The Observer.

Observer, Volume 5, Issue 124, 27 January 1883, Page 306

The Observer.

Saturday, January. 27th, 1883. THE ALLEGED MURDER CASE. The trial of Marion Robertson" Hamilton, and. Thomas Foley Collon Priestley, fßr the alleged murder of the former's husband, was opened on Monday last in the Supreme Court, and it may safely be asserted that never before' has th« • building been so crowded, nor the proceedings watched with so keen an interest. Usually, Mr Justice G-illies is indisposed to tolerate the presence of people in the gallery, but on this occasion it was thronged with woinen-r-old and young, stout and thin, plain and 'pretty — long before he made his appearance, and he had not the heart to give the signal for turning them out. Therefore they remained, and, but for ait occasional outcry from a fretful babe (which drew down upon the whole abashed company the -y wrathful thunder 6£ old Aldridge's voice), and an irrepressible titter when Priestley's highly erotic acrostic was read out to the Court, they were as silent as church-mice. Downstairs, women occupied nearly all th*e front seats, and elbowed the men out of the front standing row. The Press box was well-filled, and there was an exceptionally large muster of lawyers and their „ clerks. In fact ' everything betokened a, cause celctire of the first order. * — : — . k The police were very vigilant and zealous. Sergeant G-amble discovered a solitary gentleman in possession of the bench for the w&iting&witnesses, and,- having learnt that*he was neither a medical man nor a witness; in peremptory.tSnes" ordered him to decamp, The intruder backed • out,, covered with confusion, and then, as he passed the irate limb of the law, apologetically remarked that he, was, a member of the Bar — by name Mr Samuel, qf^Tarana'ki. iMitantly t]je bulky Sergeant became"', gracious,. WL& foun^[ another seat for the crestfallen Samuel. *The selection of a jury occupied a very' long time, in consequence of frequent challenges, and it lookejjt* 1 " very like as if the wh|fe panel would be ci- ! hausted before the " twelve good men and true, 1 ' , needed to try the case, weis found. The first five persons called were .challenged, and at last few jurors could be found to advance boldly into i the box, for dread lest they, shjould receive" their conga, while honest Neil Campbell, the tailor,*' was so sure he wasn't wanted that he would nqfc enter it at all. He received his dismissal wit£.the rest. There is an end, however, to everjffffigi and at last the number was made nj^fl; <',bffe jury sworn. Then Mr Hesketh qperia^BlEjase | in ■ an address of extreme length and o£^RHsrate character. > • . . . , . • • <*_ S_ >i We do, not intend to go into the evidence nor* * to comment qdgg;|jj|kcase. Suffice it ±o say that thetmedical testiffli^amounted just to this : that,

in Dr Philson's opinion, it was not impossible that Hamilton recei ved his wound from a fall against \the bedstead, nor impossible either that he subsequently arose to his feet, walked and talked incoKerently, while, in the opinion of Drs GS-olbsbro', Walker, and Hooper (who were the only ones who had examined the skull) both things were not only improbable but impossible. His Honor took the opportunity of catech ising ■one or two of the medical gentlemen as to the meaning they attached to the word " impossible," and when it came to Dr G-oldsboro's turn he surprised the Court by declaring the " fall-against-the-beadstead" the >>'y to be not only "highly improbable" but '' nighly impossible," — V>Jjm>sus linguae we presume.

But jolly and unsuspecting Dr Walker found liimself in the hands of the Philistines when he <same to be cross-examined. After stating that ]ie had had 16 years' medical experience, he was obliged to admit that 10 years of it were taken up by his apprenticeship ; and, when asked for his diploma, he had to say that lie had left it at 3iome; Both Messrs Cooper and Earl have for weeks past been cramming themselves with medical terminology, and, having a work of authority before him at the time, the former gentleman proceeded to test the worthy medico's professional knowledge. He was first asked if he knew liow many bones the skull .was composed of, and he cheerfully answered in the affirmative. Then, desired to name them, he mentioned the occipital, the two parietals, the two temporals, the frontal, the maxillas " and— and," he concluded, " a few others." Unfortunately, amongst the " few others," he was obliged to admit there was the Sphenoid, or most important one of all — the keystone of the cranial arch. Next, he was asked how many membranes there were between the interior of the skull and the brain, and, as he •could only remember two, he was kindly informed that there were three, and that the one he had forgotten, was the pia mater — the chief of all. It was reserved for Earl to add the last straw which broke the camel's back, by enquiring, with a terrible aspect, why he had not described the^ fracture as " a compound comminuted fracture^ combined with a complicated fissure." To this lie made answer and said that if he had known that his young friend required the description expressed so scientifically he could have obliged Mm. Earl subsided. Dr Walker, however, scored one off Cooper. That ironical gentlemen, after getting rid of a few preliminary guffaws, asked if the witness had not been concerned in a case which he held to be one of arsenical poisoning in opposition to the finding of the j ury, that death resulted from natural causes. The doctor replied in the affirmative, and declared that ho held yet to his opinion of arsenical poisoning in opposition to the finding of the jury, which was in effect tlafat death had been caused by beef steak and onions. Both Messrs Cooper and Earl fought shy of Drs Dawson, .Groldsbro 1 and Hooper,by the two formerof whom \their suddenlyacqi»?d medical lore was shown to\be completely at'^J^JM. further iccident ot' 'the first day's proceedings is worth noting, es&ept the fact that Mr Crown Prosecutor Williamson got a rap over the knuckles for keeping the Judgejxnd the Court waiting five minutes after the |||ial luncheon adjournment.

The incidents of the second day were commonplace with one or two slight exceptions. The best of them was undoubtedly the very palpable hit which Mr Macrae, the well-known cooper of High-street, made off Mrs Hamilton's counsel, while that gentleman was subjecting him to an anndyingeross-examination. " You arean Orangeman are you not?" queried the youthful wig-and-.gown. " No," gravely and quietly, but very emphatically, responded the witness, " I am a cooper." The Court laughed outi'ight at the sally, and it was so neatly delivered too, that even the Judge's stern features relaxed into a smile, while the lawyer was unmistakably flabbergasted, having no retort r^eady. He also met his match in Mrs Carnahan, who , very smartly, indeed, answered his badinage, and defeated all attempts to shake the reliability of her testimony.

The jury were highly disgusted when they f learnt that they were to be locked up another 1 night, even although on the previous evening they- 1 'had been very comfortably provided for at the Albert, and supplied with drinks and cigars galore. The married men, and especially Fountain and Calvert, looked awfully distressed, and the latter actually proposed that the Court should sit on till the case was finished. The Judge, .■ however, could not stand this, and Press and Bar F looked unutterable thanks to him when he entered his demurrer to the proposition.