Trial of Mary Blandy | Page 2

all the contemporaneous pamphlets--a tedious and often fruitless task--and has consulted such other sources of information as are now available. He has, however, thought well (esteeming the comfort of his readers above his own reputation for research) to present the product as a plain narrative, unencumbered by the frequent footnotes which citation of so many authorities would otherwise require--the rather that any references not furnished by the bibliography are sufficiently indicated in the text.
Finally, the Editor would express his gratitude to Mr. Horace Bleackley and Mr. A.M. Broadley for their kindness in affording him access to their collections of Blandyana, including rarities (to quote an old title-page) "nowhere to be found but in the Closets of the Curious," greatly to the lightening of his labours and the enrichment of the result.
W.R.
8 OXFORD TERRACE, EDINBURGH, April, 1914.

CONTENTS.
Introduction
Table of Dates
The Trial-- TUESDAY, 3RD MARCH, 1752.
The Indictment
Opening Speeches for the Prosecution. Hon. Mr. Bathurst Mr. Serjeant Hayward
Evidence for the Prosecution. 1. Dr. Addington 2. Dr. Lewis 3. Dr. Addington (recalled) 4. Benjamin Norton 5. Mrs. Mary Mounteney 6. Susannah Gunnell 7. Elizabeth Binfield 8. Dr. Addington (recalled) 9. Alice Emmet 10. Robert Littleton 11. Robert Harmon 12. Richard Fisher 13. Mrs. Lane 14. Mr. Lane
The Prisoner's Defence
Evidence for the Defence. 1. Ann James 2. Elizabeth Binfield (recalled) 3. Mary Banks 4. Edward Herne 5. Thomas Cawley 6. Thomas Staverton 7. Mary Davis 8. Robert Stoke
Motion by Mr. Ford to call another witness refused
Hon. Mr. Bathurst's Closing Speech for the Prosecution
Statement by the Prisoner
Mr. Baron Legge's Charge to the Jury
The Verdict
The Sentence

APPENDICES.
I. Proceedings before the Coroner relative to the Death of Mr. Francis Blandy
II. Copies of Original Letters in the British Museum and Public Record Office, relating to the Case of Mary Blandy
III. A Letter from a Clergyman to Miss Mary Blandy, now a prisoner in Oxford Castle, with her Answer thereto; as also Miss Blandy's own narrative of the crime for which she is condemned to die
IV. Miss Mary Blandy's own account of the affair between her and Mr. Cranstoun, from the commencement of their acquaintance in the year 1746 to the death of her father in August, 1751, with all the circumstances leading to that unhappy event
V. Letter from Miss Blandy to a Clergyman in Henley
VI. Contemporary Advertisement of a Love Philtre
VII. Contemporary Account of the Execution of Mary Blandy
VIII. Letter from the War Office to the Paymaster-General, striking Cranstoun's name off the Half-Pay List
IX. The Confessions of Cranstoun-- 1. Cranstoun's own version of the facts 2. Captain Cranstoun's account of the Poisoning of the late Mr. Francis Blandy
X. Extract from a Letter from Dunkirk anent the death of Cranstoun
XI. Letter from John Biddell, the Scots genealogist, to James Maidment, regarding the descendants of Cranstoun
XII. Bibliography of the Blandy Case
XIII. Description of the satirical print "The Scotch Triumvirate"

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Miss Blandy in her Cell in Oxford Castle Frontispiece _From an unpublished Sepia Drawing in the Collection of Mr. Horace Bleackley._
Facsimile of the Intercepted Letter to Cranstoun written by Mary Blandy _From the original MS. in the Public Record Office._
Miss Blandy _From a Mezzotint by T. Ryley, after L. Wilson, in the Collection of Mr. A.M. Broadley._
Miss Mary Blandy in Oxford Castle Gaol _From an Engraving in the British Museum._
Captain Cranstoun and Miss Blandy _From an Engraving in the British Museum._
Miss Mary Blandy _From an Engraving by B. Cole, after a Drawing for which she sat in Oxford Castle._
Miss Molly Blandy, taken from the life in Oxford Castle _From an Engraving in the Collection of Mr. A.M. Broadley._
Miss Mary Blandy, with scene of her Execution _From an Engraving by B. Cole, after an original Painting._
Captain William Henry Cranstoun, with his pompous funeral procession in Flanders _From an Engraving by B. Cole._
The Scotch Triumvirate _From a satirical Print in the Collection of Mr. Horace Bleackley._

MARY BLANDY.

INTRODUCTION.
In the earlier half of the eighteenth century there lived in the pleasant town of Henley-upon-Thames, in Oxfordshire, one Francis Blandy, gentleman, attorney-at-law. His wife, n��e Mary Stevens, sister to Mr. Serjeant Stevens of Culham Court, Henley, and of Doctors' Commons, a lady described as "an emblem of chastity and virtue; graceful in person, in mind elevated," had, it was thought, transmitted these amiable qualities to the only child of the marriage, a daughter Mary, baptised in the parish church of Henley on 15th July, 1720. Mr. Blandy, as a man of old family and a busy and prosperous practitioner, had become a person of some importance in the county. His professional skill was much appreciated by a large circle of clients, he acted as steward for most of the neighbouring gentry, and he had held efficiently for many years the office of town-clerk.
But above the public respect which his performance of these varied duties had secured him, Mr. Blandy prized his reputation as a man of wealth. The