must have been greatly
scratched and torn, and her limbs, naked as she was, have been otherwise
greatly maimed and bruised.
VI. The man who undertook to force her out, as he must have been greatly
agitated himself by his passions; as he was very closely employed, on no
very easy job; and as the actions of the suffering party cannot be
supposed to be meerly defensive through the whole course of the fray; he
must probably have been observed by some of the spectators at the
instant of his effecting his purpose; and must positively have borne
some very conspicuous marks of his helpmate's reciprocal assaults.
The two first of these propositions will be universally granted.
The third is contradicted by all the evidence on the trial, who
unanimously agree, that the moment the woman was seen, she came through
the window? and was only then heard to use expressions which _Daniels_
accounts for better than any one else.
In reply to the fourth, the pots were not discomposed, nor the window
broke, except one pane; and it does not appear that even that pane might
not have been broke before.
In answer to the fifth; the body, by the evidence of the surgeon, did
not appear to have received any other damage than the natural
consequences of so great a fall.
As to the last; the man was not seen at the window at all: and as to any
wounds or bruises sustained by him, the constable, when asked, whether
he saw the blow on his head, which he affirmed to be given him by his
wife? declared he did not. But he was not asked whether he looked for
it; a question, it may be presumed, he would have answered in the
negative. In such a situation, it is to be concluded, the poor fellow
was little heard and less regarded, concerning whatever he might alledge
in his own behalf. A man may be stunned by a blow that might not perhaps
exhibit any remarkable appearance; and had it been seen, his account of
it would have weighed but little.
It is not even probable, had he knocked this woman on the head first,
that he could have sent the body through the window so compleatly, as
either by fright, or design, she accomplished, herself. But that she
came there living, is past doubt.
To conclude: The evidence against this unfortunate man, was only
presumptive at most; and upon clear scrutiny is really presumptive of
_nothing_: so that as he is discharged by royal authority, so has he
also a just claim to an acquittal in the minds of all judicious and
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