s Curiae, my gallant friend and quondam colleague,
who in voluntary defence has so ingeniously, eloquently and nobly led a
forlorn hope, that he knew was already irretrievably lost? Desperate,
indeed, must he deem that cause for which he battles so valiantly, when
dire extremity goads him to lift a rebellious and unfilial voice
against the provisions of his foster-mother, Criminal Jurisprudence, in
whose service he won the brilliant distinction and crown of laurel that
excite the admiration and envy of a large family of his less fortunate
foster-brothers. I honor his heroism, applaud his chivalrous zeal, and
wish that I stood in his place; but not mine the privilege of mounting
the white horse, and waving the red flag of the 'Lactees.' Dedicated to
the mournful rites of justice, I have laid an iron hand on the
quivering lips of pity, that cried to me like the voice of one of my
own little ones; and very sorrowfully, at the command of conscience,
reason and my official duty, I obey the mandate to ring down the black
curtain on a terrible tragedy, feeling like Dante, when he confronted
the doomed--

"'And to a part I come, where no light shines.'"

So clearly and ably has my distinguished associate, Mr. Wolverton,
presented all the legal points bearing upon the nature and value of the
proof, submitted for your examination, that any attempt to buttress his
powerful argument, were an unpardonable reflection upon your
intelligence, and his skill; and I shall confine my last effort in
behalf of justice, to a brief analysis and comparison of the hypothesis
of the defence, with the verified result of the prosecution.

"Beautiful and sparkling as the frail glass of Murano, and equally as
thin, as treacherously brittle, is the theory so skilfully manufactured
in behalf of the accused; and so adroitly exhibited that the ingenious
facets catch every possible gleam, and for a moment almost dazzle the
eyes of the beholder. In attempting to cast a lance against the shield
of circumstantial evidence, his weapon rebounded, recoiled upon his
fine spun crystal and shivered it. What were the materials wherewith he
worked? Circumstances, strained, well nigh dislocated by the effort to
force them to fit into his Procrustean measure. A man was seen on the
night of the twenty-sixth, who appeared unduly anxious to quit
X--before daylight; and again the mysterious stranger was seen in a
distant town in Pennsylvania, where he showed some gold c