A Philadelphia Lawyer in the London CourtsLeaming, Thomas
History
A Philadelphia Lawyer in the London Courts
Leaming, Thomas
Courts -- Great Britain; Lawyers -- Great Britain
"I am surprised at the terrible hypocrisy, farce, and mockery of the
English people when they pose as champions of oppressed humanity
such as in the case of the people of the Congo and of Russia, while
there is such terrible oppression and such horrible atrocities in
India. For example, they kill 2,000,000 of our people every year and
outrage our women. If this country is occupied by Germans and an
Englishman, not bearing to see the Germans walking with the
insolence of conquerors in the streets of London, goes and kills one
or two Germans, then, if that Englishman is held as a patriot by the
people of this country, then certainly I am a patriot too, working
for the emancipation of my Motherland. Whatever else I have to say
is in the statement now in the possession of the court. I make this
statement, not because I wish to plead for mercy or anything of that
kind. I wish the English people will sentence me to death, for in
that case the vengeance of my countrymen will be all the more keen.
I put forward this statement to show the justice of my cause to the
outside world, especially to our sympathizers in America and
Germany. That is all."
His Lordship then asked the prisoner if he wished to say anything
more.
The prisoner at first said "No", but just as the Lord Chief Justice
was commencing to sum up the case to the jury, Dhingra said there
was another statement on foolscap paper.
_His Lordship_: "Any other statement you must make now
yourself."
_Prisoner_: "I do not remember it now."
_His Lordship_: "You must make any statement you wish to
the jury. If there is anything, say it now."
_Prisoner_: "It was taken from my pocket amongst other
papers."
_His Lordship_: "I do not care what was in your pocket.
With what you had written before, we have nothing to do.
You can say anything you wish to the jury. What you have
written on previous occasions is no evidence in this case.
If you wish to say anything to the jury in defence of
yourself, say it now. Do you wish to say anything more?"
_Prisoner_: "No."
The Lord Chief Justice then summed up the case to the jury in a
charge occupying but six minutes. He said that the evidence was
absolutely conclusive; that the jury had no concern with any
political justification for the crime, for if anything of the kind
were considered it would be in the carrying of the sentence into
effect--with which the jury had nothing to do--that this was an
ordinary crime by which a blameless man, who had devoted himself to
the public service and had done much for the natives of India, had
lost his life, and that it was quite plain there had been
premeditation. His Lordship added that there was nothing which could
induce the jury to reduce the crime from murder to manslaughter, nor
was it suggested that Dhingra was insane, so that if the jury
believed the uncontradicted evidence the only possible verdict was
one of wilful murder.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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