d his life with his
gun; that he was afraid she would poison him if trusted with the
opiate prescribed for him when suffering from a wound. It was
further shown by Giles Cheel and Sarah Rocliffe that she had
threatened to kill her husband with a stone, if not that actually
used by her, and then on the table, by one so like it as to be
hardly distinguishable from it. This threat had been made on the
night previous to the death of Jonas Kink. On the morning she had
encountered her husband in a field belonging to Mr. James Colpus,
and this meeting had been witnessed by the owner of the field, his
daughter, and by Thomas Rocliffe and his son Samuel.

Colpus and his daughter had been at some distance in the rear, but
Thomas and Samuel Rocliffe had been close by, in a sunken lane;
they had witnessed the meeting from a distance of under thirty
feet, and were so concealed by the hedge of holly and the bank as
to render it improbable that they were visible to the accused.

James Colpus had seen that an altercation took place between
Mehetabel and the deceased, but was at too great a distance to
hear what was said. He had seen Mehetabel raise her hand, holding
something--what he could not say--and threaten Jonas with it; but
he did not actually see her strike him, because at that moment he
turned to say something to his daughter.

The evidence of Mary Colpus was to much the same effect. The
accused had come to her to ask for a situation vacant in the house,
through the dismissal of Julia Caesar, her former servant, and
some difficulty had been raised as to her reception, on account
of the doubt whether Jonas would allow his wife to go out into
service, and leave her home. She and her father had promised to
consider the matter, and with this understanding Mehetabel had
left, carrying her babe.

Just as she reached the further extremity of the field, she met
her husband, Jonas Kink, who came up over the stile, out of the
lane, apparently unobserved by Mehetabel; for, when he addressed
her, she started, drew back, and thrust her hand into her pocket
and pulled out a stone. With this she threatened to strike him; but
whether she carried her threat into execution, or what occasioned
his fall, she could not say, owing to her father having spoken to
her at that moment, and she had diverted her eyes from the two in
the field to him. When next she looked Jonas had disappeared, and
she heard the shouts, and saw the faces of Thomas an