Prisoner for BlasphemyFoote, G. W. (George William)
Religion
Prisoner for Blasphemy
Foote, G. W. (George William)
Blasphemy; Trials (Blasphemy) -- Great Britain
have systematised your thoughts, and think your written arrangement is
complete, ponder it clause by clause with the paper at hand for constant
reference. No matter if your thoughts seem to wander, and the subject
appears to grow vague; your mind is dwelling on it, and ideas will
fructify in your mind unconsciously as seeds sprout in the dark. When
the hour of trial arrives, arm yourself with the familiar paper, trust
to your own courage, and speak out. You will have thoughts, and nature
will find you words."
Justice North's summing-up was simply a clever and unscrupulous bit
of special pleading. Sir Hardinge Giffard had left the court, and his
friend on the bench conducted his case for him. He told the jury that I
had wasted their time, and indulged in a number of other insults, which
might be pardonable in a legal hack bent on earning his client's fee,
but were scarcely consistent with the dignity and impartiality of a
judge. His tone was even worse than his words. He had no sympathy
with us in our desperate effort to defend our liberty against such
overwhelming odds, nor did we solicit any; but we had a right to expect
him to refrain from constant expressions of antipathy. That, however,
was not the whole of his offence against the rules of justice. He
recurred to the bad old example of Lord Ellenborough in devoting most of
his time to answering my arguments. Lord Coleridge remarked in the Court
of Queen's Bench that such a task was not for the judge, but for the
counsel on the other side of the case. I wish his lordship had read a
lesson to Justice North on that subject before he presided at our trial.
There is only one passage of his summing-up that I wish to criticise
fully. It contains his statement of the Law of Blasphemy. But as he made
a very different statement four days later on at our second trial, I
prefer to wait until, by placing these discrepant utterances together, I
can give the reader a fair idea of Justice North's authority as a legal
oracle.
The jury retired at five o'clock. Justice North kept his seat, probably
fancying they would soon agree to a verdict of Guilty. But as the
minutes went by, and the result seemed after all dubious, he resorted
to a paltry trick. Notwithstanding the late hour, he had Mr. Cattell
brought into the dock for trial. By procuring a verdict against _him_
our jury might be influenced. According to theory, of course, the jury
hold no communication with the world while in deliberation; but it is
well known that officers of the court have access to them, and tidings
of Mr. Cattell's fate could be easily conveyed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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