At a special term of the Supreme Court at Salem, July 20th, indictments for murder were found against Francis Knapp as principal, and Joseph Knapp and George Crowningshield (a companion of Richard) as accessories. The trial of Francis took place August 3d, with Mr. Franklin Dexter and Mr. W. H. Gardner for the defence, and Mr. Webster assisting the Attorney-General in the prosecution. [1]P. 239, l. 13. 1. Mr. Lodge says that this account of the murder and analysis of the workings of a mind, haunted with the remembrance of the horrid crime, must be placed among the very finest masterpieces of modern oratory. "I have studied this famous exordium," he says, "with extreme care, and I have sought diligently in the works of all the great modern orators, and of some of the ancient as well, for similar passages of higher merit. My quest has been in vain." [2]P. 241, l. 23. 1. Mr. Webster's appearance for the prosecution gave rise to some complaints on the part of the defence, who intimated that he was in the interest of Mr. Stephen White, a residuary legatee of the murdered man. The fact was that both the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General were old men, and had asked for Mr. Webster's assistance. [3]P. 243, l. 20. 1. Chief Justice Parker. [4]P. 248, l. 10. 1. Mr. Webster's presentation of the evidence is omitted. Cf. Webster's Complete Works, Vol. VI., p. 61. Knapp was convicted as principal and sentenced to death. At the November term Joseph was convicted as accessory and sentenced to share the same fate. George Crowningshield proved an _alibi_, and was acquitted. The argument in the Goodridge case stands in marked contrast to this; and it must be conceded that, as a presentation of the law and the evidence, with no attempt to work upon the feelings of the jurymen, it is a work of higher quality. As a specimen of eloquence, of dramatic setting forth of the horror of such a deed, of the experiences of the criminal, and of the certainty that "murder will out," the argument has no equal in the language. For a remarkable analysis of Mr. Webster's career as a lawyer, see Rufus Choate's address before the students of Dartmouth College in 1853 in "Memorial of Daniel Webster from the City of Boston." * * * * * _THE CONSTITUTION NOT A COMPACT_. February, 1833.