It is extremely likely that, in dealing with Matthews’s and Harding’s evidence, they would reason that “Harding says this” and “Matthews says this,” and then draw inferences unfavourable to Ross from the supposed cumulative effects of the two sets of evidence; and extremely unlikely that they would reason that “Harding says that Ross said this,” and “Matthews says that Ross said that,” and then go on to draw inferences favourable to Ross from the fact that they make him say totally inconsistent things. Yet this is what they should have done. They probably have not yet realised that they were dealing with a case absolutely without parallel in the annals of British criminal jurisprudence, in which they were invited to hang a man on contradictory confessions, which he is alleged, by thoroughly disreputable witnesses, to have made, which on his oath he denied having made, for the making of which no reason could be assigned, and which were so seriously in conflict as to suggest that they were never made. In the nature of things they were likely to put Harding, Matthews, Maddox, Dunstan, Ellis, and the Italians on one side, and Ross and his witnesses on the other, and were not likely to recall that the one set was a contradictory jumble, and the other set a solid mass of unshaken testimony, much of it disinterested, directed to establishing certain definite things. To the writer, these all seem matters that it was of the first importance the jury should have had in mind. True it is, that many of them were touched upon in Mr. Maxwell’s eloquent address for the defence; but the last words, and the weightiest words, must always come from the presiding judge. It is also true that before two appeal courts it was urged that these omissions constituted a ground for saying that the summing-up fell short of what was required, and that both courts rejected the contention. But that does not preclude the respectful comment that the jury, overlooking them, may have approached the evidence from the wrong standpoint. That they did, for some reason, approach it from the wrong standpoint seems established by their verdict. PART IV. FRESH FACTS.