is
hopes that his good old friend and neighbour would meet with favour, he
took care to confirm every circumstance to his prejudice. He dwelt on
the steadiness of Lord Sedley's principles; the regular communication he
had with him, respecting the views of the royalists; the beauty and
allurements of Constantia Beaumont, and the evident consternation of the
family, together with her extreme grief at the time of Sedley's
disappearing. He now hesitated and begged he might be dismissed; but a
few threats of imprisonment restored his volubility, and he anticipated
the questions of the counsel by stating, that at the command of His
Highness he had minutely searched the late residence of the Beaumonts,
and at length found a sliding pannel concealing an arched passage,
through an extraordinarily thick wall, which, being excavated in one
part, formed a small secret chamber or closet, concealed among the
buttresses, so as not to be visible on the out-side, and lighted by a
small window in the roof; he found, he said, certain proof of its having
been recently inhabited, and on removing the floor he discovered, with
several arms and implements, the dress of a parliamentary officer; the
same which he had seen Lord Sedley wear. Nor was this the only
corroborative proof of his having been assassinated in that dark recess,
for, on digging lower, they found several bones, which he feared were
part of the remains of that unfortunate gentleman.

The incongruity of finding the dress sufficiently perfect to discover
its identity, while the body of Sedley was so dismembered by time, that
only a few disjointed bones could be discovered, might have convinced
the court, that they could not, without incurring great odium, find Dr.
Beaumont guilty of murder. But, indeed, they had not time to reflect on
the inadmissibility of such vague circumstances in a criminal charge.
Lady Bellingham renewed her screams, to give effect, it was presumed, to
the workings of compassion for a fond mother, wounded to agony by such a
horrid narration. But her screams continued too long, and were too
piercing, to proceed from feigned distress, and the intermingled cries
of "He is coming again! Save me!" directed the eyes of all to a figure,
who was now perceived slowly making his way through the crowd below the
bar. It was the aged Evellin advancing with feeble steps; his majestic
form clad in a loose, black, serge gown, and his iron-grey hair and
beard waving neglec