The Peculiar People Again.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 7368, 16 November 1898, Page 3

The Peculiar People Again.

At the Old Bailey, London, on September 17th, James Cook and Grace Cook, man and wife, were indicted for the' manslaughter of Ethel Grace Cook, their only child. The prisoners, asked by whom they were represented, replied, " The Lord Jehovah." It was explataed that the prisoners were members of the sect known as the Peculiar People. The deceased child had not been seen by a doctor daring its illness. Mrs Gentry, wife of Thomas Gentry, who had nursed the little girl, said the child had been ill many times before, but "the Lord undertook for it."

His Lordship : In her earlier illnesses who cared her—the Lord or the elder 1

The witness : Oh, not the elder, my lord. His Lordship : Then who did ? The witness : It was the Lord, in answer to our prayerß.

Thomas Gentry, stableman, 26 Bowling Green street, Kennington Oval, an elder of the Peculiar People, said : " Three days before her death I anointed the child in the name of the Lord, and prayed over her that the Lord God, in His infinite goodness and love, woald restore and heal the child for its own sake, for the parents' sake, and for the cause of God j for we are like the doctors, and like to see them healed." Bis Lordship: Did you put all that into your prayer ? The witness : I did not put that abont the doctors into the prayer. Mr Randolph: What is your treatment for a broken leg ? The witness : We have never had one, because, although there are members of the community who have had serions falls and braises and cuts, oar God in whom we trast has in a miraculous way preserved oar bones from being broken. But, suppose it did occar, and you broke yonr leg ?—We cannot bnild much of a structure on a basis of suppesition. We woald give the best advice we could, being led by our God.

Medical evidence having been given, the male prisoner addressed the jury, and said his trast was in the Lord; that while be had suffered much in health before he knew the Lord, he had been better since then. (The female prisoner also said a few words to the same purport.

After a brief consultation in the box, the Foreman said : The jury find the prisoners not guilty, but think that they should be severely censured— Several jurymen, springing to their feet, exclaimed : We do not agree to that. The Foreman: I understood yoa to do HO. His Lordship said the jury had better retire and consider their verdict. After some Interval the jury returned. His Lordship: Gentlemen, I. have had a communication from you in which you ask me whether a verdict of gross neglect is equivalent to a verdict of manslaughter. 1 ask yoa first—Are you agreed upon whether there was gross neglect 2 The Foreman: Yes; but we cannot give a verdict of manslaughter^ His Lordship: You agree that there was gross neglect. Then lam bound to tell yoa if that gross neglect was the cause of death, or accelerated the death by an hour or a moment, that is manslaughter. After two more intervals, the jury were enable to agree, and were discharged. Hia Lordship said he would not try the I case again this sessions, and the recognisances | of the prisoners (who are on hail) woald be 1 enlarged till the next Court.