Excerpt from The Twelve Days' Trial of Dr. John W. Webster, Professor of Chemistry, at the Medical College, Boston, in the United States: For the Murder of Dr. Parkman, Comprising the Addresses of the Counsel Engaged, the Examination of the 121 Witnesses, the Prisoner's Singular Defence, and the Chief Justice's Charge to the Jury, and His Sentence on the Prisoner; Printed Verbatim From The The prisoner, Dr. John W. Webster, was brought in at precisely nine o'clock. His step was light and elastic. In crossing towards his place, his countenance betrayed a degree of calm and dignified composure which created some remark from persons at the time in the court. On taking his seat, Professor Webster smiled as he saluted several of his friends and acquaintances, to some of whom he familiarly nodded, and a stranger would have taken him for an ordinary spectator. He wore his spectacles, and sat with ease and dignified composure in the dock occasionally shaking hands with some of his friends. The countenance of the prisoner indicated to the physiognomist strong animal passion and irascible temperament. The cheek bones are high, and the mouth, with compressed lips, betray great resolution and firmness of character; the forehead is inclined to angular, rather low and partially retreating. He stands below the middle height, and is by no means a man of strong muscular strength. His general appearance makes no favourable impression. A few moments after Chief Justice Shaw took his seat on the bench, accompanied by Assistant Justices Wilde, Dewey, and Metcalf. The counsel for the government is J. H. Clifford, Esq., Attorney-General, assisted by Geo. Bemis, Esq. For the defence, Hon. Pliny Merrick, and E. D. Sohier. The prisoner being called upon, he stood up firmly in the dock and pleaded "Not Guilty," in a strong and firm tone of voice, and while several of the Jurors were being examined and questioned by the Court, as to whether or not they had formed or expressed an opinion, he manifested much anxiety as to the answers given. In the course of the examination, officer Edward J. Jones attended the prisoner at the dock, and his counsel William E. Sohier, Esq., and Judge Merrick, took their places immediately outside, near the prisoner, and were actively engaged scrutinizing the jury panel, and attending to the swearing in of the jurors. The empannelling of jurors was then proceeded with. There were several excuses on the plea of ill-health, and other disabilities. The Clerk of the Court having advised the prisoner that he had a right to challenge peremptorily twenty of the jury, proceeded to call the names. William D. Adams' name was first called, and he was peremptorily challenged. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.