. (Who was sworn.) Mr. Jones. Do yon remember one Mr. Rutkin being at your house?-Larkin. Yes. Mr. Jones. At what time did he come in? Larkin. Between nine and ten of the clock. Mr. Jones. Was the marshal then in the house? Larkin, No; the marshal did not come till near an hour after. Mr. Jones. Did not he go out afterwards? Larkin. Not that I know of. Mr. Rutkins. I am satisfied it was past eleven when I came in. Baron Hutsell. It is likely it may be true; for I believe they did not keep very good hours at that time. Baron Hatscll. I believe nobody disputes that; she might be a virtuous woman, and her brains might be turned by her passion, or some distemper. Gentlemen of the jury, you have heard a very long evidence. I am sure that you cannot expect that I should sum it up fully; but I will take notice of some things to you that I think are most material; and if I omit any thing that is material, I would desire Mr. Jones (that is counsel for the king) and Mr. Cowper to put me in mind of it. The indictment against the prisoners at the bar is for a very great crime, it is for murder, which is one of the most horrid of all crimes: You are to consider first what evidence you have heard to prove it; and though there be no direct proof, you are to consider what is circumstantial. They do begin with Sarah Walker, who was Mrs. Sarah Stout's maid; and she tells you, that Mr. Cowper, when he came to this town on Monday the 13th of March last, came to Mrs. Stout's house and dined there, and went away about four o'clock in the afternoon; but she tells you, that the Friday before, there came a letter from Mr. Cowper's wife to Mrs. Stout, to let her know that Mr. Cowper would come and lodge at their house at Hertford at the assizes; so that when he came, she thought that he had intended to have done according to that letter. She saith, that after dinner Mr. Cowper went away, and came again at nine at night, and there be supped; he was desired so to do, (and indeed had been invited to dinner also that day) and she doth say that after supper there was a fire made in his chamber (for this young gentlewoman, Mrs. Stout, pressed him to lie at their house), and she ordered the maid to warm his bed; and I believe, says she, Mr. Cowper heard her say so, for he was nearer to her than I, at that time, and he doth not deny but that he heard it. She says, that accordingly she went up to warm the bed; and having stayed there a while, she heard the door clap; and when she came down into the parlour, where she had left them, they were both gone, and that she could not tell what the meaning of it was; and they waited for her all night, old Mrs. Stout and this maid, and she did not come in all night, nor was afterwards seen alive; but Mr. Cowper was the last per son seen in her company. The other witnesses that came afterwards, speak concerning the finding of the body in the river, and tell you in what posture it was. I shall not undertake to give you the particulars of their evidence; but they tell you she lay on her right side, the one arm up even with the surface of the water, and her body under the water; but some of her cloaths were above the water; particularly one says, the ruffles of her left arm were above the water. You have heard also what the doctors and surgeons said on the one side and the other, concerning the swimming and sinking of dead bodies in the water; but I can find no certainty in it; and I leave it to your consideration. Another circumstance they build on, and which seems to be material, is, of her belly being Jank, and that there was no swelling; whereas, say they, when a person is drowned, therebilly great deal of water goes in, and makes the belly to swell; but here was no swelling that morning she was taken out, and no water came out of her mouth and nostrils, only a little froth there was, and her belly was lank. But, say they, on the other side, that may very well be; for, perhaps she might be choaked immediately, as soon as she was in the water; and, say they, you may not wonder at that; for if she went to drown herself, she would endeavour to be choaked as soon as she could; for those persons that are drowned against their own consent do swallow a great deal of water, but those that drown themselves do not swallow much water, for they are choaked immediately by the water going into the windpipe; that we commonly call going the wrong way. The doctors and surgeons have talked a great deal to this purpose, and of the water's going into the lungs or the thorax; but unless you have more skill in anatomy than I, you would not be much edified by it. I acknowledge I never studied anatomy; but I perceive that the doctors do differ in their notions about these things. But, as to matter of fact, it is agreed to by all the witnesses for the king, that her body was lank, her belly was thin, and there was no sign of any water to be in it: they on the other side tell you, that her stays was on, and she was strait-laced, and that might occasion her belly's being so small, and hinder the water from going in. As to these three other gentlemen that came to this town at the time of the last assizes, what there is against them you have heard: they talked at their lodging at a strange rate, concerning this Mrs. Sarah Stout, saying, her business is done, and that there was an end of her courting-days, and that a friend of theirs was even with her by this time. What you can make of it, that I must leave to you; but they were very strange expressions; and you are to judge whether they were spoken in jest, as they pretend, or in earnest. There was a cord found in the room, and a bundle seen there, but I know not what to make of it. As to Mrs. Stout, there was no sign of any circle about her neck, which, as they say, must have been, if she had been strangled: some spots there were; but it is said, possibly those might be occasioned by rubbing against some piles or stakes in the river. Truly, gentlemen, these three men, by their talking, have given great cause of suspicion; but whether they, or Mr. Gentlemen, I was very much puzzled in my Cowper, are guilty or no, that you are to deterthoughts, and was at a loss to find out what in- mine. I am sensible I have omitted many ducement there could be to draw in Mr. Cow-things; but I am a little faint, and cannot repeat any more of the evidence. per, or these three other gentlemen, to commit such a horri, barbarous murder. And on the other hand, I could not imagine what there should be to induce this gentlewoman, a person of a plentiful fortune, and a very sober good reputation, to destroy herself. Now, gentlemen, I must confess, the evidence that the defendants have given by these letters, if you believe them to be this gentlewoman's hand-writing, do seem to fortify all that Mr. Cowper's witnesses have said, concerning her being melancholy: It might be a love distracfion, and she might have been a virtuous woman for all that; for it might be a distemper which came upon her, and turned her brains, and discomposed her mind; and then no wonder at her writing thus, in a manner different from the rest of the actions of her life. Gentlemen, you are to consider and weigh the evidence, and I will not trouble you any more about that matter. Jury. We have taken minutes, my lord. Baron Hatsell. Well then, gentlemen, go together, and consider your evidence; and I pray God direct you in giving your verdict. [Then one was sworn to keep the jury, and in about half an hour the jury returned.] Cl. of Arr. Gentlemen, are you all agreed in your verdict ?-Omnes. Yes. Cl. of Arr. Who shall say for you? Cl. of Arr. Spencer Cowper, hold up thy hand. (Which he did.) Look upon the prisoner. How say you? Is he guilty of the felony and murder whereof he stands indicted, or not guilty ?-Foreman. Not guilty. In like manner the jury did give their verdict, that John Marson, Ellis Stephens, and William Rogers were Not guilty. The CASE of SPENCER CowPER, esq. JOHN MARSON, ELLIS STEPHENS, and WILLIAM ROGERS, gentlemen.* [Published by spotted reputations; the last an utter stranger to Mr. Cowper; when at once they were accused of being together, with the basest and most execrable crime that the greatest villain in the world is capable of committing. Nay, in one respect, they were accused of doing what the most hardened in wickedness never did; that is to say, of having contracted the guilt, and run the imminent hazard of murder, without any temptation or provocation to it, or other cause whatsoever. For it has pleased the Providence of God to |