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and that he was expecting the Commissary amongst others that night: whereupon I commended what he had done, in sending for such intelligent persons, and that for two reasons, (1.) because it was necessary his father's body should be sighted; (2,) because they could advise him about his burial. Philip answered, that he was seen by these that took him out of the water. But I replied, that was not enough, for the murder committed was either a violent murder, or a distracted murder; and having described what a distracted murder was (upon Philip's relating some distemper his father had been in some years formerly), I said, that I conceived no person could come to such a high act of frenzy, to do such a thing, but it would be known on him many hours, yea, some days before; but I could testify that Sir James was in his right reason at ten o'clock; wherefore I inclined to think it was a violent murder committed by wicked spirits; and so advised that the corpse might be sighted by the nearest physicians and friends, and the honest men living in that town. theless, they went and buried Sir James that night, without either acquainting me or several honest persons who lived in the place. Mr. John Bell depones his above-written declaration is truth, as he shall answer to God."

Never

Evil spirits, in this worthy clergyman's notion, it will be seen, were existences quite as substantial as any of flesh and blood; and, indeed, this was in that age the almost universal faith of his countrymen How undoubting was the conviction in which he rested that the noise he heard was made by supernatural agents, notwithstanding a momentary impression that they might possibly be men or women, may be inferred from his conduct in never attempting to alarm the household, which he would certainly have done if he had believed that the nocturnal disturbers were of his own species. He contents himself with a recourse to prayer, as the only available weapon in the circumstances. Touching the minutia of form, we may remark, that this declaration of Mr. Bell's is subscribed both by himself and by the Earl of Linlithgow, the presiding judge; whereas, in other cases, the depositions are only subscribed by Linlithgow, when the witness cannot write himself.

The report of the evidence for the prosecution proceeds as follows:Sir Robert Sinclair, of Steinstoun, deposed, that Sir James Stansfield, being at the deponent's house, told the deponent that he regretted that his son Philip had mis-spent his time and money; and when he came home from London, he was ashamed to tell how he came on him in his chamber at London.

James Murehead, chirurgeon, deposed, that after he and James Craufurd, chirurgeon, had opened the corpse about the neck, and sewed it up again, and removed the foul linen, and put on again the clean linens, in doing whereof they were obliged to shake the body to and fro, and move the head back and forward, the deponent desired that the friends might lift the body, and put it in the coffin, and that the pannel, having come and lift up the head, he did let it fall upon the table suddenly, and that it made a considerable noise at falling, and that the pannel retired back quickly, rubbing his hands on his breast, and crying, O God! O God! and some such other words; and that the deponent, being astonished thereat, looked to the corpse, and, as the pannel did take away his hand from it, did see it darting out blood through the linen from the left side of the neck, which the pannel touched; and that the deponent was

amazed at the sight, partly through the darting out of the blood, and partly through the apprehension he had of the murder. He saw nobody touch the left side of the defunct's head, the time it bled, but the pannel. As soon as the deponent recovered out of his amazement, he cried to the boy to give the pannel some treacle water, which he did; but he did not see Philip, the pannel, return again to the body of his father. When the deponent and the other chirurgeon were putting on the clean linens, and stirring and moving the head and craig [throat], he saw no blood at all.

Besides this testimony to the supernatural fact of the bleeding of the dead body at the touch of the murderer, Murehead had previously, in conjunction with another Edinburgh surgeon, Mr. James Craufurd, made a somewhat more professional report of their inspection of the corpse in Moreham Church, on Friday the 30th of November, after it had been disinterred.

The College of Physicians at Edinburgh, having, at the desire of his Majesty's advocate, considered the said report of the surgeons, delivered their opinions, that there were sufficient grounds to believe the said Sir James Stansfield was strangled and not drowned.

The next witness called was Umphray (or Humphrey) Spurway, who is described as an Englishman, of the age of fifty years, and who appears to have been the proprietor or manager of the cloth manufactory. It is, perhaps, on account of his having been a native of another kingdom that this witness, as well as the clergyman, is stated to have been solutus, or released from some restraint, before giving his evidence. He deposed to the truth and verity of the following declaration now given in by him, "which," says the record, " is all written and subscribed with his own hand, and consists of two leaves of paper, written on all sides:

"I, Umphray Spurway, of New Milns, clothier, being summoned to appear before the Lords of his Majesty's Privy Council in Edinburgh, the 6th of December, 1687, to declare my knowledge of what I had seen and heard, relating to the death of Sir James Stansfield of New Milns, did then and there declare before the said Lords, as hereafter followeth ; and, after declaring what I had to say, was commanded to commit to writing my said declaration, under my own hand, which I, the aforesaid Umphray Spurway, do hereby humbly offer to the above-said Lords of his Majesty's Council, subscribing the same with my own hand.

"About six weeks before the death of Sir James Stansfield, after night, I went to pay my respects to Sir James, as I usually did when he was at New Milns, at which time I found him not so free for discourse, nor so pleasant as at other times: insomuch that I used that freedom with him, to quere the reason why his honour was so melancholy. Who, with a great sigh, ringing his hands together, with tears trickling down his cheeks, said, Mr. Spurway, I have great cause for it; I have borne my own burden, without complaining to others, but I have a very wicked family, and it is very sad that a man should be destroyed by his own bowels; but let me be never so sparing in my expense, both at home and abroad, yet they at home of my family consume me-condescending on some particulars, of some extravagant sums of money, monthly brought in to him, that his family had expended, besides what he allowed for them, which was very sufficient; but that which grieved him most was, that his youngest son, whom he had some comfortable hopes

of, and upon whom he had settled his estate, his just debts being first paid, and that to the knowledge of his son; but now he was frustrated of his hopes of that son too; for his eldest son had debauched his youngest son, who had several times of late come in drunk, as the other; this he declared to me with very great grief of heart. But the Saturday's night after Sir James and a minister, one Mr. Bell, came to New Milns from Edinburgh, I came in at the house of one James Marr, where I saw Sir James and Mr. Bell sitting by the fire, before he had been at his own house, which I wondered at, having never known the like done by him before; but since I have had my thoughts that he had a fear upon him (good gentleman) of going to his own house; but, having sat some time with him, he desired Mr. Marr to send one of his people at his house, to know if they had kindled a fire for him; and upon the return the messenger gave this answer, May it please your honour, your fire is kindled for you; upon which Sir James and the minister arose, and took their leave of Mr. Marr; and I also accompanied Sir James and the minister half the way towards his home, and so took my leave of him, wishing his honour a good night. But the next morning, being sabbath-day, after the light well appeared, one Agnes Bruce came at my chamber door and knocked. I went and opened the door. Says she, Sir, Sir James is gone out of his lodging-room this morning, and we have sought all the rooms of the house for him, but cannot find him. She goes off-I immediately followed her; and when I came out of my door I met with Mr. Philip Stansfield and James Dick. Mr. Stansfield declares to me, Lord, Mr. Spurway, what should be the cause of this man's discontent, that he should thus leave his lodgings and walk out? To which I replied, Sir, do you wonder the cause of his discontent, who never gave him content, but had been the cause of grieving him, from one to the other of them, ever since I knew the family? But he turned his back upon me, and made no reply at all. However, I went at Sir James's house, but could not procure the keys of neither of the gardens, and I sent abroad of Sir James's servants, and of my own, some on horseback and some on foot, to inquire after him: and at last a servant of mine, one William Bowman, found him in the river. I went at the place, and saw him lying about two yards or eight feet from the brink of the river, lying upon his belly, just at the top of the water, as it were floating, only his coat and waistcoat loose about him, and a shirt on him that I saw. I saw the place at the brink of the river, where some one had stood, all beaten to mash with feet, and the ground very open and mellow, although a very hard frosty morning; so I gave orders to some to get a ladder, and to set one end into the river, as near the hinder part of Sir James as they could, and the other end of the ladder to fall at the top of the brae [bank], which was very steep, and so they might get him out easily; so I came away from the place, and desired Mr. Marr to see the body landed, declaring that I would go home, and write to Mr. George Hume, merchant of Edinburgh, of the sad sight which I had seen, desiring him to communicate the same to my Lord Advovate, with desire to know by the messenger his lordship's pleasure, what of advice or direction he would be pleased to give concerning it, and it should be followed: but the messenger that I sent, after he had delivered my letter to Mr. Hume, and order given by Commissary Dalrymple how to proceed further with the body of Sir James, which order was directed to myself

by a letter, which, when I read the letter, the contents were:-That I should endeavour to procure two or three discreet persons of New Milns to myself, and we together view the body of Sir James; and, if we found no grounds to believe that his person had been wronged by others, that then with all speed he should be buried, and that as privately, and with as little noise as could be: but this letter, which was the commissary's order to me, was sent by the hand of one James Mitchel, kinsman to Sir James; for that horse that the express rode on to Edinburgh was taken out of the stable where he was set up; and one Mr. Patrick Smith, the brother-in-law of Sir James Stansfield, mounted on him to come for New Milns. So that my express was thereby disabled to bring me the answer of my letter; and the said James Mitchel, who brought my letter, came home at the place by nine of the clock that Sabbath-day at night, and gave an account of the letter that he had for me; but they dissuaded him from bringing it me, so that I had it not till three hours after Sir James was buried. But upon Monday morning I arose about three or four of the clock; and, coming out of my house, I saw great lights at Sir James's gate, which occasioned my going down to see what the matter was; and, as I went, I met with one William Robinson coming up of home; I asked what the meaning was of these lights, and of the horses that I then saw at Sir James's gate? Who answered me, that Sir James's corpse was brought out at the gate, and that they were carrying it at Moreham to be buried, having received orders from my Lord Advocate for that purpose. At which I returned to my house, thinking it very strange thus to proceed without having had the corpse viewed by some person, as I well knew was customary in England in such cases. The next step, to my remembrance, was, that upon the Tuesday night following, after I was in bed, one Mr. Alexander Campbell in Edinburgh, with one Mr. James Row, and a gentleman, one Mr. Hamilton, with two chirurgeons, came at my house, and caused me to rise out of my bed, shewing me an order which they had from my Lord Advocate for the taking up again of the body of Sir James Stansfield, and commanded me to make ready to go with them; and, having seen the order, readily submitted thereunto, and, when coming upon the place at Morehain, caused the said grave to be opened, and the coffin taken up. It was carried into the church, and there opened; and, as soon as Sir James's grave-clothes were taken off him, and all his upper parts uncovered, ..... methought his face looked not as I expected, nor as others had insinuated, that were at the dressing of him at first; for they said that his body and face were very fair and fresh; but I found his face, at first view, of another complexion, being blackish, with some streaks of red, like standing, or rather strangled, blood; and under his left ear I saw a swelling home to his throat, and of a blackish-red colour. After this I saw the chirurgeons opening his body, beginning at the top of his chin, and so down to the pit of his stomach, and then cut his skin on both sides his throat, towards each ear, and coming at the place near his left ear that I saw swollen, I there saw of corroded, or congealed blood, lying a lump of great thickness, and two or three inches long, which proved to me he had been strangled: and one thing more I observed, that, when Mr. Murehead put off his cap at first from his head, in slipping it back, Sir James's eye-lids opened, and his eyes appeared, but his eye-lids were much swollen and very red, which did also prove to

me a symptom of strangling. This being done, and his breast opened, so that his entrails appeared, and to me seemed in good order, and no appearance of water in his body, neither then, nor when first he was taken out of the river: the like, I think, has not been ever known by any man that cast himself, or that has been cast into a river alive, and not to have his body full of water; nor that ever a dead man should lie at the top of the water where no running stream is, but a still water of about five feet deep; but to me in this it shews that, as God is a wonder-working God, so he has in this shewn no less, to convince men that this worthy gentleman murdered not himself, but was murdered.

"But my last observation was of a wonder more, that the Lord did shew, when the chirurgeons had caused the body of Sir James to be by their servants sewn up again, and his grave-clothes put on. A speech was made to this purpose:-It is requisite now that those of Sir James Stansfield's relations and nearest friends should take him off from the place where now he lies, and lift him into his coffin. So I saw Mr. James Row at the left side of Sir James's head and shoulder, and Mr. Philip Stansfield at the right side of his head and shoulder; and, going to lift off the body, I saw Mr. Philip drop the head of his father upon the form, and much blood in his hand, and himself flying off from the body, crying, Lord have mercy upon me! (or upon us!) wiping off the blood on his clothes, and so lay himself over a seat in the church. Some supposing that he would swarff, or swoon away, called for a bottle of water for him. After this we went for Moreham Castle, where Mr. Philip Stansfield, myself, and several others staid until it was day. In which time I challenged Mr. Philip for his unkindness to me, by his not inviting me to accompany the corpse of his father when first buried, knowing the intimacy that there was betwixt his father and myself, and that, of all the people in or about the town, his father delighted in no one's company as in mine; and that he did not give me notice of his burial, that I might do my last office of love and service to him by accompanying his body to his burial-place; I took it very ill from him. So then Mr. Philip swore that he had sent two of his servants to invite me, but, if those damned rogues would not do it, what could he help it? and yet did declare, as is proved, and as himself since confessed before my Lord Advocate, that he would not invite me, assigning this as his reason, supposing that myself and James Marr had been instruments of setting his father against him, which was a false suggestion. All which particulars I have, before the Lords of his Majesty's honourable Privy Council, declared: so, by their command, I have in this sheet of paper written it over with my own hand, and do hereby subscribe my name, the 16th of December, 1687."

The portion of the evidence, however, that goes farthest to prove that a murder had been committed, and that is moreover of the deepest interest in every respect, is that which closed the case for the prosecution. The Lord Advocate now proposed that two children, James Thomson, the son of George Thomson, a boy of thirteen, and Anna Mark, the daughter of Janet Johnston, a girl of ten years old, should be examined; and, although their admission as witnesses was refused by the Court, on the representation of the prisoner's counsel, that from their tender age they were not by law capable of being sworn, yet, "in regard," says the report, "the persons on the inquest earnestly desired the said James

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