orders to Mr. Wilson to make post-mortem exami-pear that any person had been guilty of murdering
nations at inquests, but not so often as to many the said Frederick John White, or had criminally
other surgeons; and that, during seven years, caused his death; nor did this deponent at or
for which he has been coroner, he has not issued upon the holding or taking of the said inquest, or
twenty-five orders to Mr. Wilson to make post- at any other time as in the said first-mentioned
mortem examinations; although, during that time, libel alleged, coax any private soldiers, or any
he had paid upwards of £1,400 to medical men other person, into conjectural charges, or try to
as fees for making post-mortem examinations and bully medical witnesses, or any medical or other
for giving evidence at inquests. He then says witness, out of honest convictions; or suggest, in-
that the court met again on the 27th of July, and sinuate, applaud, encourage, assail, twist, twirl, or
heard evidence, and was again adjourned to the manoeuvre in every or any shape, form, or direction,
3rd of August; and that, at the meeting of the to conjure up against an honest or any other prac-
court on the 27th of July, Drs. Warren, Hall, titioner a fictitious semblance of murder, as in the
Reid, Messrs. Day and Wilson, were first examined said first-mentioned libel alleged; nor did this de.
by him on the inquest, and that, till that exa- ponent, either at or upon the taking and holding
mination, he did not know the opinions of any of the said inquest, or at any other time, attempt
of those gentlemen as to the cause of White's or endeavour to get up against Dr. Warren in the
death; that Mr. Wilson gave evidence as to the said first-mentioned libel mentioned, being the said
state of the back and spine, and the other sur- James Low Warren, or failing him, against Colonel
geons as to the cause of death; and that Mr. Whyte in the said first-mentioned libel mentioned,
Wilson said he had no doubt that death had hap- or failing him, against the farrier in the said first-
pened in consequence of the flogging; but that mentioned libel mentioned, a colourable semblance
Drs. Hall, Reid, and Warren stated their opinion of murder as in the said first-mentioned libel in-
that the death of White did not happen in conse- sinuated, imputed, or alleged; and that this de-
quence of, nor was connected with, the lashes re- ponent did not by his conduct or by anything
ceived; and, further, that, after hearing all the which he either said or did at, upon, or relative to
evidence given before him as to the cause of death, the holding or taking of the said inquest, wish or
he proceeded to sum up to the jury the said evi. intend to excite or create a public sensation to help
dence, making such observations as in his judg- his fortunes in a forthcoming election or any other
ment were proper for him in the discharge of his public or political sensation whatsoever, or wish or
duty as coroner; and that, after his summing up, intend to puff himself with the public as a friend
the jury retired for upwards of an hour, and came to the poor. And this deponent for himself further
into court with the following verdict; that is to saith that he has never or in any manner whatso-
say-That on the eleventh day of July, one ever participated or been partner with the said
thousand eight hundred and forty-six, the deceased William James Erasmus Wilson in any fee or fees
soldier, Frederick John White, died from the mor- whatsoever, payable or due to or received by the
tal effects of a severe and cruel flogging of one
said William James Erasmus Wilson for any post-
hundred and fifty lashes, which he received with mortem or other examination of any human or other
certain whips on the fifteenth day of June, 1846, body whatsoever made by the said William James
at the Cavalry Barrack, on Hounslow-heath, at Erasmus Wilson, or any post-mortem fee or fees,
Heston, and that the said flogging was inflicted as in and by the said libel first above-mentioned
upon him under a sentence passed by a district alleged or supposed; and that he this deponent
court-martial, composed of officers of the 7th never charged as paid to the said William James
Regiment of Hussars, duly constituted for his Erasmus Wilson by this deponent any fee, fees, or
trial. That the said court-martial was authorized money whatsoever which had not been previously
by law to pass the said severe and cruel sentence, fully and wholly paid by this deponent to the said
and that the said flogging was inflicted upon the William James Erasmus Wilson, as in and by the
back and neck of the said Frederick John White said first libel is insinuated or alleged; and that he
by two farriers, in the presence of the said John did not directly or indirectly order, instruct, or
James Whyte, the lieutenant-colonel, and James suggest the said William James Erasmus Wilson to
Low Warren, the surgeon of the said regiment; make his examination or shape his evidence there-
and that so, and by means of the said flogging, under in any manner howsoever, so as to give any
the death of the said Frederick John White was particular result, turn, or bias whatsoever, as in the
caused.' And this deponent further saith, that said second libel is supposed, insinuated, or alleged."
the said jury, in giving and returning the said That, my lords, is the affidavit by which the
verdict, stated that they could not refrain from application is supported. The court would per
expressing their horror and disgust at the exist- ceive by the affidavit, and by the 6th and 7th
ence of any law amongst the statutes or regula. William IV., that nearly the whole of the
tions of this realm, which permits the revolting proceedings were irregular. It would be idle
punishment of flogging to be inflicted upon British to say that Mr. Wakley-who for so long a
soldiers; and, at the same time, the jury implore period had been a coroner for Middlesex, and
every man in the kingdom to join hand and heart who was continually making orders under the act
in forwarding petitions to the Legislature, praying could be ignorant of its provisions. According
in the most urgent terms for the abolition of to that act, the regimental surgeon, and those
every law, order, and regulation, which permits other military medical officers who conducted the
the disgraceful practice of flogging to remain one post-mortem examination, should have been first
moment longer a slur upon the humanity and fair admitted in evidence. By the 6 and 7 Will. IV.,
name of the people of this country.' The cap. 89, it is enacted, that when a person on
deponent further says that throughout the whole whom an inquest shall be held, has been attended
proceedings in calling in the testimony of by a medical man, that practitioner shall be first
Mr. Wilson, he was not actuated by any im- called in; or, if no medical practitioner has been
proper motive, but by a desire to discharge his in attendance upon the deceased during his ill-
duty. He then puts in the libel, which has been ness, then, that some one in practice near the
read to your lordships, from the Medical Times of place where death has occurred; and, if such evi-
August 1, and makes oath that he believes it re- dence is not satisfactory to the greater number of
fers to him and his conduct concerning the inquest. the jury, they shall request the coroner, in writing,
After which he makes oath that, on holding the in-
quest, his sole purpose was to discover the cause
of death, and properly discharge his duty, and that
he was not, upon the occasion of holding and
taking the said inquest, actuated by any of the im-
proper motives imputed to him by the said first-
mentioned libel, nor had he in view any such
unworthy, corrupt, or criminal purposes, as by the
said first-mentioned libel in that behalf imputed
to him; that he did not, upon the holding or
taking of the said inquest, wish to cause it to ap.

to name another.

The proper course to be pursued here was clear: the military medical man who had attended the deceased during sickness, and those gentlemen who made the first post-mortem examination, should have been examined before the jury; and, if they were dissatisfied, they might request the coroner, in writing, to appoint another; but, instead of calling before then this witness, the jury nominated Mr. Day, of Isleworth, to make an examination; of which, however, I do not complain;

and, before he is examined, the coroner asks some question, and, because he is not satisfied with the manner in which the post-mortem has been made, he thinks proper, he says on the suggestion of the jury, to appoint some one, of London, not from the neighbourhood, to make another examination, and give evidence with the first surgeons. My lords, I submit that the conduct of the coroner, in passing by evidence of the existence of which he must have been aware is most irregular. Afterwards, he tells us, on his return, passing along Oxford-street, he meets Mr. Wilson, and tells him that he had named him to make an examination, and also told him that the other surgeons who had examined the body, had neglected to examine the back and spine; and that Mr. Wilson consented. He then, my lords, issued an order to Mr. Wilson to examine the body, but strictly to exclude the regimental officers.

I now, my lords, come to the affidavit of Mr. Healey, one of the defendants. He says that he is the writer of the first supposed libel, and that he believes that the statements therein contained, unless as afterwards excepted, were true state. ments of facts that occurred on and about the holding of the said inquest, and that the conclu sions contained in the said supposed libel were the fair and legitimate conclusions from the saidR facts, and that he wrote and published the said statements in the first supposed libel for the public benefit, and with no other feeling whatsoever; that the circumstances arising upon the inquest® were of great public interest, involving questions of medical skill, and were, therefore, of much in terest to the readers of the Medical Times; that the letter contained in the said alleged libel came to the office, and was inserted because he believed the statement and conclusions were true and legiti mate, and that he does not know the writer's name. This deponent further says, that one Matthewson, a private soldier, was examined on the inquest, and that he and another private soldier, also examined, were the private soldiers alluded to in the said alleged libel, and that John Hall, doctor of medicine, James Low Warren, doctor of medicine, and Dr. Reid, were examined, and that these were the medical witnesses alluded to in the said supposed libel, and alleged to have been bullied by the said Thomas Wakley. And the deponent further saith, that the words, "partner in post-" mortem fees," used in the alleged libel by the deponent, had reference to a certain fact previously alluded to in the said libel, and that the fact referred to was the unusual, and as the deponent believed improper, frequency with which the said Wilson was employed by the said Thomas Wakley, as coroner, to give evidence at inquests; and further, that he did not mean, in using those words, nor ought they to be construed to mean, that the said J. E. Wilson paid back to the coroner the fees or any portion of them so received, but that the said J. E. Wilson had, in that deponent's belief and judgment, so largely participated in the profits and fees which the said coronership could be made to yield to him as a medical witness and practitioner, that he was, to that extent and no further, a partner in postmortem examinations and inquiries of the said coroner. And this deponent further saith, that Dr. Hall is, and has for some time been, abroad as Deputy Inspector General of Hospitals; but this deponent has been informed by Dr. Hall that he was, as in the alleged libel stated, bullied while giving his evidence, and prevented by undue and repeated interruptions of the said coroner from submitting to the coroner and jury certain medical observations which he had, as this deponent be lieves, carefully prepared to be submitted to the court; and further, that Dr. Hall requested him to publish in the Medical Times such testimony as he had been prevented from submitting to the coroner and jury, and that such observations were published in the Medical Times of August 15, 1846, and in the following words, that is to say :-

"REPORT DRAWN UP TO BE READ AT THE IN

QUEST, BUT INTERRUPTED BY THE CORONER.
"After a careful consideration of all that I have

THE MEDICAL
MEDICAL TIMES.

"The second examination was made at your
heard stated concerning the case of White, I am
still of opinion that inflammation of the heart, suggestion by a gentleman of honour and known
lungs, and pleura was the immediate cause of his respectability in this neighbourhood, selected by
the jury themselves. That examination Mr. Day
death, and I cannot, with satisfaction to my own
mind, connect it with the punishment which he has told you he had every facility afforded him of
underwent on the 15th of June; nor can I sub-making, and he was uninterrupted, as no one, not
scribe to the novel doctrine which has been ad- even Dr. Warren, the surgeon of the regiment,
vanced by Mr. Wilson for that purpose; and, if you attended; and the only professional person
present when he made it was Mr. M'Kinlay, his
will permit it, I will briefly state why.
own partner. So that he had a fair opportunity,
the most prejudiced person will admit, of ascer-
"Mr. Wilson's memoir, I admit, is drawn up
with ingenuity, but of the truth and value of the
novel physiological and pathological doctrines
that it contains, the medical profession will be
better able to form a correct opinion than this
respectable jury.

"

Mr. Wilson states, that, on cutting down on the opposite side of the spine to that on which the integuments had been removed at the first post-taining the truth. mortem examination, he discovered pulpy softening of the deep-seated muscles to the extent of three inches in length, and one inch in breadth, but the superficial muscles over the part were all free from injury or change. He does not ascribe this changed condition of the deep-seated muscles to the direct violence of the lash, as they were protected from that, by their position, and by the super-jacent parts, but to excessive contraction during the agony of punishment, and subsequent disorganizing inflammation from nervous depression,

"Now, White was in the prime of life, and does not appear, by the statements we have just heard read, to have suffered much from nervous depression. It is strange, therefore, and unaccountable to me, why Nature should have made no effort to repair this injury, or that her efforts should have been of a disorganizing kind in this particular spot, while the process of healthy reparation was proceeding rapidly in other parts of his frame. The injury itself, too, is one of a novel kind, and difficult to reconcile to our preconceived opinions of the power and action of the small muscles alluded to. White, the witnesses all say, bore his punishment without any struggling, and Dr. Warren says he observed no spasmodic action of the muscles of the spine. Besides, had Mr. Wil son ever witnessed the infliction of corporal punishment, he would have seen that it is the superficial layers of muscles, which attach the shoulder blades to the spine, that are thrown into action, and, had any rupture of muscular fibre taken place from violent contraction, it would most likely have occurred amongst these, and not among the deeper seated ones along the spine, which have such limited contractile power, and are so well protected from injury.

Mr. Wilson lays much stress on the injurious effects likely to have been produced by this altered portion of muscle lying in contact with the intercostal spaces; but it seems to have escaped his recollection, that the cavity of the chest on that side was filled with diseased and disorganized viscera, and highly putrid fluids, which were much more likely to have contaminated the adjacent muscles than that the small portion of pulpy fibre should have occasioned the extensive disease that was discovered within the chest. The only wonder is, after eleven days' exposure of the body at this hot season of the year, that the change of structure was not still more extensive.

"Mr. Wilson states that he has dissected or examined from five hundred to one thousand bodies in the course of his professional researches. I have also served much in warm climates, where deaths are unfortunately very common, and decomposition of the body after death very rapid, and I should say, from Mr. Wilson's description, that the change he observed was merely the first stage of putrefaction, and the ecchymosis around the small muscle nothing more than venous transudation which is apt to take place in congested parts. I regret that I did not witness these changes; and I here repeat my protest against the order which you gave for our exclusion from the examination.

"The first examination of White's body may be called a public one, as I was sent down from London by Sir James M'Gregor's express order to be present at it, and I brought Dr. Reid along with me. Had a dozen medical gentlemen wished to be present, we should have made no objection, but, on the contrary, should have been delighted to have had the benefit of their opinions.

"Mr. Wilson has also asserted, without any hesitation or qualification, that White would now be alive had he not been flogged; and in doing so, I think, he has stepped beyond the bounds that generally restrain prudent and conscientious men, and has assumed to himself a knowledge which belongs to Omnipotence alone.

"I now repeat, that, in my opinion, the exciting cause of the acute disease, which, all the medical witnesses agree, produced White's death, was more likely to have been the considerable atmospheric variation that occurred about the time that he was taken ill, than the flogging which he received on the 15th of June (three weeks before), and from which he is reported by Dr. Warren to have perfectly recovered.

"I am not, however, disposed either to deny or undervalue the well-known law of the animal economy, by which the internal parts sympathise with superficial injuries, but then it must be borne in mind, when inflammation of internal parts has been set up in this way, it has a peculiar character, and keeps pace with the external source of irritation; whereas, in White's case, the supposed source of irritation had ceased to act when he was taken ill. The appearance of the parts, when examined after death, was that of a recent acute inflammation, not of three or four weeks, but of a few days' duration :-There was effusion of serum into the cavity of the chest, and joining together of the pleura costalis and pleura pulmonalis, by soft coagulable lymph-two things rarely, or, I believe, never found when inflammation is excited by sympathetic action.

"The only chain of connection that we have between the punishment and the fatal illness of White, is the evidence of privates Matthewson and Riley, who state that they heard him complain of pain in his chest; but, as some of Matthewson's assertions have been positively denied by Dr. Warren, the jury must put their own construction on the value of the remainder. Riley's evidence is confined to one solitary instance, which occurred the second day after White's admission into the hospital, when he complained of a sense of weight between his shoulders, and a burning pain in his chest; but that complaint of burning pain was never repeated, and we have his confession, to Matthewson and others, that he was quite well a fortnight after his punishment.

"One thing is certain, White was apparently quite well on Saturday, the 4th of July. He assisted in cleaning out the ward, and volunteered to wash out an outbuilding of the hospital, on that day, two things indicative neither of acute disease, nor of pulpy disorganization of the muscles of his back; and when told by Dr. Warren that he would be discharged to his duty on the Mon. day following, he made no remark or complaint.

"Now, with the thermometer at 88°, which it was on the 4th and 5th of July, even light duty might produce sweating and fatigue, and it is possible, when so heated and fatigued, that he may have imprudently exposed himself to a current of air. On Monday, the 6th of July, the thermometer had fallen 20°; a variation considerable in any climate, and rarely witnessed, I imagine, in this country. Diseases of the chest were not uncommon during the months of June and July,

and one man, Corporal Barnett, of the 7th Hus-
sars, has actually died of inflammation of the
lungs, in these very barracks, since the investiga-
tion commenced.

"In the Millbank prison these affections have
been common, and Dr. Baly, the physician of
that establishment, in a note, dated the 31st of
July, and addressed to me, states-Since the
commencement of May there have been nine
cases of pleurisy, with copious effusion; two
cases of pleurisy, with slight effusion; four cases of
pneumonia, in two instances combined with pleu
risy, and two cases of acute bronchitis: making a
total of 17 cases of severe inflammatory disease of
the lungs and pleure, I may remark that none
of the men affected with these inflammatory af
corporal punishment, and that, with regard to the
fections of the chest had been subjected to
probable origin of their illnesses, 1 have been able
to come to no other conclusion than that they
were caused by casual chills, which the men were
predisposed to suffer from, in consequence of the
extraordinary heat of the weather having produced
a relaxed and perspiring state of the skin. You
are at liberty to make any use you may think
proper of the information contained in this note
"I am glad to avail myself of Dr. Baly's kind
permission, as it will show you and the jury that
complaints similar to those of which White died
were prevalent, and convince you that other me-
dical gentlemen, besides those connected with the
army and this case, entertain the opinion that
acting on a relaxed and moist skin.
they may be produced by atmospheric changes

"In conclusion, I beg to observe that I am not here as an advocate for corporal punishment; for of to perform, its superintendence is one of the most all the duties that medical men of the army have painful. But, in justice to the military officers, I to arrest the punishment for medical reasons, and must add, that whenever I have deemed it proper to recommend the man to be taken down, my "JOHN HALL." suggestion has been received with apparent satis faction, and acted on instantly.

"And this deponent further saith, that the said. body of Frederick John White was, as this deponent is informed and verily believes, carefully. examined on the 13th day of July last by the said Dr. Reid, and the said Dr. Hall, and the said Dr. the cause of death of the said Frederick John Warren; and that their conjoint opinion as to White, as this deponent verily believes, was sent to Sir James Macgregor, the Inspector-General of the Medical Department of the Army, was comof Hussars, and was matter of general knowledge at municated to the officers of the said 7th Regiment the barracks situate in Hounslow, as well as in the neighbourhood of the said barracks. And this deponent further saith, that the said body of Frederick John White was again examined by Horatio George Day, surgeon, of Church-street, Isleworth, and his partner, Dr. M'Kinlay, on or about the 16th day of July last, and that, as this said Mr. Day, and the said Dr. M'Kinlay, condeponent is informed and verily believes, the curred in the opinions of the said Dr. Hall, and the said Dr. Reid, and the said Dr. Warren, and that such concurrence of opinion, and the nature of such opinion so concurred in, were known, as this deponent is informed and verily believes, tó the said coroner and jury, on or before the 20th day of July last; and this deponent further saith, that on the said 20th day of July the Right Hon. the deponent is informed and verily believes, Fox Maule, her Majesty's Secretary of War, as publicly mentioned to the House of Commons, for the information of the country, such concurrence of opinion, and the nature of the opinion so concurred in by the said Dr. Hall, and the said Dr. Reid, and the said Dr. Warren, and the said Mr. Day, and that such announcement of the said Fox Maule was published in most of the public prints. And this deponent further saith that the said William James Erasmus Wilson examined the said body of Frederick John White on the 22nd day of July last, and that, as this deponent is informed

368

MIT
THE MEDICAL TIMES.

T

their heel and exclaim, I don't believe in its
efficiency (Hear). No; the truth is, that they
who are in command rejoice in having that auda-
cious power in their hands-a power of inflicting
punishment on their fellow creatures, who are
equally as honourable (cheers) equally as just,
and equally as sensitive as themselves-(Cheers).
Again,

than believe his testimony- (cheers); but it
seems to be a rule with some persons that, when
rich men are examined on oath, you should be
lieve all they say; but that, when poor men are
examined on oath, you should believe nothing
they say. That is a rule on which I never acted
it is one on which I never will act (Cheers)." It
is one which I cordially despise; there is only
one thing I despise more, and that is the de
fenders of such a rule (Cheers). The chairman
proceeded to any that both Mathewson slid
Cooke ought to be relieved from further service
in that regiment (Hear, hear). Ithought not to
be forgotten, that Cooke, after giving his seviş
dence, and before the inquiry was concluded, had
been singled out from his comrades, and told that
he was all but perjured (Hear, hear) Thè
honourable member concluded by announcing
contribution from Mr. Luke Hansard of £20, in
aid of the objects of the society." kus kamiot

Again, bar rosedibay in Ibsa burscoit "The Rev. Dr. Carlisle said he wished for some further explanation relating to the fact mentioned by the chairman of the warrant of othe/Commander-in-Chief being signed some months before punished. He wished also to ask another question. On other inquests, when the jury had found that death had followed the infliction of wounds, the found that the coroner had issued his warrant for the apprehension of the guilty parties. Why had that not been done in the recent case?) of

The 150 lashes inflicted upon that unfortu the commission of the crime for which White was

and verily believes, the only circumstance of mo-
ment noticed or supposed to be noticed by the
said William James Erasmus Wilson, in the said
body, not noticed by the said John Hall, and the
said F. Reid, and the said J. Low Warren, and the
said H. G. Day, was a certain softness or pulpiness
of cancertain portion of muscle situated in the
deepest part of the back, and being, of several
layers of muscles, the layer farthest away from the I must confess I would very much like to see
skin of the said back; and that the said William it tried on the backs of those parties (cheers and
James Erasmus Wilson, as this deponent is in laughter) and, further, speaking medically, it is
formed and verily believes, alleged or supposed my opinion
richly the operation
that the said supposed pulpiness originated in de: (Cheers and laughter). But I I will make an
generation of the muscle, which said supposed other appeal to the English public. Why, in fact,
degeneration originated in inflammation, which the authorities are unjust to the officers, Now, I
said supposed inflammation originated in some wish to speak as much in favour of the officers as
supposed rupture received thirty-seven days before of the men; and my opinion is, that if the practice
the said post mortem examination was made by the is beneficial to the men, it also ought to be applied
said William James Erasmus Wilson; and this to the officers-(Cheers and laughter). It is, I
deponent further saith, that he is informed, and think, a great injustice to withhold it from them;
verily believes, that the said William James Eras- if the practice be so good for discipline, and so
mus Wilson declared on oath, that the said differ- effectual for the pr
promotion of their morals, I
ence between the observations of the said William think the young officers have g great reason to
James Erasmus Wilson, and the observations of complain that they have not the benefit of it—
the said surgeons who had preceded the said Wil (Cheers and laughter).*
liam James Erasmus Wilson, was this said hypo-
Again,
thesis of the said William James Erasmus Wilson,
which he designated a discovery that was not nate man, whose death has been the cause of
recorded or spoken of in any book on anatomical our meeting here, caused the application, or
or pathological science, and was made by him, might have caused the application, of upwards of
the said William James Erasmus Wilson, for the 12,000 knots of the thong to his skin; and look
first time on the occasion of such post-mortem to the effect on a high-spirited horse of the appli-
examination as aforesaid; and this deponent fur- cation of a single thong of only one knot-
ther saith, that this deponent has spoken to many (Hear, hear). But those who advocate flogging
surgeons considerably more eminent, and of much human beings cannot believe those human beings
more experience in pathological examinations have the feelings of horses; if they thought they
than the said William James Erasmus Wilson, had they could not be such demons-(cheers)-
and that this deponent has been informed by such as to support the infliction of such a punishment
surgeons that the said supposed discovery made on (Cheers.) The meeting_probably is not aware
the occasion of the examination aforesaid, was that, under the act of Parliament, the Com-
wholly erroneous and not to be relied on; and this mander-in-Chief has the power to grant warrants
deponent further saith, that the opinions of the to commanding-officers to hold district courts
surgeons aforesaid are the opinions of all the martial, and that regimental courts-martial may
medical profession, as far as this deponent be held without a warrant from the Commander
ean collect, with no exception that this depo-in-Chief. Now, what was the date of the warrant
ment is aware of and this deponent fur-
ther saith that this deponent is informed and
verily believes, that at and after the time of
making the examination as aforesaid, the said
Mr. Wilson expressed to the said Mr. Day, who
was present at the said examination, his entire
concurrence with the said Mr. Day, and the said
F. Reid, and said J. Hall, and the said John Warren,
in their opinions as to the cause of death of the said
F. J. White; and this deponent further saith that
the said W. J. E. Wilson, as this deponent is informed
and verily believes, was for a considerable time
the servant of the said coroner, as sub-editor of a
weekly newspaper entitled the Lancet, of which
the said coroner is proprietor and editor, and that
ase this deponent is informed and verily believes
the paid W.J.E.Wilson, by means of the said Lancet
and the said coronership, had incurred many heavy
abligations to the said coroner, which in the belief
and judgment of this deponent were calculated to
bias the judgment and opinion of the said W. J. E.
Wilson in giving evidence in the said inquest.
And this deponent further saith, that on the 20th
of August a very large public meeting was held
at Exeter-hall, at which, as this deponent is in-
formed and verily believes, several private soldiers
of her Majesty's army were present, and that, as
this deponent is informed and verily believes, the
said coroner presided at such meeting, and ad-
dressed the persons there assembled in words to
the purport and effect as is reported in the news-called upon the meeting to give all parties a fair
paper annexed, entitled the Morning Chronicle,
dated London, that is to say-k

under which White was punished? The 26th of
April. When did he commit his offence? Not
until the 5th of June-(Loud cries of hear,
hear'). I have not adverted to this circumstance
before; but after the very unjust attacks that have
been made upon me-(cheers)-I really consider
I may be pardoned for adverting to the circum-
stance-(Cheers). Thus, then, the matter stands
-the commanding-officer of a regiment has a
complaint lodged against a particular man-a
court-martial is held the commanding-officer
names the president who is to sit at that inquiry
-the person presiding there is an individual of
his nomination (Hear, hear). Under such an
arrangement-under such a mode of administer-
ing justice-(hear, hear)-I would like much to
know how many have been tried, and how many
have been acquitted (Hear, hear). My own con-
viction is, that not one in thirty has received his
acquittal (Hear, hear). It is an awful power for
any man to possess. It is true the sentence can-
not be carried into effect until it has received the
approbation of the commanding-officer of the
district; but when does the commanding-officer
disapprove of a sentence which has been passed
by seven officers of the regiment, the inquiry
having been instituted at the instigation of the
commander of that regiment? (Hear, hear.)'
Again,-

In conclusion, the honourable gentleman
hearing, and not to permit any difference of opi-
nion to give rise to angry feeelings amongst
them. He then read a letter from Mr. Collett,
M.P. for Athlone, enclosing five guineas for John
Matthewson, 7th Hussars-(Cheers). Matthew-
son, he conceived, would be astonished when he
received the check-(Cheers).

A Voice: And so will Colonel Whyte(Cheers).

The Chairman: From the manner Matthewson acted on the inquest, I could not do otherwise

"The Chairman explained. The statement he had made with respect to the warrant was this That the warrant under which White had been tried was dated on the 26th of April, while his offence had been committed in June(Hear, hear). It was the fact. Although he had made no remark upon it before, the statement had been published in the official documents, as well as in the newspapers. Consequently, it was a general warrant which the commander held, and which the Commander-in-Chief had the power to grant

(Groaus). It was the law, and upon the law let their censure fall. With respect to the second question, if there had been a verdict of wilful murder, the meeting might rely upon it that warrants would have been issued for the apprehension of the parties against whom the verdict had been returned, and that without the slightest hesitation

(Cheers). He assured the meeeting that he never had, and never would, flinch from what he believed to be the honest discharge of his duty (Cheers).' mt be ad

"And this deponent further saith, that subsequently to the said inquest, and in the month of September last, as this deponent is informed and verily believes, sundry advertisements were inserted in the Lancet and other newspapers, for the purpose and with the view of raising pecuniary subscriptions for the benefit of the said coroner, and as a reward to the said coroner for the services which the said coroner had performed in reference to military flogging, by the manner in which he, the said coroner, had conducted the said inquest; and that this deponent is informed and believes that such advertisements calling for subscriptions for such coroner had the sanction and concurrence of the said coroner. And this deponent further saith, that on the 7th day of August last, the said coroner having his attention directed to the said second alleged libet by Craven Berkeley, Esq., a member of the Commons House of Parliament, did there and then, in the said public assembly, to wit, the Commons House of Parliament, and knowing that what he said would be reported and published in most of the public prints, falsely and maliciously slander this deponent in words to the purport and effect as subsequently published in the authorized reports of the said House of Commons, entitled Hansard's Parliamentary Debates,' and published in column 446, volume 88, of the third series of the said Parliamentary Debates, that is to say

The honourable member (meaning the said Craven Berkeley, Esq.) had read something, (meaning part of the second alleged libel) from

what he called a medical work (meaning the said Medical Times), but that (meaning the said part of the second alleged libet) was written by a stupid lawyer (meaning the defendant), who knows as much about physic as the honourable member (meaning the said Craven Berkeley, Esq) seemed to know, judging from the style in which he read the extract. vol

"And this deponent further saith, that this deponent hath been informed and verily believes that

the said E. Wilson has made more than twentyfive post-mortem examinations under the orders of the said coroner, and that he has given medical evidence in considerably more than twenty-five inquests held by the said coroner, and this deponent further saith, that he is informed and verily believes that it is not true that other surgeons have singly and separately received as many fees from the redunty fund of Middlesex for medical testimony at inquests as the said Erasmus Wilson; and this deponent further saith, that he is in formed and verily believes that there are two thousand medical practitioners aad upwards in the said coroner'swdistrict, and that the medical or surgical practice of the said William James Erasmus Wilson is not more considerable than the average number of such surgical and medical that it not coroners to further amy that it is not usual for coroners to issue to any single surgeon or practitioner so many orders to moke post-mortem examinations, as this deponent is informed and believes were issued by the said coroner to the said William James Erasmus Wil son, to the exclusion, as this deponent verily bedieres, of the dusual medical attendants of the subjects of the said inquests. stbed "And this deponent further saith, that this deponent is informed and verily believes that on the 14th day of July last, the said coroner wrote a letter to William Brent, the constable of Heston, ordering inquiry to be made by the said William Brent at the said barracks, in which

I request your lordships' attention to the affi-anxious to give evidence on the day aforesaid, indavit of Dr. Reid, an assistant surgeon of the army. asmuch as at the first sitting of the said inquest He says, that on the 13th of July last, Dr. Hall, on the said Frederick John White, held on 15th then a first-class staff-surgeon of the army, and now day of July last, the said coroner, as this deponent Deputy-Inspector-General of Military Hospitals, is informed and verily believes, had erroneously received an order from Sir James M'Gregor, di- affirmed publicly that the said skin, removed as recting him to be present examination of the body of who had died by this deponent in the charge of the said Sergeant on the 10th of the same month; this, he says, is Potter (having considerably shrunk in conse in accordance

adds,

Lisa post-mortem aforesaid by this deponent, and left as aforesaid

arms, and ce with the regulations of the Queen's
he went with the
said John Hall voluntarily, and ex proprio motu,
and at the wish of the regimental surgeon, Dr.
Warien performed a careful examination of the
body in presence of Dr. Hall and Dr. Warren,

And this deponent further saith, that in order
to ascertain the state of the flogged skin, and the
fascia and muscles immediately underneath the
said skin, on the back of the said Frederick John
White, he, this deponent, removed a certain
portion of the said skin, and that this deponent
finding the said skin perfectly healed, and the
parts immediately underneath to have a perfectly
healthy and sound appearance, gave the said skin
to Sergeant Potter, the hospital sergeant of the
said regiment, with directions that it should be
carefully preserved in spirits of wine; and this de-
ponent having by strict and careful examination;
made himself perfectly certain, as this deponent
believes, as to the cause of death of the said
Frederick John White, did at the conclusion of
the said examination, in conjunction with the said
John Hall and the said James Low Warren, sign
a certificate, which contained the firm and de-
cided opinion of this deponent, and, as this de-
ponent believes, of the
S said John
Hall and the
said James Low Warren, as to said cause of
death, which said certificate was to the purport
and effect as follows:-that is to say-

quence of being kept in such spirits of wine), wat not a fifth part of the skin so removed, adding that the said circumstance was most suspicious; and this deponent saith that the said erroneous statement of th the said coroner, having been pub lished in public prints, gave rise to many false insinuations and charges against this deponent, which this deponent would have disproved and answered if this deponent had been allowed to give evidence on such 20th day of July, on which he was summoned as aforesaid. And this deponent further saith, that when, in obedience to the said summons, this deponent and the aforesaid John Hall presented themselves con the said twentieth day of July for admission at the door of the said inquest-room, this deponent and the said John Hall were told by Inspector Lawrence, one of the police having charge of the had door, ction, com

had instructions from the said coroner to exclude all medical witnesses except the aforesaid Horatio Grosvenor Day; whereupon this deponent and the said John Hall desired the inspector to inform the coroner that this deponent and Dr. John Hall were in attendance, and requested permission to be present at the said proceedings, but that this deponent and the said Dr. John Hall, on such mes sages as aforesaid being conveyed, received from the said coroner, as this deponent was informed and verily believes, a peremptory refusal to such rea "Cavalry Barracks, Hounslow, July 13,1846. sonable and proper request by means of which “Having made a careful post-mortem examina- refusal and exclusion this deponent and the said letter were the words following, that is to say It tion of private Frederick White, of the 7th John Hall were, as this deponent believes, placed should be stated if the body has been opened, and Hussars, we are of opinion that he died from in- in a most unfair position as regards the other by whom, and whether a surgeon has made a cer- brane of the heart and further, we are of opinion ponent believes, to look on this deponent and the flammation of the pleura and of the lining mem-witnesses; and the jury were taught, as this de tificate of the cause of death'; and this deponent that the cause of death was nowise connected with said John Hall as unworthy of confidence or

saith that he is informed and verily believes that the said William Brent did so proceed to the said barracks, and that the said William Brent was informed, by the said James Low Warren, of the circumstances of the said post-mortem examination made by the said James Low Warren, and the said John Hall, and the said Francis Reid, together with the opinions of the said James Low Warren, and the said John Hall, and the said Francis Reid, touching the cause of death of the said Frederick James White; and this deponent further saith, that the said William Brent immediately communicated to the said coroner the whole of the information he had so gained at

the said barracks."iltotta

the corporal punishment he received on the 15th
of June last. 20

JOHN HALL, M.D., Staff Surgeon,
ent stan, Lond First Class.
21 JAMES LOW WARREN, M.D., Surgeon
7th Hussars.

FRANCIS REID, M.D., Staff Assistant-
Surgeon.'

And this deponent further saith, that on or before the 20th day of July last he received a summons from Thomas Wakley, Esq, one of the coroners of Middlesex, to attend an inquest to be held on the said twentieth day of July, to give evidence touching the death of the said Frederick -9qYour lordships thus find the coroner making, at a John White; and that this deponent so attended public meeting remarks, which he himself says he on the said 20th day of July, ready and preshould not have made, but for attacks made on pared to give evidence touching the said death; him; he comes forward and praises a witness, and and that this deponent is informed and verily besays, in the hearing of many soldiers who were lieves that the said John Hall, and the said James present, that Matthewson and Cooke ought to be Low Warren, and Horatio Grosvenor Day, surgeon, relieved from public service in that regiment. He of Church-street, Isleworth, in the county of Midcomes forward and enters into the circumstances dlesex, and Dr. M'Kinlay, the partner of the said out of which the inquiry had arisen, the court- Horatio Grosvenor Day, attended the said inquest martial and its sentence, rèviews the inquest, on the said 20th day of July, and were, as as this calls attention to the testimony which had thus deponent is informed and verily believes, ready been given, and to the men who had been called and able to give testimony touching the death of before him in his judicial capacity, recommends the said Frederick John White; but that neither sa subscription for the purpose of procuring the this deponent nor the said John Hall, nor the discharge of one of them from service in the regi- said James Low Warren, nor the said Horatio ment, and produces a check in his favour which Grosvenor Day, nor the said Dr. M'Kinlay, nor theo had received for him, and which check was any of them, were called on or permitted by the sonly granted on the ground that Mathewson had said coroner to give such evidence on the said day given evidence on the inquest, He adverts to of inquest, although, as this deponent verily be attacks which he says have been made on him, lieves, such evidence would have left no doubt as tand justifies himself from these attacks. He to cause of death of the said Frederick John further, my lords, attacks the writer in the House and would have tended to quiet the public of Commons, calling him by contemptuous epi- mind, which had been considerably excited and false reports and statements as White; and this deponent saith, he was the more

the

credit, and not as unbiassed and honest witnesses, as in truth they were. And this deponent further saith that the said coroner, as this deponent is informed and verily believes, issued can order to have the said body exhumed and examined by the said Horatio Grosvenor Day, assisted by William James Erasmus Wilson, surgeon; that, in consequence of information thereof, the said John Hall addressed to the said coroner, as this deponent is informed and verily believes, a letter of which the following is a full and correct copy:42 43

"Junior United Service Club, July 20, 1846.s "Sir, I understood from Mr. Day, at Hounslow, this afternoon, that it was your intention to send a gentleman down from town to examine the spine of the late Frederick White, of the 7th & Hussars, and, as I feel anxious to be present at the operation. I should be obliged by your letting me know the time and place you have fixed on for its performance.

4. Lam, &cad: &nd "JOHN HALL, M.D., Staff Surgeon, First Class. To Thos. Wakley, Esq., M.P., &c. &c.j Da A 35, Bedford-square.' yax Jaugu to To which letter aforesaid a reply was received from George Ireland Mills, the deputy-coroner of the said coroner, to the purport and effect following:

35, Bedford-square, July 21, 1846.0*

Sir Mr. Wakley being compelled to leave home the moment that your note, dated yesterday, reached his hands, begs me to acknowledge for him its receipt, and to inform you that, in consequence of what transpired in the course of yesterday, he has this morning deemed it advisable that the further examination of the body of Frederick John White should be made in the absence of the medical gentlemen who instituted the autopsy of stances, otherwise he would, with the utmost wilmogu art god; sed prinsing 8 to 137 adi 292 08

thets.: I submit, my lords, that all this disentitles distur use of the said Frederick John certain parts of the corpse in the two former in

him to come here and ask of your lordships to to the

interpose the use of the extraordinary power which White;
resides in this court.dpora ma
mont (fodil boyalla buoose out to hug gnicaora) | anmolto ob juu bine, I pass

lingness, have forwarded to you the information that you desire to receive.

"GEORGE IRELAND MILLS, Deputy-Coroner of Middlesex. "To Staff Surgeon John Hall, &c. &c., Junior United Service Club.' And the said John Hall, on receiving such notice, as this deponent is informed and verily believes, sent a letter, of which the following is a true and correct copy, to the said coroner :

"Army Medical Department, July 21, 1846. "Gentlemen,-It being expected that a further post-mortem examination will take place of the recent case in the 7th Hussars, at Hounslow, I have to request that you will be present on the occasion in your professional character as medical officers of the army.

"Extract from Mr. Wilson's instructions from the coroner:

"The coroner gives directions that no medical gentleman, but you and Mr. Day, shall attend your examination.

"This is peremptory, and your authority for excluding all others.'

And this deponent verily believes that such exclusion of this deponent and the said John Hall made the medical evidence subsequently sub"Junior United Service Club, July 21, 1846. mitted to the said jury, partial, equivocal, and surSir, I am honoured with a note from Mr. rounded with doubt and fallacy, and was the more Mills, the deputy-coroner, in answer to mine of likely to prejudice the testimony and repute of last night, to you, in which he states that you this deponent and the said John Hall, before the deem it advisable that the further examination of said jury and with the public, inasmuch as the the body of Frederick John White should be said coroner had declared at the said inquest, as made in the absence of the medical gentlemen this deponent is informed and verily believes, and who instituted the autopsy of certain parts of the as the public prints had widely and generally recorpse on two former occasions. On what groundsported, that the military authorities might appoint❘ you have come to this decision I cannot say, but, as a medical gentleman to be present at a postI have received an official order from my superiors mortem examination, to be made on the said to be present at the examination, which I am bound Frederick John White, subsequently to the exto obey, I trust you will reconsider it, and give me amination made by this deponent, and the said the information I request. I think, on reflection, James Low Warren, and the said John Hall, to you will see that I am asking for nothing but which medical officer so attending such subwhat in common justice I am entitled to, con- sequent examination, by order of the milisidering the extraordinary efforts that have been tary authorities, every facility would be given made by some of the public prints to create a by the said coroner. And this deponent furprejudice and clamour in this particular case. ther saith, that though he was in no way "I am, &c., whatever answerable for any of the circumstances "JOHN HALL, M.D., Staff Surgeon, 1st Class. causing, or alleged as causing, the death of the "To Thomas Wakley, Esq., M.P., &c. &c., said Frederick John White, and had no wish or Coroner for Middlesex.' intention to conceal or misstate any fact or opinion To which reply of the said John Hall, the within his knowledge likely to elucidate such said John Hall received an answer, as this de- cause of death, this deponent was nevertheless ponent is informed and verily believes, from the treated by the said coroner at the sittings of the said said coroner, again peremptorily refusing the said inquest, held on the 27th day of July last, and the request; and this deponent saith, that he and the said 3rd day of August last, with rudeness and consaid John Hall, having further received an order tumely; was directly, and before the court and jury, from the said Sir James M'Gregor, Bart., of addressed in language by the said coroner calcuwhich the following is a copy: that is to say,- lated and, as this deponent believes, intended to prevent the full statement by this deponent of his professional and deliberate opinions on the cause of death of the said Frederick John White, and was compelled by the said coroner to put certain inquiries which this deponent wished to be submitted to the said William James Erasmus Wilson, not through the said coroner or his deputy, as this deponent requested, wished, and expected, but through the attorney of the officers of the said 7th Regiment of Hussars; by which proceedings, as well as by many other proceedings of the said coroner, the jury and the public were likely to infer, and were, as this deponent verily believes, desired by the said coroner to infer, that this deponent was retained on behalf of the said officers, and not an independent witness, attending by the summons of the said coroner. And this deponent further saith, that he hath read certain alleged libels on the said coroner, published in the Medical Times of the 2nd day of August last; and this deponent verily believes that the term, farcical impersonation of judgeship,' is true as applied to the conduct of the said coroner during the said inquest, and that the charge of bullying witnesses' made in the said alleged libels is true, both as regards this deponent and as regards the said John Hall and the said Francis Reid, other medical witnesses examined at the inquest, except the said William James Erasmus Wilson; and that this deponent further saith, that this deponent firmly believes that there was a strong bias shown in the conduct of the said coroner against certain officers of the said 7th Regiment of Hussars, who were, or were supposed to be, connected with a certain military flogging received, as this deponent is informed and believes, by the said Frederick John White, twenty-six days before the death of the said Frederick John White; and this deponent verily believes that the said corouer did, in the proceedings of the said inquest, show an undue bias and anxiety to criminate the said parties, and to damage them as well as this deponent and the said John Hall in the estimation of the said jury and the public generally; and that this deponent verily believes and affirms, that during the sittings of the said in

"I have the honour to be, &c. &c., (Signed) "J. M'GREGOR,

Director-General. "To Dr. Hall, Staff Surgeon, First Class, and

Dr. F. Reid, Staff Assist. Surgeon.' presented themselves at the churchyard of Heston, in the county of Middlesex, and showed the order of the said Sir James M'Gregor to one of several constables, who were on duty at the same churchyard, and desired admission to witness the examination of the body, which was there being proceeded with; that such admission was peremptorily refused, and that orders, of which the following are correct and full copies, were shown to this deponent, and of which full and correct copies thereof were taken by this deponent-that is to say, viz. :

"35, Bedford-square, July 21, 1846. "Mr. BRENT,-Take the enclosed order to the persons addressed therein, and inform the Reverend Mr. Trimmer and churchwardens, that Mr. Wilson, surgeon, will be at the churchyard at eleven o'clock exactly, on Wednesday morning, July 22nd, to make his inspection of the body; and that the corpse must be removed from the coffin, and open for his examination by that hour.

"No person whatever, but Mr. Day, who Mr. Wilson will bring with him, must be present with Mr. Wilson when he examines the body. Consequently, no notice whatever is to be given to any regimental or other medical officer, as to the day and hour of the inspection. Mr. Wilson has -orders to exclude every person but Mr. Day, unless it be some person to assist with a bucket, -water, sponge, &c.

(Signed) "Geo. J. MILLS, Deputy-coroner. "To the Parish Constable of Heston.'

a

quest, held on the said 27th day of July last, and the said 3rd day of August last, the said inquest-room was more like a playhouse than court of judicial investigation; that there were frequent and repeated exhibitions of laughter and indecorum in the said court, and that such exhi bitions arose, as this deponent verily believes, mainly, if not entirely, from the facetious manner and droll gestures, as well as from the free and frequent jests and levities, of the said coroner."

Then, my lords, we have the affidavit of Day, of Isleworth, the surgeon appointed by jury. He states that, on the 15th of July, he received an order from the coroner to make a postmortem examination of the body of White, and was instructed by the coroner to pay strict atten tion to the skin of the back, a part of which was said to be missing; that, in conjunction with Dr, M'Kinlay, his partner, he made such examination, paying special attention to the said skin, and the parts immediately beneath it, and by such examination he arrived at decided conclusion as to the cause of death; and that such conclusion was in perfect agreement with that of Drs. Warren, Reid, and Hall. He further says, " that he was present at the inquest, on the 20th of July, and knew of the exclusion of Drs. Warren, Hall, and Reid, from the court, and believes that such exclusion was inexpedient and calculated to injure the completeness of the medical evidence as to the cause of death." He further says, he has read the affidavit of Thomas Wakley, sworn at Ipswich, in this case, and "that it was upon a direct interrogation from the said Thomas Wakley, on the 20th of July, that he, this deponent, informed the said coroner that he had not examined the spine of the body; and this deponent further says, that he did not, as in the affidavit of Thomas Wakley is alleged, say that he had not examined the back of Frederick John White; and further, deponent says, that in reply to an interrogation from the coroner, that he told the said coroner that he considered the examination of the spine wholly un necessary and useless, and that the body was in such a state of decomposition that the state of the spine could furnish no anatomical guidance to the cause of death. And this deponent says further, that the insinuation in the affi davit of Thomas Wakley, that the jury had no confidence in the deponent on account of his alleged connection with certain of the military con. cerned, and with the neighbourhood, is, as he be lieves, unfounded and erroneous. And further, this deponent saith, that on the 16th of July, he was desired by the coroaer to make a further examination of the body, and was informed by the coroner that a surgeon from London would be sent down to assist him in such examination; and further, this deponent says that he was present at such further examination and assisted the said surgeon, J. E. Wilson, and that this deponent was aware of the exclusion of Drs. Hall and Reid, and that such exclusion, in his opinion, was inexpedient and calculated to prevent the said coroner and jury from obtaining full and satisfactory evidence touching the cause of death, and that, at the conclusion of such further examination, the said J. E. Wilson expressed a concurrence of opinion with this deponent as to the cause of death, and that this deponent, remembering such circumstance, was exceedingly surprised at the sitting of the jury, July 27, to hear the opinion then expressed by the said W. J. E. Wilson as to the cause of death, and that when examined by the said coroner on the 27th of July, he was examined touching the results of the first post-mortem examination, and not as to the result of the second, until subsequently called upon by Mr. Clarke, the attorney for the officers of the regiment, to give such evidence; and this deponent saith further, that Drs. Hall, Warren, and Reid, were not treated with such courtesy as in his opinion was due to medical witnesses in a court of justice."

This, my lords, is the affidavit of the surgeon appointed by the jury, and who ought to have been examined on the 20th July; but the coroner looked out for another, and, when the jury sat again,