[N.B.--Several of the above reviewers were friendly to the book on other points.] _'In Scotland the verdict would certainly have been "Not Proven."'_--GLASGOW HERALD. _'Though the evidence is purely circumstantial, it seems at first sight so strong that no magistrate could fail to commit.'_--SATURDAY REVIEW. _'The evidence of guilt is very strong.'_--MONMOUTHSHIRE BEACON. _'Certainly the evidence, purely circumstantial, is very strong.'_--PUBLISHER'S CIRCULAR. _'A case of circumstantial evidence which all seemed to point one way, and to fix a horrible crime upon a young girl.'_--WEEKLY SUN. _'The evidence against her is damning, though purely circumstantial.'_--LITERARY WORLD. These extracts, taken together, seem to me to throw a most interesting light upon the subject of trial by jury--the object of a sneer in one of the above quotations. When it is possible for a number of educated minds, engaged in highly intellectual pursuits, to take such opposite views of the same set of facts, it may surely be urged that, if miscarriages of justice occasionally take place, they are due, not so much to any defects in our judicial system, as to those native diversities of the human mind which no legislation can remove. A change is fast coming over our legal procedure in the direction of dispensing with juries, and leaving everything to the decision of a single trained lawyer. Whether this change is certain to ensure greater correctness of decision is, perhaps, more open to argument than is generally supposed. In conclusion, I have only to express my thanks for the many cordial notices--some of them, I fear, hardly deserved--which this rather slight work received on its first appearance. The kindness of his reviewers has at all events encouraged the author to strive that his future work may be a little better worth their attention. A. U. _May_, 1895. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE INDICTMENT 1 II. THE BRIEF FOR THE PROSECUTION 2 III. COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENCE 23 IV. THE ASSIZES 44 V. THE CASE FOR THE CROWN 68 VI. THE WITNESSES 85 VII. HALF AN HOUR 113 VIII. THE DEFENCE 127 IX. THE JUDGE 154 X. THE VERDICT 175 XI. THE PRISONER'S STATEMENT 192 XII. THE C.C.R. 212 XIII. UNDER THE GREAT SEAL 229 THE QUEEN AGAINST OWEN CHAPTER I. THE INDICTMENT.