Dilemmas of Pride, (Vol 3 of 3)Loudon, Mrs. (Margracia)
General
Dilemmas of Pride, (Vol 3 of 3)
Loudon, Mrs. (Margracia)
Fiction
Nothing with which he could charge his memory.
"Bad memories are the fashion," whispered Fips, with a grin of triumph,
and a grunt of approbation.
Here the prisoner's counsel cross-examined Geoffery in the closest and
ablest manner, but could not draw from him that part of the conversation
in which Alfred had expressed a fear of Christian burial being denied,
and his mother's affliction increased, should the suicide be suspected.
Thus mutilated, the evidence of the sole witness for the defence, told
rather against than for the prisoner's cause, but, as there had been no
third person present, the case was without remedy.
The judge asked if the prisoner had any other witnesses to call, or any
thing more to say in his own defence; and on receiving a negative to
both questions, looked disappointed. After a short pause, he commenced
his charge to the jury, in the course of which he clearly and ably
recapitulated the whole of the evidence.
This occupied between two and three hours, so that lights became at
length necessary, though at his lordship's desk only, for the sake of
referring to written notes, the imperfect remains of the daylight being
sufficient for all other purposes.
The feelings of the court were now much excited; the solemn voice of the
judge had for some time been the only sound heard, while the partial
illumination at such a crisis had great effect, rendering more than
ordinarily conspicuous the figure of his lordship; his costume so
strongly associated in our minds with the idea of his being the
arbitrator of life and death; his countenance, which happened to be
peculiarly striking, and, in particular, the flash of his eye, which was
very remarkable; his manner, too, was impressive, the tones of his voice
fine, and his diction clear and forcible; his expositions on points of
law, were luminous even to the humblest apprehensions. He told the jury,
that on such points it was his business to dictate to them, and theirs
to be implicitly guided by his dictum. To decide what facts were proved
in evidence, and the degree of credibility due to such evidence, was, he
told them, their province; and in deliberating on a case which had
naturally excited so intense an interest in the neighbourhood, his
lordship entreated that the jury would dismiss from their consideration
all they might have previously heard, or even thought on the subject,
and confine their whole attention to the evidence delivered in court
this day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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