uilty,' and the dreadful business of the
day began, the court was crowded as it seldom had been before.
A short, clear, horrible statement unfolded the case for the crown. Then
the dying deposition of Sturk was put in evidence; then Irons the clerk
was put up, and told his tale doggedly and distinctly, and was not to be
shaken. 'No, it was not true that he had ever been confined in a mad
house.' 'He had never had delirium tremens.' 'He had never heard that
his wife thought him mad.' 'Yes, it was true he had pledged silver of
his master's at the Pied Horse at Newmarket' 'He knew it was a felony,
but it was the prisoner who put it into his head and encouraged him to
do it.' 'Yes, he would swear to that.' 'He had several times spoken to
Lord Dunoran, when passing under the name of Mervyn, on the subject of
his father being wronged.' 'He never had any promise from my lord, in
case he should fix the guilt of that murder on some other than his
father.' Our friend, Captain Cluffe, was called, and delivered his
evidence in a somewhat bluff and peremptory, but on the whole effective
way.
Charles Nutter, after some whispered consultation, was also called, and
related what we have heard. 'Yes, he had been arrested for the murder of
Dr. Sturk, and now stood out on bail to answer that charge.' Then
followed some circumstances, one of which, the discovery of a piece of
what was presumed to be the weapon with which the murder was
perpetrated, I have already mentioned. Then came some evidence, curious
but quite clear, to show that the Charles Archer who had died at
Florence was _not_ the Charles Archer who had murdered Beauclerc, but a
gentleman who had served in the army, and had afterwards been for two
years in Italy, in the employment of a London firm who dealt in works of
art, and was actually resident in _Italy_ at the time when the Newmarket
murder occurred, and that the attempt to represent him as the person who
had given evidence against the late Lord Dunoran was an elaborate and
cunning contrivance of the prisoner at the bar. Then came the medical
evidence.
Pell was examined, and delivered only half a dozen learned sentences;
Toole, more at length, made a damaging comparison of the fragment of
iron already mentioned, and the outline of the fractures in the deceased
man's head; and Dillon was questioned generally, and was not
cross-examined. Then came the defence.
The points were, that Sturk was restored to speech by th
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