THE MURDER AT NOBLE'S.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 778, 12 January 1871, Page 3

THE MURDER AT NOBLE'S.

[west coast times.] At the Supreme Court, Hokitika, on Tuesday, before his Honor Judge Gresaon, Margaret Quigley was charged with the murder of George Patenaude, at Noble's, Grey District. The prisoner, for whom Mr Button appeared, pleaded Not Guilty. The Crown Prosecutor (Mr Harvey), with whom was Mr W. "Wilson, stated the circumstances of the case. Colin Algie : I am storeman to Mr Jas. M'Laughlin, at Noble's. I know the prisoner, and 1 was slightly acquainted with the deceased' man George Paten an de. I last saw him alive on the evening of Tuesday, 27th December. That was about five o'clock, at the back of M'Laughlin's store. Robert Austin Young, engineer and surveyor, was at this stage of the witness's examination called to prove the correctness of a plan drawn by him, and produced, for the prosecution, as a representation of the premises surrounding the scene of the alleged crime. He described the plan, and stated the distance between the several buildings and situations which it represented. Colin Algie, recalled : The prisoner directed my attention to where the deceased was standing. At the time I was approaching the back door of the store, the prisoner had just come to the the door. She said, "He is stabbed." I did not at first know whom she. meant, jut Hooked out at the door, and saw the deceased standing outside. The prisoner at the same time handed me a knife. It was a sheath knife. The knife produced is the knife she gave me When the prisoner handed it to me, I saw blood on it. I went towards the deceased before I said anything to the prisoner. He was standing with his hand on his left side facing the back-door. 1 put my arms round him ard brought him into the store. With my assistance, he walked in. As I approached him he said, "Oh, my God." He made no other remark. When I brought him into the store, I was about to put him on a seat, when he slid down upon the floor. I got a bag, which I put under his head. I bathed his face with vinegar and water, and sent for the police. The deceased never spoke afterwards, and did not appear conscious from the time he came into the store. He died in about ten minutes aften he was brought in. As I brought him in, the prisoner, was standing inside the door of the store. She did liot assist me to bring him in. I said to her, " Oh, Maggie, Maggie ; what is this?" The answer she gave me was, "He broke into my bed-room last night." When I was going to undress him, I told her to go away, meaning that she should go outside. She did so. The knife she gave me belonged to the store. She had borrowed it from me about twenty minutes before she returned it to me at the back-door. She asked me for the loau of a knife, and I gave her the one produced. She. said it was blunt and I said I would Bharpen it for her. I sharpened it at the grind-* stone, and afterwards gave it to her. She said she wanted it to cut some meat. Her place is about twenty-one feet from the store ; and .she is well acquainted with both me and Mr M'Laughlin. Morey's house is on the other side of hers. He is a married man, and Mr Morey was living there on the 27th December. At the hour mentioned, I think there were only five or six men in the township altogether. About two hours previously, I had seen the deceased going down the street. 1 have seen the prisoner and him together, but not on that day. When I went to fetch in the deceased there were other two men in the store — Philip Duigan and John M'Cafferty. Duigan was asleep, an<Tslept till after I brought the man in. M'Cafferty met me at the door and I brought the deceased in. When the prisoner came to the ddbr, M'Cafferty and I were sitting together on the counter. The doors were all open, and as I heard her approach,! went towards the back door and met her. I heard no screams or cries for assistance. If there had been any loud screaming in tne neighborhood, I think I should have heard it. I afterwards saw the prisoner pass the' backdoor on the track to Napoleon's. Sue had no hat or bonnet on when I first saw her, but she had a hat on when I taw her the second time. She was running along the track when I saw her.

By Mr Button : The prisoner was in the habit of borrowing knives from the store. She used to borrow them to cut meat, and she also borrowed knives, forks, and plates, when she had anyone to cook for. She had some ham in the house, but I do not know if she had anything else. The prisoner bore a very good character, an excellent character. She was virtuous and kind — very kind — very much so. I never knew her to be hasty in her temper. She was always, very quiet. 1 have seen her J?aye occasion to get bad-tempered -^wfien n>en were " chaffing" her. She kept her temper on these occasions, but would not allow men to be familiar with her !.in any way. Fisher pointed out to ; 6cke and me where he was standing. I asked him to do so. 1 placed a man there The man stood there while Locke and I went around the track. I stood in the door of the prisoner's place, and from there I could see the top of the man's head. He was of medium height. If a person were standing there, and watching the door, it is just possible he could see the head of a person coming out of the door. Stepping down from the door, no one could be seen from that point. At several other places on the track, the view would be interrupted ; but Fisher, standing where he paid he was, could see a man where he said he saw the deceased struck. I was not with Fisher when he pointed out the ground to the surveyor, By the Bench : If a person were screaming in the prisoner's house 1 could have heard it in the store. Re-examined : I saw some ham in the prisoner's house about two or three liouts after the occurrence. There was some hanging up on the back-door, and some on & shelf under the counter. There was no fresh meat in the township that day. I locked up the prisoner's house. I have the key in my possession still. The police went into the house next day. The house was in the same state when Sergeant Jeffreys went in as when I had locked it. The ham under the counter was boiled, I think, and was about a pound and a half in weight. By the Bench : The ham behind the door had been cut. The face of the ham looked as if a person had begun to cut it ; there was half a slice off. By a juror: About twenty minutes

elapsed between the time of my lending the knife and the prisoner returning it. By the Bench : The knife was one which we used for general purposes in the store. Duncan Fisher (examined by Mr Wilson) : I am a miner residing at Noble's. I live about fifty yards from M'Laughlin's store. I knew the deceased by sight. I saw him pass my hut at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, going down to Margaret Quigley's. I saw him enter the house. I next saw him about five in the afternoon, coming out of the back-door of the same house. I saw the prisoner come out along with him. They walked along together, alongside of her house, towards the bush, on a kind of a track. The deceased came out of the house first. 1 saw no quarrelling, and heard no words pass between them. The track leads to the horse track to Napoleon's. It goes round the back of M'Lauhlin's. They passed within ten or fifteen feet of the stove. They went \ about twenty yards beyond the store, j walking slowly side by side — apparently ' conversing, but I could not say positively. The next thing that attracted my attention was Margaret Quigley turning round, and striking the deceased in the left breast. 1 could not say that she had anything in her hand. When the deceaseH was thus struck, he remained in the spot, end the prisoner -ran away towards M'Lachlan's store. The deceased afterwards turned round, and walked a few steps toivai'ds the store. I went into my own hut shortly afterwards. I saw the deceased in the store. He was just dying. 1 noticed that he was stabbed in the left breast, near the region of the heart. 1 never heard a word of quarelling between the deceased and the prisoner, while I saw them walk from the door of the prisoner's house, nor any screams for assistance. I saw the prisoner before I saw the deceased a second time. She was then going towards Napoleon's, had a hat on, and was running. There was nothing to interrupt my view at the time I saw the blow was struck. The . deceased was rather in advance of the prisoner. She got round in front of him quickly. I never saw him touch her. I did not see him make any attempt to take improper liberties with her. He might have done so on the track, but not at the spot where he was struck. I was about forty yards distant. 1 saw them uninterruptedly for twelve or sixteen yards from the placehe was struck. They did not halt on the track at any time while they were under my view. I think they must have gone at the same pace when out of my view. When the deceased went to the prisoner's hotel in the forenoon I think they shook hands, but I could not say positively. John M'Cafferty : When I was in Margaret Quigley's hotel, on December 27th, the deceased came in. The prisoner was behind the counter. I remained there for some time — it might be an hour. When I left the deceased was still in the house. He was lying on a sofa. The prisoner was sitting by the fire. The deceased had a few drinks along with me, but I saw no signs of drink on him. I did not see him speak to the prisoner. There was no conversation between them when I was there. There was no quarrelling between them. When I left I went .to M'Lauhlin's store. About three-quar-ters of an hour after, I saw deceased come in at the back-door, with the storeman, who had him in his arms. The prisoner was standing outside the door. The storemau and I tried to set him on a block, but he could not sit, and we stretched him on the floor. We examined him, and found the track of a knife on the left side, but I could not look at it. I started to go to Napoleon's, but I stopped on the way, having met some of his mates.

By Mr Button : When I was in the store, I heard a noise from the dh'eotion of Margaret Quigley's, as if people were knocking each other against the weatherboards. That was about seven or eight minutes before deceased came to the store-door. The prisoner bears a good character in the district. 1 never heard anybody say anything wrong of her. She was very kind to any person who would tjo round the place, and was hungry ; she would cnok tucker for them. I never said or heard of her being hot-tempered- I heard her ordering Canadian Jack, as we call him, out of the house when he commenced blackguarding her and using rude language to her. Regius Jacques : I knew the deceased for many years. He was a countryman of mine— a French Canadian. I was in his company on Monday, December 26th. We remained together the whole night, and until 10 o'clock on Tuesday morning. We parted, and I saw him at the door of the prisoner's house. He called aie in, but I did not enter. I never saw him alive afterwards, I did not go into the prisoner's house. I did not like to go. The place did not suit me. lam quite positive I did not not miss the prisoner during the whole night. We were going about together in the fore-part of the night, and after that we went home together to my house. We stopped talking together till about daylight. I wanted him to go to bed. He said he did not think he could sleep. At last I put him to bed in my mate's bunk, and in my mate's house. The house stands about nine feet from mine. I left him there in bed, and went back to my own house, and also went to bed. That was about half past three in the morning — about daylight. Up to that time we had not, during that night, been at the prisoner's. We were talking about ladies, I saw a handkerchief in the possession of the deceased on Monday. By Mr Button : The prisoner and I had a word or two one time. Ido not recolect of having said, since this...occurred, that I would do all I could to hang her. [The prisoner became faint, and was removed to the fresh air for a few minutes, during which the business of the Court was suspended.] The deceased was quite sober when he went to bed. I saw him undressing. 1 did not assist to put him to bed. I was holding the light, and talking to him. I used no violence to put him to bed. I fetched him — showed him to bed. During the time I was playing a game of draughts, he might have been away, from my company a minute or two, but 1 never missed him. I won't swear that I did not miss him for a few minutes. I never recollect missing him. I never told anyone that I missed him, that night, for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes. I never told anyone I had missed him at all. Ido not recollect telling Jeffreys that I missed him, except what I have said that, while I was playing draughts, he might be absent for a minute or two. I think it was two o'clock on Tuesday morning when I -was playing

draughts. We played three games — a quarter of an hour each game. When we \acl finished, *he deceased and I went to Mother Gillam's. We were playing at a house we used to call Mr Hoyt's. We went there at two o'clock. We commenced to play when we went there. We were at Charles Morey's before that, for about three quarters of an hour. We were drinking there. We had come from the deceased's own place, about two miles up the creek. We came down to see friends and kill time. Re-examined : I bear the prisoner no malice whatever. I always respected her very much. The few words were nothing at all. William Locke : I am a baker, living at Noble's Creek. On December 27th, the deceased and I left my own place and went to Margaret Quigley's, where we had a drink together When we went there, I John M'Cafferty was in the honse, and another man came. The prisoner served us with the drinks. I left the deceased sitting in the room. The prisoner was sitting in the room also, talking to those present. There was no quarrelling, and I did not hear her complain of any previous conduct of his I never saw him again until he was lying in M'Laughlin's store. He was alive, and lived for about a quarter of an hour, but did not speak. I had previously seen the prisoner and the deceased together. I never saw them quarrelling, and the prisoner never complained to me of deceased's conduct. John Jeffreys : I am sergeant of police, or senior constable, at Napoleon's. On the 28th December, after seeing the body of the deceased; I returned to Napoleon's, where I saw the prisoner and arrested her. I had previously asked her to go to the Police Camp. I had overtaken her on the road. At the camp I began to interrogate her. She volunteered a statement. I then told her I arrested her for the wilful murder of George Patenaude. I cautioned her. She said she knew the deceased for twelve or fourteen months. During the first three or four months of their acquaintance he had visited her house. After that, she said, he had on several occasions made freer with her than he ought to do. In consequence of this, she told him that, if he could not pay her a proper amounb of respect, he, had better not visit her house. Notwithstanding, he had frequently called when he visited the township, until the 27th of December. That day, she said, there had been a Caledonian Gathering at Mackley's ; that she had gone to the sports ; had returned in the evening, and went to bed about eleven or twelve. She said that when in bed an hour- or longer, some person came into her bedroom. She thought there were two persons as they were leaving the bedroom, but she was not fully satisfied of that. She was under the impression that one of them was George Patenaude, though she would not swear to it. She added that she was not further troubled that night, but that at eleven or twelve o'olock next day Patenaude called, and had drinks with some others ; and that, when an opportunity presented . itself, she challenged him with being in her room on the previous evening. He admitted having been there, and expressed an apology for having done so. He said that, if she would overlook it, he would not do so again. 13 e asked to be friends with her, and she stated that, if he would not do so again, she would overlook it, and say no more about it. Some time after this, the persons in the bar left, and Patenaude left. Finding herself alone, she intended to cook herself a meal. With this intention she went to cut herself some meat. Finding the knives dull she went to M'Laughlin's to borrow a knife. The knife the storeman gave her was also dull, and she asked him to sharpen it. She returned to her own house, ahd was in the act of cutting the meat when George Patenaude came in, bej>au to imp irtune her, and to take coaTso liberties with her. She requested him to desist, and as a means of getting away from him she ran out to the baok of the house, taking the knife with her. He followed her. She was vexed at the time and under the impulse of passion she turned round and struck him with the knife. Immediately afterwards she was sorry for what she had done. She had no idea her passion would have led her so far. She asked me what I thought they would do with her if she wore charged with it. I said if she was con victed she would probably be hanged. She commenced to cry, and said she would give the whole of her future existence, whatever it might be, to recall the act. — Examined as to the plan, the witness said : Standing where Fisher said he stood, I could distinctly see the spot where the blow was said to be struck, I and could just see persons coming out of i the prisoner's back door, Three days

(For continuation of Aeu)s see <ktli Page.)

afterwards- 1 .searched the prisoner's house. It seemed to have be*n left in haste. On the inside of the back-door a portion of a ham was hanging up. I found no fresh meat, no meat of any kind cut up. I found no preparations for conking, nor any traces of any meat, except some boiled ham in a cupboard. The knives in the house were small, such as are used for tea service. By Mr Button : The ham looked as if it had been cut a few days previously. I did not see that it was partly cut. I had a conversation with Jacques on the morning of the 28th. He stated that he believed that the deceased had been with him all the night of the 26th. 1 asked him if he was positive about that. He said there was about twenty minutes, during which the deceased might have been absent from him, when he was playing a game of draughts. He did not exactly know the hour — it might be eleven, twelve, or one. The prisoner bore an exceedingly good character. She was always spoken of as such, and was spoken well of for kindness. Her sister kept the house with her for a time, but left in consequence of illness. Re-examined : Jacques said he did not recognise the presence of the deceased while he was playing draughts. By a juror : The house in which Jacques was playing draughts is not more than thirty yards from the prisoner's. Any person having a knowledge of the prisoner's premises could obtain entry at the front door by putting a knife in and raising the cross-bar. . Dr Lee described the post mortem examination made upon the body of the deceased. The wound was sufficient to cause death very soon after its infliction. This closed the case for the crown. The Crown Prosecutor addressed the jury on the evidence, and upon the case set up for the defence in the course of cr jssexamination. What the jury had to decido was whether the case was one of murder or of manslaughter — whether it wa3 a crime committed in the heat of passion, or wilfully and with malice. It had been suggested for the defence, that on the night previous to the unfortunate occurrence the deceased man broke into the prisoner's house, and entered her bedroom — for what purpose was not suggested. The only evidence of that was the statement of the prisoner herself. As against that, there •was the evidence of Regius Jacque3, who said that he and the deceased were together all night, it being Christmas time, as friends ana countrymen, meeting and associating in a friendly way together. Jacques said the deceased might have "one from his company, but he did not miss him. He (Mr Harvey} did not mean to say that the deceased might not have gone to the prisoner's house, and opened the door as suggested by the constable. But even had he done so — with all the houses immediately contiguous, and within easy call — the prisoner would not have been justified in using such a weapon there and then. They were living in a small place, and a loud scream or a call for assistance at any time of the night or day would have brought protection.. But, according to the prisoner's own statement, what did they find ? They found that next day they had " made it up." They were on good terms, and the deceased was out and in the house in an apparently friendly way. If she used the weapou after that — with the idea of his offence of the previous nigbt rankling in her heart — then it was clearly a ca«e of murder. She would not have been justified in using the weapon then, or even so much as at the time he broke into her room. The next thiug suggested was, that, after Locke and M'Cafferty had left the prisoner's house, the deceased took improper liberties with her, and thar, in order to be rid of her importunities, she went out at the back door ; but, had he taken ever so much liberty at that particular time, there was nothing to justify her act. She went out ; but where did she go ? She had only to go out at the front-door, and she would have been in the street. Instead of doing what any reasonable person would have done, she went out at the back — 'Walked past M'Laughlin's store — and went along an unfrequented path, among old workings and fallen timber; and in contradiction of her statement, Duncan Fisher's statement was that the deceased came out at the door first, followed by the prisoner. Algie and Fisher were in the vicinity, but no screams were heard, but they walked leisurely to the spot at which the blow wis seen to be struck. And why did she take the knife with her ? She said that she wanted to cut some meat, but there was no meat in the house, and if she had used it for cutting the ham, was it likely she would have hung up the ham and rushed away '• to get to the back track to Napoleon's ? He was sorry to say that, to his mind, the circumstances did not seem to be sufficient to relieve her from the capital offence. No one could feel more for t: c gin's unfortunate position, or feel more, the responsibility of the duty he had to discharge, and he sincerely wished the circumstances had been such that the jury would have* been enabled to say, "This only amounts to manslaughter.*' But the whole thing, according to the evidence, appeared to have been premeditated and deliberately done. He should feel glad, indeed, if the jury could see their way clear to reduce the case to one of manslaughter, and they might do that, if they had a doubt ; but the doubt must be a reason ible one. They were not to set up something that was inconsisteflt with the evidence ; but if they had any reauonab c doubt, let them give the benefit of that doubt to the prisoner. Mr Button asked the jury, on account of the magnitude of the crime, to give it their calm and dispassionate consideration — not to look at it in a cold scholastic point of view 1 — not in the spirit which it might be looked at by a Crown Prosecutor — but to consider it with a remembrance of. what people actually were, not what they should be or might be. They had to consider — not whether the prisoner actually struck the blow which took the life* of the deceased— he did not fora moment contend that s'je did not — but whether the circumstances were such as would enable them to come to the conclusion that it was under the influence of passion that it was inflicted. He did not admit the Crown Prosecutor's reading of the law. The Crown Prosecutor made the. mistake of thinking that the offence must either be justified or excusable ; but he (Mr Button) did not attempt to justify or 'excuse it for a moment. All he sought to say was that it was a sudden impulsive action on the part of the prisoner, and an act for which she was exceedingly sorry as soon as the influence of the impulse had subsided. Had she done

so when he took liberties with her in the day time she would not have been justified, but it would have been sufficient to reduce the case to manslaughter ; and a verdict for manslaughter was all that he asked for. His case was that being importuned and annoyed by the deceased, on the impulse of the moment she turned round and stabbed him ; and he put it to the jury whether there was sufficient to rouse her anger, in the heat of which she perpetrated this act. In the intervals when out of sight of the witness Fisher, liberties might have been taken to arouse this passion ; those new acts would be aggravated and intensified by what had gone before ; he had promised to conduct himself differently, but his honor was not to be depended upon, and the deed being done, not a word escaped her that she was glad that she had done it, or that she intended murder. Had she intended murder, would she not have chosen some time and place which would have enabled her to have escaped, or to keep the crime concealed? Would she have borrowed this knife in open day, and as openly given it back, as sl.e had done, saying, "I have stabbed him?" The circumstances were altogether inconsistent with the usual cases of .nurder. There was no sufficient or reasonable motive for the committal of a deliberate murder. The most reasonable inference, and her own confession, were that she acted under a sudden mental impulse ; and if, in the circumstances, they saw sufficient to support this inference and confession, or if they had any reasonable doubt on the subject, he asked them to give the prisoner the benefit of that doubt. If they thought she was excited when she did this — that her excitement was intensified by previous conduct of the deceased — and that it was thus in the high heat of passion that she committed the crime, by inflicting the unfortunate fatal blow — it was no longer murder, but manslaughter. Looking at it in that li^ht, and weighing human action as it usually exists, and not as it ought to be, or might be, he was sure they would only feel conscious of having done their duty in giving the prisoner the benefit of the doubt in that direction. It would be more satisfactory to their consciences, and mure in accordance with the principles of the English law, that ten guilty persons should escape than that one innocent person should suffer. At the conclusion of Mr Button's address there was some applause, which was ins'vntly checked. His Honor summed up, beseeching the jury to dismiss any external influences ! which might affect their calm consideration of the case. Although the case was .an exceedingly painful one, and abont which there had been a great mass of evidence, and some conflict of evidence, I he thought he would be able to narrow the I question which they would have to try, to one single point. The law presumed every taking away of human life to be murder — to be done with deliberate malice — but, of course, that presumption might be rebutted. There might be three or four defences of a prisf.ner charged with murder. The first and highest defence would be that the homicide was justifiable, or it miy;ht be shown that it was excusable. [His Honor quoted illustrative cases.] It was not contended by counsel for the prisoner that this case was either justifiable or excusable homicide. He admitted, and very justly, that it must result in a verdict of murder or of manslaughter. Between these two crimes the lines of distinction were sometimes very fine, and it was often difficult for a jury to agree as to which class a case belonged. The law implied, for murder, malice aforethought — either a deliberate intention of taking away life, or, what mi^ht amount to murder — such a carelessness of human life as to show a bad heart, which the law called malice. If a person receiving some slight provocation were suddenly to put another to death, that would be" a clear case of murder. There must be some reasonable and proportionate provocation. In' this case, and in determining whether it was murder or manslaughter, their decision would depend uoon whether they were satisfied that ( there . was any standing grudge in- the mind of the prisoner against the deceased. If they believed that the prisoner borrowed the knife from Colin Algie with a view of stabbing the deceased, that would be, beyond a doubt, murder. If they believed that the fact of the deceased man having broken into the house of the prisoner, although she had condoned the offence was rankling in her mind, and that the use of the knife was the effect of this rankling, that would be also murder. The evidence on theHe points resolved itself into small compass. The witnesses, on whose evidence the ca»e principally turned, were Duncan Fisher, and Jeffrey, the constable. With reaard to the prisoner's statement, the law was, perhaps, not quite settled as to whether a prisoner could be convicted, simply and solely, on her own confession ; but this much was settled — that if the confession of a person is borne out by corroborative circumstauces, the person may be con victed on that confession. In this instance, the jury were at liberty to treat the prisoner's statement for what it was worth, rejecting it or giving it credit as they pleased. Suppising for a moment that her words to Jeffrey were true— supposing the deceased went into her room on the night of the 26th — supposing that he had been forgiven, and had renewed his insult — her statement was that she stabbed him at the dour, and i hat did not tally with the indisputable facts of the case. If her statement were the tnie representation of the case, he should feel considerable difficulty in arriving at any difficulty but one of manslaughter. They did not know the amount of insult offered— he might have insulted her slightly or grossly. But the more trustworthy evidence of Fisher and Algie threw a doubt upon her statement, and made it more difficult to reduce the case to manslaughter. According to Fisher's evidence, the deceased and the prisoner were walking along at a uniform pace — the prisoner apparently not excited and at this particular pomt — thirty or forty yards distant from the door— she struck the blow. It was suggested that the deceased might have renewed his insults along the track to Napoleon's. If he did so at points where they were out of the observation of Fisher, it was very singular that she should have walked on cooly, in the deliberate manner described. This was the circumstance which caused the greatest difficulty in determining between the two crimes. Manslaughter must be done on the instant, without forethought, and, where there was provocation, under a gust of passiou. Supposing he had insulted her twice, and

r i that the insult was aggravated by her havina forgiven him once, had her passion time to cool while she was walking along the track ? He had to leave that for jury to determine, reminding them that, in order to justify the reduction of the crime from murder to. manslaughter, there must'be some reasonable *proportion of provocation. If they had any reasonable doubt as to whether the provocation given was sufficient to reduce the crime to manslaughter, they should, give the prisoner the benefit of the doubt; but, if there was not sufficient provocation they would be bound according to their oaths, to 6nd a verdict of murder. The jury retired at a quarter-past seven o'clock, and at a quarter past nine they returned into Court. His Honor : Are you able to agree 1 The Foreman : We are not able to come to a verdict, your Honor. His Honor : Is there any point in which I can assist you ? The Foreman : There seems to be a doubt as to what happened between the back door of the prisoner's house and the spot marked B, where the blow was struck — as to whether any words had passed between them or insults been offered to her. His Honor : Of course we have no means of knowing that. I cannot assist you in that. We have no means of knowing that except the evidence of Mr Fisher. A J uror : The distance was so great that there was no possibility of hearing. His Honor : These are just the difficulties you have to deal with. A Juror : It is questioned whether it was possible to look over the intervening scrub. His Honor: Yes ; a person could look over the scrub. One witness said it was two or three feet high, and another said he could see the upper part of persons passing along. Mr Button : That was at the spot where the blow is described as having been struck, but there were some other parts which were hid. His Honor : There was ah interruption to the view by a fowl house, and by the root of a tree. If you can make up your minds as to what passed in the walk along that track, or as to the witness having had means of judging correctly as to what passed, it then remaius for you to say what effect it ought to haye — will it reduce the crime to manslaughter or not. That would depend upon whether there was time to quarrel, from the time she left her own house, till the time she reached the spot where the blow was struck. A juror : That is what we disagree on. His Honor : I apprehended that would be the difficulty. But if you cannot make up your minds clearly — if you think there was not sufficient to prove malice — you will be bound to give the prisoner the benefit of the doubt, and bring in a verdict of manslaughter. I am afraid I cannot give you any more assistance The jury again retired, aud returned at twenty minutes to ten. The Registrar : Gentleman, are yon agreed to your verdict ? The Foreman : Guilty of manslaughter. The prisoner, in answer to the usual questions, said her age was twenty years, and that she had nothing to say why the sentence of the court should not be passed on her. His Honor : Margaret Qnigley — You have had a very patient trial, and a very careful consideration of the charge against you. After a most careful and deliberate consideration of your case, the jury, taking a very merciful view of it have found yon guilty of manslaughter. You have, according to yonr own confession, under the influence of passion, taken away the life of a fellow creature, and sent him without any time for consideration, to his final account. I have not the slightest doubt that, as you say, immediately after you had done it, you felt deeply sorry for it. [The prisoner fainted, but quickly recovered, and resumed her position in the box.] I believe, Margaret Quigley, you bitterly repent what you did, and I have no doubt whatever, that although the sentence I am about to pass is a light one compared with the heinousness of your crime in the eye of the law, you will suffer most deep remorse during the term of your imprisonment. The sentence of the Court is that you, Margaret Quigley, undergo penal servitude for four years, computed from the 9th of January. The prisoner was then removed, and the Court was adjourned.