ve trusted to his power
of improvisation. There was no need for a long effort. He might have
concentrated himself on a few salient points of our defence, and pressed
them on the jury with all his might. His own sentiments, naturally
expressed, in homely language, would have had a greater effect than any
literary composition. After an experience of three trials, I would give
this advice to every man who has to defend himself before a jury on
a charge of blasphemy or sedition--"Write out on a sheet of paper the
heads of your defence. Number them in the order you think they should
be treated, so that your address may have a logical continuity. Fill in
your sub-divisions, similarly numbered, under the chief heads, beginning
the lines half-way across the page, so as to catch the eye readily.
Think every clause out carefully. Fix every illustration in your mind
until it becomes almost a fact of memory. Don't write out fine passages
and try to remember them verbally. Write nothing; it will only
confuse you, unless you have long practised that method. When you
have systematised your thoughts, and think your written arrangement is
complete, ponder it clause by clause with the paper at hand for constant
reference. No matter if your thoughts seem to wander, and the subject
appears to grow vague; your mind is dwelling on it, and ideas will
fructify in your mind unconsciously as seeds sprout in the dark. When
the hour of trial arrives, arm yourself with the familiar paper, trust
to your own courage, and speak out. You will have thoughts, and nature
will find you words."

Justice North's summing-up was simply a clever and unscrupulous bit
of special pleading. Sir Hardinge Giffard had left the court, and his
friend on the bench conducted his case for him. He told the jury that I
had wasted their time, and indulged in a number of other insults, which
might be pardonable in a legal hack bent on earning his client's fee,
but were scarcely consistent with the dignity and impartiality of a
judge. His tone was even worse than his words. He had no sympathy
with us in our desperate effort to defend our liberty against such
overwhelming odds, nor did we solicit any; but we had a right to expect
him to refrain from constant expressions of antipathy. That, however,
was not the whole of his offence against the rules of justice. He
recurred to the bad old example of Lord Ellenborough in devoting most of
his time to answering my arguments. Lord Col