_Answer._--"I have known the prisoner since the year 1816. He was in the light company with me for a considerable time, and distinguished himself highly at Hattrass. I always considered him, and indeed know him to be, up to the present moment, one of the best officers in his Majesty's service."[16] [Illustration] [Illustration] FOOTNOTES: [16] A summary of the court-martial proceedings (which in the original covered 300 foolscap folios) is given in the first edition of Shipp's "Memoirs," but omitted from the edition of which the present volume is a reprint.--ED. CHAPTER XXV. When an officer has been tried by an honourable military tribunal, composed of fifteen British officers, and the sentence of the court-martial has been sanctioned and approved by a most merciful and gracious sovereign, it were as fruitless, as it would be highly improper and presumptuous, for the sentenced individual to urge anything further in his defence. I, therefore, as a sincere admirer of my country's laws, bow most humbly to my fate; I love my country as truly as ever I did, and would as willingly as ever risk my life to support its laws and freedom. During the trial, which lasted thirteen days, I was exceedingly harassed, and my feelings were worked up to a state bordering on frenzy. There was a host against me, and I had not a soul to advise me how to proceed. I stood alone and unaided, with a limited education, to rebut the whole mass of evidence adduced against me.