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Authors: Sheila Hardy
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mean to tell the jury you never kissed Mr
Cooper?
Mrs Farley : No, and if I did I should not mind.
Mr Juby : Do you mean to say you never had?
Harriet had had enough of this. She rose to her feet, glared at Juby and turned towards the door as if to leave. Juby yelled at her to stop.
Mrs Farley : If I had kissed him I should not look upon it as a sin. There would be no harm in it. I am a motherly person, and have been accustomed to young fellows all my life.
Mr Juby : How was it then that you objected to Mr Cooper associating with other females?
Mrs Farley : Because it was not good for him.
The packed court must have been twisting in their seats at this interchange. For some this would have been simply a case of bringing well-told gossip into the open while for others it was providing a motive based on rejected love. While they were pondering on this and wondering what else Juby would dredge up, there was a diversion in the form of the prisoner suddenly rising to his feet. At the mention of other females, Arthur, flushed and excited called out: ‘I don’t think you need talk of that matter very much, if I may be allowed to speak.’ Is this a clue that Harriet Louisa had interfered in some romantic attachment that Arthur had formed? His outburst, however, gave the spectators the drama they had wanted.
The calm demeanour, even hauteur, the widow had kept up was now shattered. It appeared to the onlookers that until this point she had been unaware of his presence in the room. When she saw him, she screamed out, ‘Oh poor boy!’ and became hysterical. Alas, the reporter failed to give more details of this, what happened or who calmed her down. The poor coroner attempted to smooth things over by saying it was hardly necessary to pursue the question but Juby was adamant. How, he enquired, were they were to arrive at the climax if they had not thoroughly examined the antecedents to the case?
It appears Juby had some personal or political motive, for when the coroner pointed out that the deceased, having come by his death in a violent manner, it was their duty to find out who was responsible, Juby made the following declaration: ‘There is no doubt about that; if that is all we have to do. One juryman was committed for three months for asking questions, and I am prepared to go to gaol rather than have my tongue tied. It is this cliqueism in England that we have to contend with.’
Juby then talked of having his mouth shut for him and insisted that it was not the prisoner’s mental state that was in question; it was what had gone on before that was, in his opinion, the basis of the case. Eventually the coroner allowed him to seek an answer from Mrs Farley as to why she had objected to Arthur seeing other females.
Mrs Farley : When I thought he was mixing with other people I thought he ought not to, I talked to him as a mother, and advised him as best I could.
Mr Juby : But he is thirty-three.
Mrs Farley : Yes, but he is only a boy. I have for twenty years, with my late husband, taken a great interest in the young ensigns of the regiment, and if I have any young gentlemen about me, I always take an interest in them.
Mr Juby : You have a right to do as you please; but people will hold you accountable for your actions.
Mrs Farley : You lower yourself, sir, by listening to such gossip.
The coroner turned his attention to the prisoner asking if he were represented by a solicitor. Arthur replied that he was not aware of such representation.
Mrs Farley : Poor boy.
Coroner : Are there any questions you would like to ask Mrs Farley?
Prisoner : No, I don’t think so; she seems to have given a very true and explicit account of the important affair.
Coroner : You had better not say anything. Whatever you do say will be taken down, and may be used against you.
Dr Jones was called next to present the medical evidence. The vital question asked was whether the fatal incision had been made by the right or left hand. Jones
Cooper?
Mrs Farley : No, and if I did I should not mind.
Mr Juby : Do you mean to say you never had?
Harriet had had enough of this. She rose to her feet, glared at Juby and turned towards the door as if to leave. Juby yelled at her to stop.
Mrs Farley : If I had kissed him I should not look upon it as a sin. There would be no harm in it. I am a motherly person, and have been accustomed to young fellows all my life.
Mr Juby : How was it then that you objected to Mr Cooper associating with other females?
Mrs Farley : Because it was not good for him.
The packed court must have been twisting in their seats at this interchange. For some this would have been simply a case of bringing well-told gossip into the open while for others it was providing a motive based on rejected love. While they were pondering on this and wondering what else Juby would dredge up, there was a diversion in the form of the prisoner suddenly rising to his feet. At the mention of other females, Arthur, flushed and excited called out: ‘I don’t think you need talk of that matter very much, if I may be allowed to speak.’ Is this a clue that Harriet Louisa had interfered in some romantic attachment that Arthur had formed? His outburst, however, gave the spectators the drama they had wanted.
The calm demeanour, even hauteur, the widow had kept up was now shattered. It appeared to the onlookers that until this point she had been unaware of his presence in the room. When she saw him, she screamed out, ‘Oh poor boy!’ and became hysterical. Alas, the reporter failed to give more details of this, what happened or who calmed her down. The poor coroner attempted to smooth things over by saying it was hardly necessary to pursue the question but Juby was adamant. How, he enquired, were they were to arrive at the climax if they had not thoroughly examined the antecedents to the case?
It appears Juby had some personal or political motive, for when the coroner pointed out that the deceased, having come by his death in a violent manner, it was their duty to find out who was responsible, Juby made the following declaration: ‘There is no doubt about that; if that is all we have to do. One juryman was committed for three months for asking questions, and I am prepared to go to gaol rather than have my tongue tied. It is this cliqueism in England that we have to contend with.’
Juby then talked of having his mouth shut for him and insisted that it was not the prisoner’s mental state that was in question; it was what had gone on before that was, in his opinion, the basis of the case. Eventually the coroner allowed him to seek an answer from Mrs Farley as to why she had objected to Arthur seeing other females.
Mrs Farley : When I thought he was mixing with other people I thought he ought not to, I talked to him as a mother, and advised him as best I could.
Mr Juby : But he is thirty-three.
Mrs Farley : Yes, but he is only a boy. I have for twenty years, with my late husband, taken a great interest in the young ensigns of the regiment, and if I have any young gentlemen about me, I always take an interest in them.
Mr Juby : You have a right to do as you please; but people will hold you accountable for your actions.
Mrs Farley : You lower yourself, sir, by listening to such gossip.
The coroner turned his attention to the prisoner asking if he were represented by a solicitor. Arthur replied that he was not aware of such representation.
Mrs Farley : Poor boy.
Coroner : Are there any questions you would like to ask Mrs Farley?
Prisoner : No, I don’t think so; she seems to have given a very true and explicit account of the important affair.
Coroner : You had better not say anything. Whatever you do say will be taken down, and may be used against you.
Dr Jones was called next to present the medical evidence. The vital question asked was whether the fatal incision had been made by the right or left hand. Jones
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