The Experiences of a Barrister, and Confessions of an Attorney | Page 7

God and man; yet I know, or at least would
persuade myself, that Heaven will one day vindicate my innocence of
this foul charge. To think of being hanged like a dog for a crime at
which my soul revolts! Great is the crime of those imbecile jurors and
that false and hard-hearted judge, who thus, by an irreversible decree,
consign a fellow-mortal to a death of violence and disgrace. Oh God,
help me--help me to sustain that bitter, bitter hour!" And then the poor
man would throw himself on his bed and weep.
But the parting with his wife and children. What pen can describe that
terrible interview! They knelt in prayer, their wobegone countenances
suffused in tears, and with hands clasped convulsively together. The
scene was too harrowing and sacred for the eye of a stranger. I rushed
from the cell, and buried myself in my lodgings, whence I did not
remove till all was over. Next day James Harvey, a victim of
circumstantial evidence, and of a barbarous criminal code, perished on
the scaffold.
Three weeks afterwards, the court arrived at a populous city in the west
of England. It had in the interval visited another assize town, and there
Judge A ---- had left three for execution. At the trials of these men,
however, I had not attended. So shocked had been my feelings with the
mournful event which had taken place at ------, that I had gone into

Wales for the sake of change of scene. After roaming about for a
fortnight amidst the wild solitudes of Caernarvonshire, I took the stage
for the city which I knew the court was to visit, and arrived on the day
previous to the opening of the assizes.
"Well, are we to have a heavy calendar?" I inquired next morning of a
brother barrister on entering the court.
"Rather light for a March assize," replied the impatient counsel as he
bustled onward. "There's Cartwright's case--highway robbery--in which
I am for the prosecution. He'll swing for it, and perhaps four or five
others."
"A good hanging judge is A ----," said the under-sheriff, who at this
moment joined us, rubbing his hands, as if pleased with the prospect of
a few executions. "No chance of the prophecy yonder coming to pass I
suppose?"
"Not in the least," replied the bustling counsel. "He never looked better.
His illness has gone completely off. And this day's work will brighten
him up."
Cartwright's trial came on. I had never seen the man before, and was
not aware that this was the same person whom Harvey had incidentally
told me he had discharged for theft; the truth being, that till the last
moment of his existence, that unfortunate man had not known how
much he had been a sacrifice to this wretch's malice.
The crime of which the villain now stood accused was that of robbing a
farmer of the paltry sum of eight shillings, in the neighborhood of
Ilfracombe. He pleaded not guilty, but put in no defence. A verdict was
recorded against him, and in due form A ---- sentenced him to be
hanged. An expression of fiendish malignancy gleamed over the
haggard features of the felon as he asked leave to address a few words
to the court. It was granted. Leaning forward, and raising his heavy,
scowling eyes to the judge, he thus began:--"There is something on my
mind, my lord--a dreadful crime--which, as I am to die for the eight
shillings I took from the farmer, I may as well confess. You may
remember Harvey, my lord, whom you hanged the other day at--?"
"What of him, fellow?" replied the judge, his features suddenly
flushing crimson.
"Why, my lord, only this--that he was as innocent of the crime for
which you hanged him as the child yet unborn! I did the deed! I put the

watch in his trunk!" And to the unutterable horror of the entire court he
related the whole particulars of the transaction, the origin of his grudge
against Harvey, and his delight on bringing him to the gallows.
"Inhuman, execrable villain!" gasped the judge in extreme excitement.
"Cleverly done, though! Was it not, my lord?" rejoined the ruffian with
bitter irony. "The evidence, you know, was irresistible; the crime as
clear as the sun at noonday; and if in such plain cases, the just and
necessary law was not enforced, society would be dissolved, and there
would be no security for property! These were your words, I think.
How on that occasion I admired your lordship's judgment and
eloquence! Society would be dissolved if an innocent man were not
hanged! Ha!--ha!--ha! Capital!--capital!" shouted the ferocious felon
with demoniac glee, as he marked the effect of his words on the
countenance of the judge.
"Remove the prisoner!"