humanely urged that danger might arise from symptoms which appeared so
violent; but the doctor laughed at her apprehensions, declared that the
wound was going on remarkably well, and that he would give a hundred
guineas if he could produce similar favourable signs in some other of
his patients. It was represented to him, that the wound had wrought a
disease upon the young lady of another description,--she was unable to
retain anything upon her stomach. For this, he said, he had a remedy
with him if he chose to apply it. He was an enemy, however, to
physic,--the sickness was a favourable symptom, and the young lady would
find relief from its disagreeable effects by taking mulled port wine.
This, however, like everything else, was ejected from the stomach. Mr.
Long called again; in vain were certain angry appearances about the
wound pointed out to him; he remained positive in his declared opinion,
and refused to take any new measures for the young lady's immediate
relief.
Every day brought new symptoms, which were looked upon by Mrs. Cashin as
unfavourable and dangerous; and at length Mr. Brodie, of Saville Row,
was called in. This eminent surgeon took every step possible for Miss
Cashin; but all his efforts were useless, and the very morning after his
assistance had been obtained, the young lady expired. Mr. Long was
acquainted with the circumstance of new aid having been procured, but he
assured Mrs. Cashin that this was quite unnecessary, and he never
afterwards called.
Circumstances of so remarkable a character were not likely to pass
unnoticed or unquestioned, and on Saturday the 21st of August, 1830, a
Coroner's jury was summoned to inquire into the cause of the death of
the deceased young lady. The investigation created much interest, and
professional gentlemen attended on behalf of Mr. Long, as well as of
Mrs. Cashin, to watch the proceedings.
Mrs. Roddis was the first witness examined, and she deposed to the
circumstances which are above detailed. Upon her cross-examination by
Mr. Long's solicitor, it was attempted to be elicited from her, that the
deceased had eaten a great quantity of plums; but this was distinctly
denied; and Mrs. Roddis asserted, that ten days before her death, the
young lady was in perfect health. The younger Miss Cashin, she added,
had died on that very morning.
Mr. Brodie's evidence was conclusive as to the cause of the death of the
deceased. He said that he had been called in to attend the deceased
young lady, and found a wound on her back, with considerable sloughing.
He saw but slight hopes of her recovery, but applied such remedies as he
deemed fit. On the next morning he found that she was dead. Mr. Brodie
added that he had no knowledge of the manner in which the wound had been
produced; but there was no doubt that it was that which had caused the
sickness complained of, and which had also been the cause of death. He
was at a loss to imagine how the production of such a wound could be
supposed to have any effect in curing a patient of consumption, or in
preventing such a disease.
At this point of the inquiry it was determined that the body of the
deceased lady should undergo a post-mortem examination, and the further
investigation of the case was, therefore, postponed until the following
Monday.
On that day the inquest was resumed, new advocates appearing for the
respective parties.
Sir Francis Burdett then came forward to speak to the mode of treatment
adopted by Mr. Long with some of his patients, which he did not think
dangerous; by his recommendation two persons had put themselves under
Mr. Long's care. He did not know the nature of the application used by
Mr. Long; he had used it on his hand for the gout, but it did neither
good nor harm. He had waited on him, understanding he could cure the tic
douloureux, and he wished to have some information on the subject, with
the view of apprising his friend, the Marquess of Anglesea, who was
affected occasionally with that disease.
Dr. Alexander Thompson, who had examined the body of the deceased, was
called, but he could form no positive opinion of the cause of death, as
he was not permitted by the family to inspect the spine and head.--In
this state of things, it was resolved that Dr. Thompson should pursue
the examination of the body, and for that purpose was requested to have
it exhumed from the burial-ground in Moorfields, where it had been
interred.
On Wednesday the Coroner and Jury again assembled, when Dr. Alexander
Thompson, Mr. Thomas King, surgeon, Mr. Wildgoose, surgeon, Dr. John
Hogg, Dr. Thomas Goodeve, Dr. James Johnson, Mr. John Maclean, and Mr.
Thomas Evans, who had all been present at the last opening of the body,
and examination of the spine and head, were examined. They all concurred
that it was a perfectly healthful subject--beautiful in form, and free
from all disease, save that occasioned by the wound in the back. Few
people could recover after such a local injury, which appeared to them
perfectly unjustifiable. A notion was entertained by some that it was
advisable to produce an external illness, for the purpose of drawing off
an internal disease. Here was no internal disease, and the concurrent
opinion of all was, that death had been occasioned by the wound in the
back. The wound possessed much of the character of a burn, not produced
by fire, but by some application that would cause the same result. The
mode of inflicting the wound was kept secret.
Mr. Patrick Sweetman was then called: The deceased left Dublin about two
months before, in perfect health. He saw her two days before she died,
and had an interview with Mr. Long, who described her situation as most
favourable, and said, that there was no danger whatever. The deceased
was twenty-four years of age; her younger sister was sixteen. The latter
was in a consumption, and left Dublin to be put under Mr. Long's care;
he believed she had also a wound in her back. From the first Mr. Long
said he could not undertake her cure. Mr. Long stated to him the causes
of the deceased putting herself under his care. He told him that a young
lady, one of his patients, had asked him what he thought of the health
of Miss Catherine Cashin, who was in the habit of going to his house
with her sister Ellen; and Mr. Long told the young lady that Miss Cashin
would be seized with consumption in less than two months, unless she
allowed herself to be rubbed by him with his mixture. She informed the
mother of what Mr. Long had said, and she consented to her undergoing
this treatment, lest she might have to accuse herself of any neglect in
the care of her children. Mr. Long said, he required every one to sign a
book. He required those who signed it not to divulge anything regarding
the mixture, and the inhaling which he prescribed. The inhaling was
going on in the house while I was there. I signed the book, as a mere
matter of form, at his request. He charged a guinea each visit for each
young lady. I did not inhale; I should be very sorry to do so. He
demanded no fee from me. Miss Ellen Cashin was pronounced by the most
eminent medical men in Dublin to be consumptive. Mrs. Cashin heard of
Mr. Long in consequence of a book which he had published. The faculty in
Dublin endeavoured to dissuade her from bringing her daughter here, but
she would. At the conclusion of this witness's evidence, the inquiry was
adjourned until Friday.
On Friday the jury once more assembled, and the evidence, touching the
death of Miss Cashin, having been closed, Mr. Adolphus addressed the
jury on the part of Mr. Long. He said that even supposing for a moment
that the death of Miss Cashin had been caused by Mr. Long's application,
there was no evidence of malice prepense to constitute murder; and as to
"manslaughter," it had been recently decided, by two learned judges,
that if a man, whether ignorant or skilful, acted honestly, and with
intention to do good, he was not accountable for the result. Different
practitioners adopted different modes of treatment, and it often
happened that that which was deemed advisable by one was considered
quite the contrary by others, and yet the practice objected to was the
more successful.
Miss Matilda Christian, of North Bank, Regent's Park, said she had been
a patient of Mr. Long's for some time; her complaint was a consumption.
Mr. Long treated her as he did his other patients; he made wounds on the
chest, on the left side, on the back, and on the temples; she recovered
entirely under his care; the wounds left some marks, which might be seen
when she was cold; her former medical attendant expressed great
astonishment at her cure. In cross-examination by the jury, she said the
sores did not affect her inside, nor did they confine her to her bed;
Mr. Long had employed rubbing, as he did to the deceased, but what the
ingredients were she did not know; for the rubbing he used a sponge;
there was considerable discharge from the sores; she expectorated some
stuff, which was put in water and sunk to the bottom; he cured a Miss
Rough of a complication of disorders in the same way; she had lost her
father, brother, and sister, by consumption of the same kind she had
when she went to Mr. Long.
Mr. N. J. Bluett, formerly a solicitor, and residing at Brighton,
attended Mr. Long for a complaint originating in accident; he had a
general debility and swelling of the glands; he was completely cured by
an application of Mr. Long's, which at first created great pain; he
attended him for six months; the same application was made every day; he
inhaled something; he saw several other patients, and the same liquid
was applied to all; he was told by other medical men that his case was
one of the most desperate of the kind; he never pretended his complaint
was consumption; after inhaling, his appetite, which had been lost, was
greatly improved, as well as his general health.
Mrs. Sharpe, wife of General Sharpe, York Terrace, Regent's Park, whose
case had been pronounced deep consumption, by Sir Antony Carlisle, was
also a patient of Mr. Long's; she had been attending Mr. Long about
three months; she inhaled something, and an external application was
made to her chest and back, in the same manner as to the other patients;
there was considerable inflammation and discharge; she got much better,
and was still under Mr. Long's care.
General Matthew Sharpe, husband of the last witness, said that the case
was pronounced hopeless, and he applied to Mr. Long, of whom he never
heard before; the consequences were highly beneficial: his wife was much
better, and ceased to cough altogether; he certainly gave Mrs. Sharpe
great relief, whatever might be the ultimate consequences.
Other witnesses who had been patients to Mr. Long, for different
diseases, and to whom the same mode of treatment had been applied, spoke
in the same terms of the advantageous effects which had accrued.
This evidence, however, was declared by the jury to have nothing to do
with Miss Cashin's case; for Mr. Long might have committed many harmless
acts, which, nevertheless, would not relieve him from the consequences
of one which was not harmless; and the inquest was again adjourned until
the following Monday.
On that day the inquiry terminated.
Among the witnesses examined were the Countess of Buckinghamshire, Mr.
Prendergast, M.P., and Mr. Higgs, the brewer, all of whom spoke in high
terms of Mr. Long's treatment, and of the virtues of his lotion for
curing various complaints. The countess said she had greatly recovered
since she had attended Mr. Long. Mr. Prendergast said he had suffered
severely from a determination of blood to the head. His chest and
forehead were rubbed, and the lotion applied to his back by Mr. Long; he
was completely relieved, and the pain had not returned to his head from
that day. Mr. Higgs said that for many years he had been afflicted with
the gout, and had employed common doctors, who had done nothing for it.
In February he applied to Mr. Long, and used his medicine for four
months, and he was completely cured, perfectly at ease, and free from
pain. All the witnesses said, that in consequence of the benefit they
derived from Mr. Long's treatment, they had recommended many persons to
him, and would employ him again themselves in case of necessity. The
coroner, in summing up the case, observed, that if Mr. Long appeared to
have possessed the necessary skill and knowledge for carrying on medical
practice, and had used due diligence and care in the case of Miss
Cashin, they must arrive at the conclusion that in this matter he was
nowise to blame. It would be a lamentable thing if every medical man who
committed an error of judgment was to be held responsible as if he
committed a criminal act. At five o'clock the jury retired to consider
their decision upon the case; and at eight o'clock returned into the
room, and announced their verdict of Manslaughter against Mr. St. John
Long. A buzz of approbation was heard in the room when the verdict was
pronounced; and one or two persons cried out "Bravo!" Others exclaimed,
"Shame, shame!" The coroner then asked if Mr. Long were present, and
having been informed he was not, issued a warrant for his apprehension,
and bound the witnesses over to attend at the sessions and prosecute the
offender. The jury-room was crowded to the last moment.
Mr. Long subsequently surrendered to the warrant, and was admitted to
bail to answer the charge; but on the case being called on for trial at
the ensuing Old Bailey sessions on the 18th of September, it was
postponed, owing to the absence of some material witnesses for the
prosecution.
On the 30th of October Mr. Long was placed upon his trial, when the same
facts which we have detailed were stated in evidence. After an ample
investigation, a verdict of manslaughter was again returned. Mr. Long
was then committed to Newgate to await his sentence; but on the
following Monday, he was again placed at the bar. The Court then passed
upon him a sentence, condemning him to pay a fine of 250_l._ to the
king. The money was immediately paid, and the defendant was discharged
out of custody.
The case had already created a great degree of interest in society from
the vast number of persons whom Mr. Long had attended; and many
honourable and right honourable persons were present at his trial; but
the public excitement was still further aroused upon a subsequent charge
of a similar nature being brought against him. The result of this charge
was different from that of the indictment preferred in the case of Miss
Cashin, but the affair was regarded with no less astonishment by the
larger proportion of the community, who wondered at the folly of any
person submitting to the absurd mal-treatment of this person for the
cure of any real or supposed disease.
We give the proceedings of the coroner's inquest as they were published
at the time, detailing more particularly, as they do, the course of
treatment adopted by Mr. Long.
On Wednesday morning, November 10th 1830, at eleven o'clock, J. H. Gell,
Esq. and a highly respectable jury assembled at the Wilton Arms,
Kinnerton-street, Knightsbridge, to inquire into the death of Mrs. Colin
Campbell Lloyd, aged 48, the wife of Captain Edward Lloyd, of the royal
navy, whose death was alleged to have been occasioned by the treatment
she had experienced under the hands of Mr. St. John Long.
The inquiry excited the most intense interest, and the jury-room was
crowded to excess, principally by gentlemen of the medical profession,
anxious to hear the result of the proceedings.
Mr. Wheatley, a barrister, attended on behalf of the family of Mrs.
Lloyd; and Mr. Wooller appeared to watch the proceedings for Mr. St.
John Long.
After the jury were impanelled, they proceeded to view the body of the
unfortunate lady, at her lodgings, No. 33, Wilton-place, and on their
return the following evidence was adduced:--
Mr. George Vance, of No. 27, Sackville-street, Piccadilly, surgeon: I
visited Mrs. Lloyd on the 21st of October last, which, as I was informed
by her medical attendant, Mr. Campbell, was about ten days from the
commencement of her illness. Mrs. Lloyd informed me that she had inhaled
from a tube a few times at Mr. St. John Long's, in Harley-street, and
had been rubbed on the chest with a liniment twice; she did not say who
rubbed her; the first rubbing, she said, produced no inconvenience, but
the second a sense of burning heat; she stated that she was quite well
at the time, and had not suffered any important indisposition for three
years, which was the time I had attended her; from the inhalation, it
appeared to me that her tongue, mouth, and fauces had eroded; on
examining her chest I found a sloughing sore of great extent (where she
had, by her own account, been rubbed with a liniment), which extended
from the arm-pits across the chest in one direction, and from the collar
bones above, under the nipples, in the other direction; in the middle of
this sore, the soft parts covering the breast-bone were black and dead,
but towards the circumference there was a little appearance of health,
and the mortified parts were separating from the living; the stomach was
much disturbed, and she was in a state of great exhaustion and
despondency, frequently expressing a desire to die; in a day or two
after my attendance some of the constitutional distress (by which I mean
fever and irritation, as well as the sickness of the stomach) subsided
in a degree, and her spirits revived; the dead parts began to separate
more freely, and in a correspondence with her friends I gave encouraging
hopes of her amendment; no granulations, however, appearing in the clean
parts of the sore, and the surface having become dry and flabby,
exhibiting the appearance of the dissected parts of a dead body, I
imparted to her friends the certainty of her death. Mr. Campbell, a
surgeon, and myself, together and separately, removed masses of putrid
flesh. The breast-bone was found bare, and I believe that if the slough
had been freely thrown off, the cartilages of the ribs would have been
exposed also. The deceased gradually grew weaker, and died on Monday
morning the 8th of November. In my opinion the application of some
corrosive matter, applied to the parts which I found in a state of
mortification, was the cause of her death.--Mr. Vance added, that about
three years before, he had attended Mrs. Lloyd for an affection in the
throat, which he considered to be Globus Hystericus. It was a nervous
complaint, but soon disappeared. This was the only disease which he
observed in Mrs. Lloyd; she was, in all other respects, a stout woman,
very richly covered with fat. He had never known any disease of that
nature terminate fatally. Mrs. Lloyd said, that she had been persuaded
to apply to Mr. Long.
Mr. Brodie, of No. 16, Saville-row, surgeon; and Mr. Campbell, surgeon,
of No. 23, Wilton-place, confirmed the testimony.
Captain Lloyd was then examined: He said he came to London with his wife
and family on the 15th July; Mrs. Lloyd was in good health but subject
to a nervous affection of the throat when she took cold; she continued
in good health, until she became ill from the rubbing of Mr. Long. On
the 5th I accompanied her to Mr. Long's house; she merely had a
conversation; she went on the following day, when she inhaled. On the
7th she inhaled again, also on the 8th, when she paid him 1_l._; she
went to him on the 9th, when she was rubbed, for the first time, across
the bosom, as she described to me; on the 10th October she told me that
she had inhaled as before, and afterwards was rubbed--as they termed it,
"rubbed out;" she told me that there was but a small portion of liquid
in the saucer, but more was added when that was expended. She became so
unwell while the rubbing was going on, that the rubber became alarmed
and went for Mr. Long, who did not come for some time, but when he did
he said it was nothing, and would soon go off, which it did after some
time; but an odd sensation remained, which continued during the evening;
she came home in her sister's carriage, and continued uneasy the rest of
the day; she complained of a cold and chillings all the evening; a cold
shivering fit came on when she retired to bed, and she took some hot
wine and water; she had a restless night, and on the 11th October was
unwell all day; there was a vivid redness across the breast where the
rubbing had taken place, and a dark place in the centre of the breast,
from which a discharge was taking place from under some cabbage-leaves,
which had been applied by the direction, as she said, of Mr. Long; the
large dark spot on her breast still got deeper in colour. The edges were
white, and all much puffed up. The pores of the skin on the black spot
were expanded, but did not break. She expressed great surprise that Mr.
Long did not call, and was inclined to be sick during the day, and could
not take any nourishment, and complained of a dreadful burning heat in
the breast. She passed a restless night, and on the morning of the 12th
of October, on looking at her breast, it appeared to me that from lying
on her back wherever the matter discharged from the wound rested it
caused fresh blisters, some of which I cut to relieve her pain, as she
complained all over. A wicker cradle was forced to be made to place over
her to prevent the bed-clothes touching her. On this day I called upon
Mr. Long, who expressed his surprise at not having seen Mrs. Lloyd to go
on with her inhaling. On explaining her inability, and great sufferings,
he said that he would come in the evening, which he did, and found that
she had applied some common blister dressing to alleviate the heat and
burning feeling. Mr. Long said that was wrong, and contrary to his
practice, but he would rub it out, which Mrs. Lloyd exclaimed against,
saying that she had suffered so much that she could not endure these
parts being rubbed at all; the very idea of touching them, even by
herself, was excruciating. Mr. Long said that the only thing necessary
to be applied to the wound was old dry linen, to absorb. He then asked
for a towel, and began rubbing it dry on the large black spot, as I
suppose to absorb the discharge. Mrs. Lloyd said she had always healed
any little blister by a simple blister-dressing; and Mr. Long said he
saw no objection to her using it, and then departed. During the time
Captain Lloyd was giving his evidence he appeared deeply affected, and
frequently burst into tears.
The inquiry was then adjourned until the next day.
The jury resumed the inquiry on Thursday morning, when a post-mortem
examination of the body took place.
Further evidence was given in corroboration of that heard on the
preceding day, when the gentlemen who had examined the body of the
deceased read a report, from which it appeared that the body was
perfectly healthy. The lungs were sound and free from all disease. The
heart was healthy, and the windpipe equally so; in fact, the medical
gentlemen added, that in their professional researches they had seldom
seen a body that had lived forty years with internal structures so
generally healthy, and so fine in their proportions.
Several of Dr. Long's dupes were called to swear to the general
excellence of his treatment.
The coroner addressed the jury, stating that the question for their
determination was, whether the deceased came by her death from gross
ignorance or inattention from her medical attendant, or whether she died
a natural death.
The jury retired for about half an hour, and then returned the following
verdict:--
"The jury, having attentively and deliberately considered their verdict
[Illustration: _Campbell shooting the Earl of Eglinton._
_P. 225._]
can come to no other than Manslaughter, against John St. John Long."
The coroner inquired on what grounds they found their verdict?
Foreman: On the ground of gross ignorance, and on other considerations.
Upon this second charge Mr. Long was tried at the Old Bailey on the 19th
of February, 1831.
Mr. Long appeared somewhat confused on his entering the dock, but he
soon recovered his self-possession, and bowed to many persons who
entered the court. The case was tried before Mr. Baron Bayley.
The evidence of Captain Lloyd, and of the other witnesses examined
before the coroner, was now again gone into, and the additional
testimony of Mr. Campbell, who had first seen Mrs. Lloyd after she had
quitted Mr. Long, was also given. His statement was as follows:--